The release of the next Halloween movie is right around the corner. I thought it would be cool to take a look at the excellent Halloween: Nightdance comic mini-series from 2008. The four part series is written by Stefan Hutchinson and features excellent artwork from Tim Seeley. For fans of the franchise this is pretty much “Must read”
Halloween: Nightdance takes place in the quiet town of Russellville. The main character is a teenage girl who is just managing to come to terms with a horrific event from her past. Like a Robert Altman or Paul Thomas Anderson film this entry into the Halloween series takes a multiple point of view approach to the world of The Shape and how those unlucky enough to come across his path end up. One take away from Nightdance is there are arguably worse fates than death! The way the plot follows different characters and how their tales and encounters with the iconic killer come together is one of the most well plotted and executed parts about the comic. The character work here is better than in most of the proper movie sequels. You give a shit about these characters. Running through the nightmare of this tale is a central mystery too and the outcome of that is chilling.
One thing I can not stress enough is this comic is for mature readers. Beyond the obvious stalk and slash scenes there are some shocking moments that you might not expect. So consider yourself warned if you do not like your horror too in your face. The kills are flat out nasty. Way worse than any in the films. That includes that hyper violent Rob Zombie ones.
Easily the two big stand outs here are the excellent writing, which I’ve gone into above and the artwork. This comic is both beautiful and haunting. These guys are clearly fans of the Halloween series but what comes across most is they get it. It’s easy to say “Yea we’re big fans of the Halloween movies” and then deliver some mess of a sequel but here it is clear Hutchinson and Seeley got what Carpenter set out to do with the original movie and built upon it with their series.
Back when this comic came out right away I thought it would make an excellent movie. We’ve seen the Halloween series, on film, go through its fair share of ups (Season of the Witch, The Return of Michael Myers, H20) and downs (Halloween 5, 6 and Resurrection)over the years. Nightdance felt like the perfect template for movie producers to get the horror franchise back on track. Maybe one day. The best part about Nightdance is how it fits effortlessly into the canon of the films. It has its own start, middle and end and no matter where the films go this could slot in with no issues along the line. Maybe one day.
Read this comic series if you are a Halloween fan. I think it is hard to track down these days but if you can find it and it’s not some crazy price check it out. You won’t be sorry.
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