I've always been a die-hard horror movie fan. For as long as I can remember, I've loved 'em. My absolute favorites are the "Big Three": Michael Myers from "Halloween", Freddy Krueger from "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and Jason Voorhees from the "Friday the 13th" series.

     I almost fainted when I came across "Friday the 13th: Mother's Day" in the bookstore. It's the first book that I've ever read in a single day. Four novels make up the series and they're among my favorite books of all time. Interestingly enough, Jason never actually appears in the books. His mask possesses different people who take on the Jason persona.

     I know some fans were irritated by this, but it never bothered me at all. And apparently the writer wasn't actually allowed to use Jason! It was one of the stipulations for bringing an R-Rated series of films to the YA horror format.

     Freddy was next to get his series. Released in 1995, "Freddy Krueger's Tales of Terror: Blind Date"  was the first in a six book series. Like the Jason series, Freddy wasn't allowed to appear in the book as a major character. He did pop up in the beginning, and would later be revealed as possessing one of the characters in the book, always appearing in the climax as well.

     The YA Freddy series was actually similar to the Freddy TV show that ran from 1988 to 1990 "Freddy's Nightmares". The TV series had a similar set-up and structure to the Freddy books.

     The "rules" that these YA horror books had to follow never diluted the books or hurt them. It made things interesting and allowed authors to do some different things that were not possible in the movies.

     The "Halloween" YA series was released in 1997. It ran for three novels and apparently had no restrictions, as Michael Myers appears regularly in all three books. He would pop up throughout, offing people here and there and always figured prominenty in the climax. Another fun series, the Michael character himself was not true to the films, however.

     The YA horror version of Michael was not the calm and collected killer that appeared in the films. Animalistic with lots of growling and grunts, this version of Michael was more human and "wild". He seemed a bit more like the Michael Myers from the Rob Zombie remakes that came many years later.

     Disappointingly, Michael is consistently referred to as having a black jumpsuit and plastic white mask. Any self respecting horror fan knows that Michael wears a rubber mask and navy blue jumpsuit. These nitpicks aside, the books are a fun and fast read. And they are far better than the aforementioned Rob Zombie atrocities.

     An old "Fangoria" magazine article from the mid 1990s mentioned YA horror novels and also referenced an upcoming "Candyman" horror series! Sadly, this proposed series never happened. I have no idea why, so fans are left imagining how awesome a "Candyman" series would have been. I remember searching the local bookstores as a kid for these never released books. In fact, the article also mentioned SIX "Friday the 13th" books. Only four were ever released. So of course I was searching and waiting for a bunch of books that would never see the light of day!

     Maybe if the Freddy, Jason, and Michael series had been more successful we would have gotten more movie slashers transitioning to YA horror. Imagine how fun a Leatherface from "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or Chucky from "Child's Play" series would have been.

Perhaps in the future? I can always hope...