Getting that out of the way, anyone hoping for a return to the revamped vision from Zombie will have to look elsewhere. "Halloween: Night Dance" takes place shortly after John Carpenter's "Halloween" and shortly after the story we saw involving Laurie Strode, Loomis, and Mikey in all his psychotic supernatural glory, sans the hard rock edge. Sorry, Zombie geeks, the mythos has spoken.

"Night Dance" is an enigmatic first issue filled with set ups and foreshadowing to a bigger scope and it re-introduces the Michael we all know and love. He doesn't smash through walls or stand in the middle of crowded streets. This is the Michael that lurks in the shadows and stalks his prey waiting for the right moment.
 

This is the Michael who simply has no rhyme or reason for his bloodlust. He's just doom incarnate, a walking, unstoppable behemoth of a shadow monster who will display no mercy to his victims. And they gave us the perfect team to usher in this new series, including the fantastic Tim Seely whose art, migrated from "Hack/Slash" is perfectly translated into the Halloween universe where Michael is once again a force of evil, and is stalking a small group of characters he may or may not have a connection to.

Which is to say, sadly, that "Night Dance" is slightly too predictable in where it's headed. Our main character Lisa is receiving mysterious letters from someone she has a tie to in her past life and yet... I think I know where this is going. This is of course simply theory, as writer Stefan Hutchinson provides a slow boil suspense tale with very little bloodletting and nothing but hints of things to come in the way of Michael's sheer demented knack for impaling victims and leading his subjects into his lair.

Though slightly irritating from the outset, "Night Dance" delves into separate narratives with three different sets of characters who experience Michael Myers in some fashion, all of which end the same way. And while, once again, it's clear where this is going, the surprises awaiting our main character Lisa, who is stalked by horrific nightmares of blood, and tears, can only be unfathomable and horrific, once she ditches class for the day to go to a farm for Halloween, and is set to meet up with her four friends.

The mood and atmosphere here is just absolutely perfect, with shots of Michael that are just breathtaking thanks to Seely who creates a Michael that is once again imposing, and the incarnation of everything terrible about the dreaded holiday: Halloween. Seely constantly impresses with his work on "Hack/Slash" so for someone who is quite a fan of the series, it's a great treat to see Seely has his vision in check with what Carpenter originally envisioned with the masked murderer. He's not a petulant child killing his family line, he's not an evil prophet, he's not a whiny moany baby who hates his parents, he's simply evil incarnate with a purpose that we can't fathom. For those who convinced themselves Rob Zombie's vision was it, then your services are required elsewhere, but for the folks who loved what Carpenter gave us with Michael as the hand of fate and inevability, Devil's Due Publishing has your number.

Take pride in knowing that this is your daddy's Michael; the merciless, monstrous, maniacal, murderous blank Michael who lurks, hunts, and never leaves a stone unturned. Forget that hacky rock star's version, this is Carpenter's main man Michael Myers as he should be, and "Night Dance" will be the quintessential miniseries for all Halloween buffs looking for a return to the quiet dread that filled 1978's "Halloween." How sweet it is.

- Felix Vasquez Jr.
2/15/08

Now available in stores from Devil's Due Publishing! Look for it!