31 Days of Horror: You Can't Kill the Boogeyman

In 1978, Michael Myers was introduced to the world. His debut in the original Halloween marks the beginning of what many would call the slasher years of horror films. For years afterwards, his legacy would continue in other Halloween movies.  Wayne Byrne in his book You Can’t Kill the Boogeyman: The Ongoing Halloween Saga – 13 Movies and Counting (Bloomsbury, 2025), catalogs these films, discussing the stories (both on

screen and off) that made Michael Myers the ultimate horror film boogeyman.

Byrne starts his book by looking at the original Halloween. Some of the tidbits that he mentions are well known. For example, almost all horror film lovers know that the original mask worn by Michael Myers was a refurbished Captain Kirk mask. Still, Byrne's exploration offers lots of information about the directing and editing of the film. He also discusses why he believes Halloween became such a hit.

All of the Halloween films are covered in You Can't Kill the Boogeyman

From then on, Byrne looks at all of the films in this franchise, even the notorious Halloween III: Season of the Witch film, the only Halloween movie that does not feature Michael Myers. He carefully examines each film, including Halloween H20 and its sequel and the two Rob Zombie reboots. He concludes with 2022's Halloween Ends. In every examination, he offers a synopsis of the movie along with how that particular movie fits (or doesn’t fit) the Halloween timelines. He spends considerable time discussing the various roles of the actors, along with individual directors of the films. Finally, he looks at why some creative decisions about storylines worked, and why some of them didn’t.

The audience for this book is not the Halloween film guru. In other words, true fans of this franchise may not really learn anything new from this book; it is more of an ideal work for those who are watching any movie in the Halloween franchise for the first time. With that said, I have seen all of the Halloween films (some of them, many times), and I enjoyed the way that Byrne discusses the various timelines and the flaws and strengths of each film. His book made me want to revisit all of the Halloween movies, even the ones that are seemingly dismissed by critics and fans alike.