Monster Monday: Michael Myers

If you’ve been following the daily content that has been popping up here for the past three weeks, you’ll recognize a change to Monday’s. They were formally known as ‘Maniac Monday,’ wherein we would look at a different serial killer each week. That is no more. Realize that all this stuff is still in the initial phase, so I might be trying out different things to see what works. ‘Maniac Monday’ was not working.

Therefore, I present to you…MONSTER MONDAY! I’ll be sharing my thoughts on different monsters from either film or literature every week, until I see fit to change it. Something tells me, though, that you guys will dig it.

On with the show…

When I was a kid, one of the first horror films I ever remember watching was Halloween. To this day it remains my #1 favorite horror film of all time. When I got a VCR, Halloween was the first film I bought. Same with when I got a DVD player, and I’m sure it will be the same when I make the switch to BluRay (I know, I’m a bit behind the times).

Michael Myers is one of those monsters that leaves a lasting impression on a kid. He’s dressed in black, so it’s easy for him to hide in your closet. He’s silent, never making a sound as he stalks his victims, so you can never be sure if he might be following you to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Most frightening of all, though, is that he carries one hell of a kitchen knife, and he’s not using it to chop lettuce, either.

Myers gets inside your head, toying with you as he pursues you at a pace that would make a snail envious. He doesn’t run, he don’t jog. He walks. Slowly, with confidence. Knowing that no matter where you try and hide, he will find you. This separates him from all the other other slasher film killers, in my opinion. He’s not just out for blood and guts. He’s out to play, and he knows full well what he is doing. Remember the tombstone of Judith Myers at the head of the bed, with Annie’s dead body laid out before it? Tell me that wasn’t planned, and I’ll tell you that I just back from having lunch with Stephen King.

Even today, as an adult, I still think about Michael Myers when I stroll the streets late at night. Walking through the graveyard that is across the street from me here in Toronto. Sometimes, I keep expecting to see him peeking out from behind a tombstone. His white mask exposed by the light of the moon.

I don’t know about you, but Halloween still gives me the creeps to this day. Every time I watch it, the lights have to be turned off, and I have to be near a pillow, because I know that sooner or later I’m going to need it to hide my face in.

Ten films, 136 kills, and a legend that will live on in cinematic films for years to come, Michael Myers truly is one of the greatest fictional monsters of out time.