As a child I used to love tie-in novelizations based on my favorite films. They were like a great placeholder between being able to own the movies on VHS and watch them whenever I wanted. I remember getting in trouble for reading Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park in the fourth grade (it was apparently “too adult”), yet I found humor in the fact I was able to pick up the novel based on the movie at the library’s book fair. Horror film novelizations have become quite the item for collectors. A quick search on eBay shows a Re-animator novel going for $200 and a signed copy of The Bride of Frankenstein selling for a jaw-dropping 28k!

The allure of these quicky tie-ins seems to fall on the fact a lot of these books were written before the films themselves were ever completed. The authors had very little to go off of other than early drafts of the films’ screenplays. This can lead to some truly interesting deviations from the finished products. Take for example the tie-in for April Fools Day. The novel includes a completely different ending that sees the character of Skip attempting to murder Muffy in order to reap the family inheritance for himself. While apparently this ending was actually filmed, it’s never seen the light of day. For now the novel remains the only insight into that infamous sequence.

So, what are some other surprise revelations that appear in classic horror film novelizations? Let’s take a look, shall we?

‘Gremlins’ by George Gipe

As many fans know, Chris Columbus’s original screenplay for the Christmas horror classic was much darker in tone than the film turned out to be in the hands of Joe Dante. Gremlins was filled with wild Looney Tunes-esque gags that brought a sense of fun to the fearful tale of a small town monster invasion. The novelization was likely based on an earlier draft as it doesn’t feature the over the top lunacy of the tavern sequence. Therefore, one of the most apparent difference here is in tone. Gipe weaves a more straightforward horror tale. The biggest jaw dropper, however, comes from the truly bananas origin given to the Mogwai.

The opening chapter is told entirely from the perspective of Gizmo as he awaits dinner from the shopkeeper. It is here we are given insight into just where the Mogwai come from. They were created by a man named Mogturmen on the planet of Enz. Yes, the Gremlins came from outer space! Where else? Apparently Mogturmen’s intentions were pure:

“… the galactic powers ordered the Mogwai sent to every inhabitable planet in the universe, their purpose being to inspire alien beings with their peaceful spirit and intelligence and to instruct them in the ways of living without violence and possible extinction.”

So, sure, it didn’t necessarily work out that way, but at least the guy was trying to get into the spirit of giving. Tis’ the season and all.

‘Return of the Living Dead’ by John Russo

John Russo is an interesting character. He helped produce George Romero’s original classic, Night of the Living Dead, and after a legal battle, the two men went their separate ways. George was given the rights to “of the Dead” whereas Russo was granted “of the Living Dead”. 10 years after the release of Night, Russo set out to try to launch his own sequel. Meanwhile, Romero’s Dawn of the Dead was already nearing release. Russo’s plan was to pen a direct sequel to Night in the form of a novel, hoping to drum up interest for the film adaptation.

Russo’s 78′ novel of Return of the Living Dead exists in a world that has come to terms with the zombie plague. When people die, you simply destroy their brains to keep them from coming back. The story opens with a bus load of kids dying in a tragic accident. The townsfolk aren’t able to terminate the soon to be walking dead in time, and pretty soon the town is overrun with new hordes of the living dead. In typical Russo fashion, the characters are horrendous people who do more harm than the zombies lumbering about. Needless to say, once Dan O’Bannon came on board eight years later, Russo’s original concept was tossed out to the funerary heap.

Upon the release of the film, Return of the Living Dead, Russo saw another opportunity to mark his territory. He wrote the movie’s novelization! That’s right, there are TWO books penned by John Russo with the title Return of the Living Dead. Ultimately, this version stays pretty true to the finished film sans a Cold War conspiracy leading to the outbreak rather than US military fumbling. It seems Russian spies were sent to random locations throughout the US (such as U-Needa) to plant the barrels of toxic gas. Their hopes were that some day the metal would erode causing a massive outbreak across the country? Yep. That’s a plan, alright.

‘Halloween’ by Dennis Etchison

Michael Myers as presented in John Carpenter’s seminal slasher pic was the walking/stalking embodiment of evil. It wasn’t until years later we were told the “Cult of Thorn” somehow imbued evil into little Mikey to set him loose on that inaugural killing spree, or according to Rob Zombie, it was a piss poor home life. Either way, fans have never been too keen on explaining the evil or trying to rationalize it. With promise the newest incarnation of the Halloween series will return to the franchise’s roots, it’s interesting to see what direction that original film might have taken.

While as far as we know, Carpenter never intended a specific supernatural origin to be attributed to Michael. That said, the master himself did drop a few clues within the first two films. Take for instance the word “Samhain” scrawled across the classroom chalkboard in Halloween 2. The Celtic festival from which Halloween originated is given even more prominence in the original film’s novelization. The book opens with this ominous passage:

“The horror started on the eve of Samhain, in a foggy vale in northern Ireland at the dawn of the Celtic race. And once started, it trod the earth forevermore, wreaking its savagery suddenly, swiftly, and with incredible ferocity. Then, its lust sated, it shrank back into the mists of time for a year, a decade, a generation perhaps. But it slept only and did not die, for it could not be killed. And on the eve before Samhain it would stir, and if the lust were powerful enough, it would rise to fulfill the curse invoked so many Samhains before.”

As a huge Halloween history buff, the concept of Michael Myers being taken over by an ancient Celtic curse more defined than Thorn is exciting if not wholly unnecessary. The novel further solidifies Michael’s supernatural urgings by allowing us to witness him trick-or-treating just hours before stabbing his sister to death. He claims the voices “tell me to say I hate people.” It’s even alluded that his grandfather suffered a similar psychosis many years ago. Once whisked away to Smith’s Grove, the story switches to Dr. Loomis’s perspective where we’re told those who have slighted Michael in any way have a strange habit of turning up injured.

It’s certainly for the best that these details never made it to the final film or were merely dreamed up by the novel’s author, Etchison. Nonetheless, it does make an easy breezy read just ripe for a chilly autumn day.

‘The Funhouse’ by Dean Koontz

This is one novelization that is strikingly different from the source material. Written by a young Dean Koontz (under the name “Owen West”), this movie tie-in has the rare distinction of being released well before the film in which it’s based upon. Tobe Hooper’s Funhouse had a longer than expected production, and apparently massive changes were made to the script from which Koontz adapted his novel from.

The finished film is a fairly standard “teens trapped in an isolated location fight for their lives against a crazed boogeyman” slasher flick. In fact, Universal Pictures greenlit the film in hopes of generating their own Friday the 13th style success. The novel tackles similar ground but throws in Satanist, the antichrist, and abortions. Ellen is young woman who is madly in love with a carnival worker named Conrad. Against her parents wishes, she runs away with the man and soon becomes pregnant after realizing she is merely a pawn to bring forth the antichrist.

After giving birth, Ellen destroys the mutant child and is cursed by her husband, vowing he will return to her years later to kill her and her future children. Flash forward to 25 years later and Ellen’s teenage daughter has just discovered she’s pregnant. Ellen flips out and demands she abort the child…ya know, just in case it’s another antichrist. Around this same time, the carnival is pulling into town and Conrad is prepared to finally exact his revenge. He manages to lure Ellen’s children to the carnival with intent to sick his OTHER mutant child on them. As you can see, Dean Koontz’s Funhouse is all over the place in the most delightfully twisted way. I can barely imagine what Hooper’s film may have looked like had it followed this version more closely.

While novelizations are still made today, they are nowhere near as popular as they once were. It’s a fascinating world to dig into with infinite variations on some of our most beloved classics.

Do you have a fondly remembered novelization from yesteryear? Are there any specific ones worth tracking down?