Customer Reviews

Trick 'r Treat: Tales of Mayhem, Mystery, and Mischief

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love Halloween. If you know me than that is what you know ABOUT me...I LOVE HALLOWEEN. So, when I saw this book on a friend of mine's desk, I flipped. I hadn't heard of the movie, hadn't seen the trailer on line, and with the exception of a couple of pieces of art that I had seen in a Halloween Art show the previous year (see what I mean?), I had NO exposure to what lay inside.

The cover was inticing as all Halloween treats should be. Like a witch's gingerbread house you cannot resist but to go inside. And what lurks there?

More than a "making of" book. More than a book about Halloween....Oh, so much more. The photos from this film (it was unreleased at the time of my reading this book), the preproduction art, all of it was fantastic. No, it was more than fantastic. It was inspiring. Exhilarating. But as I enviously perused the pages of my friend's copy of the book, it started offering treats: Comic books, post cards, MASKS!

I needed to OWN this book. Not sometime in the distant future. I needed it NOW. A real "Veruca Salt" moment if you will. So, you can imagine how I felt when my friend showed me how inexpensive it was on AMAZON. I ordered it immediately and waited INpatiently for its arrival.

And now the real kicker. My wife is indifferent to Halloween. She is supportive and will put on a simple costume if necessary, but to her Halloween is my day. She watches patiently as I drag the decorations out, fiddle with my old Super 8mm projectors to conjur ghosts in our windows, listen to old Halloween records and she does it with a smile. Every year in September she asks: "Are you starting Halloween ALREADY?"

I remind her that, in general, these days CHRISTMAS decorations are in stores in September. So, when the book arrived in the house, I expected her to be indifferent. When she saw it, her jaw dropped.

She couldn't believe how beautifully presented, how stuffed with goodies it was and what really knocked her over was the price. She felt that with what this tome offered it could easily be twice as much as the original cover price and still satisfy its readers.

So if you're on the fence with the other black cats wondering if this book will turn out to be a dreaded Halloween trick, do not be fooled - If you are a fan of Halloween, monster movies, and things that go bump in the night than this book is definitely for you! Don't just sit there, ORDER IT!

Length:: 0:41 Mins

The moment I saw the cover and the publisher, Insight Editions, I had very good feeling about the book. Why? Because Insight Editions had previously published one of the very best art books, The Art and Making of Monster House, which I liked very much.

This book is also frightening good. Wait a minute, Monster House was also a horror movie. What a coincidence.

This is a scrapbook style art book for the live action movie, Trick 'r Treat. The movie is written and directed by Michael Dougherty, who also contributed to some of the art in the book.

First part of the book is about the making of the movie. It's a behind the scenes look at how the movie was produced and shot. Included are details like how Michael Dougherty came up with the script, drew the art and pitched the movie. There are challenges with costume designs because they had to avoid trademarked characters. Also very interesting are how they set up scenes visually and create special effects like the exploding a bag of pumpkin-like goo.

The second part are the five short stories in the movies. In between these stories are accompanying quotes from movies and captions from the staff. There are also pages devoted to several aspect of Halloween, for example the origins of Jack o' Lanterns, the significance of 31 October, what's with the black cat and many other interesting stuff.

Throughout the book is filled with lots of goodies. They include little booklets, stickers, postcards, pumpkin paper cutouts, a Halloween mask and a poster at the back. It's scrapbook goodness. So much that I really had a hard time doing the flipping-page video.

The hardcover book comes in a soft cardboard casing. The glossy pages are of amazing paper stock. The high resolution photos and artwork are reproduced brilliantly. I must also add that the page design and layout are fantastic. The author John Griffin has done a fantastic job with the book. This book is a visual delight.

Once in a while, there will be a book so good it will appeal to everyone. This is that book.

It's highly recommended to all, except those who don't like movies or art.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

This book is a great in-depth look at the best halloween movie to come out in a long time. The movie itself is an atmoshperic homage to 80's horror, a suspenseful and very, very scary celebration of Halloween. In the vain of Tales from the Crypt or Creepshow, with great performances by the ensemble cast. The book includes plot synopsis, character designs and inspirations, costume sketches, movie stills, paper masks, stickers, storyboards, postcards and comic strips. I was lucky enough to recieve mine at a screening sponsored by AintitCool News and I can't say enough what a great experience this movie was!

If your a fan of the Trick r Treat movie- get this book today. All color photos and art work plus special inserts. Nice hardcover with a slip on jacket, this book will last for decades if not longer. [...]. This is definately a book you will want to pull out every October. Makes a great mantel piece and a nice conversation piece. All your guests will want to browse thru it. There are a few pictures of gore so its something you dont want your 12 year old to read. I would say the age recommendation would be over 14. (Remember the movie is rated R). The Amazon price is nice at $30 - Barnes and Noble wants $45. Amazon has the lowest price I could find.
It would be nice if all my favorite movies had a nice companion book like this one. Very sturdy, very well laid out. The book covers most Halloween traditions and it has production notes about the making of the movie.

Excellent book perfect for the Halloween season. A little over priced for so few pages, but still worth owning. A word of warning to readers, if you haven't seen the movie, do not read the book if you want to be surprised. The book basically gives away all of the horror and twists in each story of this anthology movie. Also be warned that they have many pics of the creepy demonic Sam character with and without his burlap mask. I'm not sure why they released this book so early being that the movie's DVD release isn't until October. It would have been perfect to coincide with the release date of the DVD as well as the Halloween season. Go figure.

This book is full of great pictures from the movie - which STILL hasn't been released. If you like halloween and books with lots going on in them (in terms of pictures not words) then this is the book for you. This is almost as good as the Monster House book. I like the topic of this book better but in terms of neat things happening in the book - monster house still wins.

The behind the scenes look at Trick r Treat ends up being a real treat, if you've been looking forward to this movie like I have. Unfortunately, it's not going to be seeing theaters soon. Ironically enough, the book recounts director Michael Dougherty's trouble with getting the film made. Now he has even more problems getting released. The book comes in a sleeve, which is shown in the picture. The actual book cover is the same as the film's one-sheet. The book is a hardcover, and would make a great coffee table book for the month of October, or if you're into this film as much as me, all year round. Inside, contains stickers from various items throughout the film, an original comic of Dougherty's comic Seasons Greetings, postcards, and even a mask of Sam himself. The trailer for the actual movie makes it hard to understand what the movie is about, so the book does shed some light on the four tales that are to be told. It could be a spoiler for some, but it only made me want to see the film even more after reading the book. For me, it was easy to identify with the diretor's love of Halloween, being that I am the exact same way about the holiday. This book is a great way to support this film, which hopefully will be released to theaters soon or at least to DVD.

The movie was a little chaotic in the sense that the plot line was everywhere. I got the idea they were trying to convey, but I think it lacked a little cohesiveness. My father is a huge Halloween fanatic, so he wanted this for Christmas. The book is quite elaborate and of great quality. I wish the movie had been tweaked with a little bit and released into theaters. I recommend this movie to all who love Halloween. The shipping came when expected, no problems there.

This is a great movie which should have been in the theaters. The stories interweave wonderfully at the end and tie up all the strands.

Over the past two years my teenage daughter has waited for the movie and related merchandise to be released. She was well pleased with the tons of goodies included inside this book. Posters, mask, comic and behind the scenes info made an enjoyable book.