Adequately Entertaining

I confess that I have never seen the movie on which this novelization is based.. so I can't comment on comparisons. If this Tim Waggoner interpretation is accurate, however, I can conclude that it's a film worth seeing if you're in the mood. If you run across it while scrolling through the 'Netflix' menu, you wouldn't be crazy to stop for a couple of hours of mindless blood-soaked distraction. The vocabulary/prose in this audiobook version is capable, the gore is satisfyingly visceral, and the description is mind's-eye vivid. Waggoner further does a great job describing Michael Myers as "The Shape".. an almost mystical embodiment of evil. The attempts to humanize the various victims (providing little backstories and imagining them thinking about loved ones as they die, for example) fall pretty flat.. but I appreciate the effort to make them more than meat for the butcher's block. Overall, it's creditable standard "Slasher Flick" fare.
Just don't download this audiobook expecting "literature" (or even much of a coherent plot), and you'll do fine.

On the positive side of the ledger: Bronson Pinchot turns in a typically above-average reading performance on this project. True, he seems somewhat disinterested in the text for some reason.. but his spot-on diction, comfortable timbre & cadence, and brilliant voice-acting make up for any deficiencies in tonality.

In toto, 'Halloween Kills' rates 6/10 stars. If you set realistic expectations, it's a reasonable option for a long drive or a quiet night shift (particularly if you can get it as a 'Plus' selection). Being asked to spend a Credit on it, however, should trigger a debate with yourself.

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