Taking Shape: Developing Halloween From Script to Scream

If there is one book I can recommend for Halloween series fans, Taking Shape is the one I’d tell them is a MUST READ! As a long time fan of the films, I have as very entertained & satisfied at the completion of this book. Written by true fans, you get accounts of the entire process from script to screen for each film, revisions, deleted scenes, original concepts...it’s all here & fun to read & find out from beginning to end!

The original Halloween is one of my all time favorite films! It's fun to read the origin story of this amazing film! Full disclosure: I enjoy the other Laurie Strode installments. The Michael and Laurie storyline is Halloween for me. But Halloween II, H2O, and Halloween 2018 don't come close to the original. The other sequels and Rob Zombie's reboots are not at all interesting to me. I watched each film again in preparation for reading about them. The additional viewings did not change my above opinions. This book made me appreciate that each film was an attempt to bring something new to the series. The behind the scenes stories are almost more interesting than the films. This book is s really interesting glimpse into the cutthroat film industry. The studio system is revealed to be a tangled mess of investors and studio execs that place profit over loyalty and creativity. The main theme here is greed and control! So many poor decisions killed the potential of each sequel. I came away sympathizing for those involved in these films. They were pressured to cut corners, make ridiculous concessions, and denied the opportunity to tell good stories. No wonder John Carpenter and Debra Hill sold their stakes and ran. Glad the story of Halloween III was included here and given equal treatment. It's an underrated, flawed attempt at a fresh story free of the Michael Myers mythology. Too often it is excluded from the franchise. Pick this up if you are interested in the Halloween films. I'm glad I did.

When I read the Magnotta Halloween book, which is similar in size and appearance to this one, I was very disappointed in its (lack of) contents. I wanted an in-depth review of the Halloween franchise, and thankfully, this book delivers the goods! Every film in the franchise is covered here, including Season of the Witch, the Rob Zombie films, and the 2018 same-titled sequel to the original Halloween. There are in-depth examinations of changes to the drafts prior to filming, deleted scenes, alternate TV scenes, director’s cuts, and even discussions of how the novelizations differ from the theatrical releases they coincided with. Not only that, each chapter ends with interviews of various contributors, from screenwriters, directors, editors, and cinematographers to even the novelization authors. Overall this is a wonderful, well-researched book that should be on the shelf of every fan of this franchise.

Lots of history. Lots of back story. There was a bit in there that consisted of stories that have been out there for a while, but it's few and far between. Any fan of the series will dig this.

First off, I usually never write reviews, but this book needs one. I have been obsessed with the Halloween franchise for over 25 years. I thought I knew everything there was to know about the franchise. That is until I got my hands on this great book. It has a TON of fun facts and stories about each film in the franchise. The thing I love most about this book is that they don't just list off a bunch of facts. It reads very well like a novel. I highly recommend this book to all horror or just Halloween fans alike.

I'll get right to the point before filling in the details: this one's a home run. As a fan of the Halloween series, and--more importantly--a huge fan of behind-the-scenes books, I was excited to hear about Taking Shape, and was not disappointed when I got my hands on a copy. Each film in the franchise is given equal attention, and the wealth of information about the troubled production of some of the less impressive sequels (yeah, I'm looking at you Halloween 5 & 6!) is staggering. That being said, as parts 5 and 6 are my least favorite Halloween movies (and don't even get me started on Resurrection!), I expected to lose interest in the book during the sections that covered those films. Not so! If anything, those chapters were more interesting than the movies they examined, as the authors went into remarkable detail about the troubled productions and behind-the-scenes meddling that resulted in such poor movies. I highly recommend this book to even the most casual Halloween fan, but if you're a die hard like me, it's a must-have!

Fantastic book. Packed full of Halloween movie series information. If you are into the Halloween movies you will not be disappointed.

I was hesitant to buy this due to the cost but I am so happy I did! Has a ton of great info on all the Halloween movies and it’s a huge, long, high quality book. It’s going to make a great gift for my Halloween-obsessed fiancé! Can’t wait to buy the sequel book.

I love the Halloween films, so I didn't hesitate to order this book when it came out! Though I knew a good chunk of the trivia inside from listening to the commentary tracks and the like, there were other facts that I wasn't completely aware of. The multiple interviews for every movie were also nice to read and filled in on some more aspects of production.

Halloween ❤️

An amazing book for those interested in the macabre.

It’s a great book, and it arrived 2 days earlier than promised, extra points for that! But, I have to take a star away because it was packaged with very little care, and the book is damaged because of this. Top and bottom of it it’s scratched and creased.

Taking Shape is a great read if you're a fan of the Halloween series as a whole and are into filmmaking curiosities, the film industry and other details. I also love that it contains multiple interviews with writers, producers, directors... My only complaint here is there are so many typos in this Kindle edition to the point it became distracting. I have no problem with the authors' writing, which is totally fine by me, but a good revision before releasing this would've made my reading experience less arduous.