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AWESOME-tober-fest 2012: Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives by Simon Hawke (1986)

Posted in books, Halloween, holiday, movies, pop culture with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2012, Book Report, books, Friday the 13th, Halloween, holiday, Jason Voorhees, Movie Novelizations, movies, pop culture, reviews on October 10, 2012 by Paxton

Today, we are going to look at a novelization for one of my favorite entries in the Friday the 13th franchise, Part VI: Jason Lives.

This novelization was written by Simon Hawke and published during the original release of the movie in 1986. Hawke would go on to write novelizations of the first three Friday the 13th movies in 1987 and 1988. Hawke’s novelization of Part III would be the second novelization for that film. I reviewed both novelizations in yesterday’s article. And I don’t know about you, but that book cover is AWFUL. I don’t know why they didn’t just use the awesome poster for the movie.

This would have been a much better book cover.

This particular novelization, like many of the other F13 and Nightmare books, has become very hard to find. Again, I want to thank my friend Jason for loaning me them for the purpose of this review.

This novelization is a very good adaptation of the movie. Not much new in so far as cut scenes. However, what Hawke does here that he would carry over into his novelizations of Parts I-III is to go into the heads of not only the main characters, but also Jason himself. There are many passages in which Jason questions his undying existence and wonders about his constant blood lust. It makes the story more interesting and adds an extra depth to the mute Jason. These inner monologues are used to fill in backstories for many of the other characters as well like Sheriff Garris and Tommy Jarvis.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2012: Review of two Friday the 13th Part 3 novelizations

Posted in books, Halloween, holiday, movies, pop culture, reviews with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2012, Book Report, books, Friday the 13th, Halloween, holiday, Jason Voorhees, Movie Novelizations, movies, pop culture on October 9, 2012 by Paxton

And so continues our second week of AWESOME-tober-fest 2012. Last week was Norman Bates/Psycho week. This week is Jason Vorhees/Friday the 13th week. Let’s start off this week with TWO novelizations written for the same movie; Friday the 13th Part 3 in 3-D.

Yes, there were two novelizations written for Friday the 13th Part 3. The first was by Michael Avallone and published the same year as the movie’s release in 1982. This particular novelization was the first published for any of the Jason movies.

Right away, the cover for this novelization is pretty awesome. First of all, the hockey mask isn’t the standard Jason mask. However, Jason didn’t actually get the mask until Part 3, so the Jason hockey mask was not the iconic symbol when this book was published that it is today. Also, I love that they included the 3-D moniker in the title. Like the book is actually written in 3-D (IT SHOULD TOTALLY BE WRITTEN IN 3-D!!!).

For most of the book, the story sticks pretty close to the movie. A few deviations here and there, nothing really to mention. However, that is, until the end. This novelization is interesting in that it features an alternate ending from the one used in the actual movie. In this ending, Chris, who is in the canoe in the lake, hears her boyfriend’s voice back at the lake house. She gets out of the lake and runs back up to the house and opens the door only to have Jason decapitate her. This is vastly different than the “it was all a nightmare” ending that was actually used.

This novelization would go out of print and become fairly hard to find until Paramount decided to publish Friday the 13th novelizations for the release of Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2012: Movie Maniac Monster Party

Posted in Alfred Hitchock, Friday the 13th, Halloween, holiday, Jason Vorhees, movies, Norman Bates, pop culture, Psycho with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2012, Fangoria, Freddy Krueger, Halloween, holiday, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, magazine, movies, Norman Bates on October 1, 2012 by Paxton

And we are off. Today is day one of AWESOME-tober-fest! Each week of this month will belong to a different movie maniac. This first week my focus will be Norman Bates. Next week will be Jason Vorhees followed by Freddy Krueger, Leatherface and finally Michael Myers. There may be some mix-and-match in these upcoming weeks, but the majority of each week will feature one of the maniacs. So, let’s begin this week, with a mix-and-match.

Here is an awesome full page comic strip starring all of the movie maniacs. It comes from Fangoria magazine #68, 1987. Click the image to see it BIGGER on Flickr.

I also found a print from Deviant Art showcasing a party at the Bates Motel also featuring all of our movie maniacs. It’s called Bates Motel Psycho Party and was done by frankenstylin.

(Via DeviantArt)

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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Behind the scenes of AWESOME-tober-fest…

Posted in blogging, Halloween, holiday with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2012, blogging, Halloween, holiday on August 31, 2012 by Paxton

Well, here we are, the first week in September. You know what that means? AWESOME-tober-fest is only a month away. Less than a month away, actually. And as I announced earlier, the theme for this year is Movie Maniacs. I’ll be investigating books, comics, movies and TV shows featuring our favorite movie killers; Jason, Freddy, Leatherface, Michael Myers and Norman Bates. Since we are a month out, I am in full on “go mode” to get things read, watched and written for this year.

You probably don’t realize this, but I start planning AWESOME-tober-fest in January or February. I decide on a theme and start listing out all the different media (books, movies, comics, TV shows, etc) that I can include for that topic. These lists usually involve yellow post its. I have a post it for each media which lists all the candidates for inclusion that year. I print out a free October calendar from General Blue calendars online and start mapping out what is going to happen during each day of AWESOME-tober-fest.

Here are pics of the notes/calendars I have for last year’s (2011 – Vampires, left) and the year before’s (2010 – Werewolves, right) celebrations.

I usually try to get all of my stuff done by the first week or two in September. As I finish reading books and comics and watching the movies I usually write up my articles as soon as possible so I can get my immediate thoughts. Then I’ll edit and modify as it gets closer to October. I’m still trying to finish up the books and movies as we speak but a lot of the material is getting done. I’m liking how things are looking so far.

I’m really excited about this year’s AWESOME-tober-fest. I hope you guys are as well.

This year I will also be participating in the Halloween Countdown celebration that is hosted by the blog Countdown to Halloween. I’ve participated in that for the last four years or so and it’s a lot of fun. Many other bloggers participate as well. It’s co-run by my good friend Shawn Robare from Branded in the 80s. Check it out if you get the chance. They are also gearing up for the month long celebration.

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In honor of Memorial Day, 16 vintage comic covers featuring wartime superheroes

Posted in Americana, comic books, holiday, nostalgia, pop culture, Superman with tags Cavalcade Comics, comic books, comic covers, DC Comics, holiday, Marvel Comics, Memorial Day, Superman on May 28, 2012 by Paxton

It’s Memorial Day. Hope everyone has had a great holiday weekend. In honor of this day that honors our armed forces, here are some awesomely vintage, patriotic comic book covers featuring our favorite heroes during wartime. See our heroes doing their part to give Hitler a sock in the jaw!

I found many of these covers on Comic Browser.