Halloween (film series)

Edd Riveria's Halloween III artwork featured on the cover of Fangoria.

As part of a merchandising campaign, the producers requested Don Post to mass-produce the skull, witch, and jack-o'-lantern masks. Producers had given exclusive merchandising rights to Post as part of his contract for working on the film, and Post Studios had already successfully marketed tie-in masks for the classic Universal monsters, Planet of the Apes (1968), Star Wars (1977), and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1981). Post used the original molds for the masks in the film to mass produce masks for retail sale. He speculated, "Because the masks are so significant to the movie, they could become a cult item, with fans wanting to wear them when they go to see the movie." Post gave mask-making demonstrations for a Universal Studio tour in Hollywood. The masks retailed for $25 when they finally appeared in stores.[8]

The script was adapted as a mass market paperback novelization in 1982 by science-fiction writer Dennis Etchison writing under the pseudonym Jack Martin. The book was a best seller and was reissued in 1984.[29] Etchison wrote the novelization to Halloween II only a year before.

The film was later released on VHS, laserdisc, and CED format in 1983 by MCA/Universal Home Video. Subsequent videotape re-issues were released in 1984, 1987, and 1996. GoodTimes Home Video owned the rights at one point and released a VHS in 1996. DVD versions were distributed by Goodtimes in 1998 (with a re-issue in 2001) and Universal in 2003.

The film's soundtrack, composed by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth and released by Varese Sarabande, is extremely hard to find today, and those copies found carry pricetags ranging from 80 dollars to several hundred dollars due to its rareness.

The film's soundtrack is now scheduled to be released as an expanded limited edition of 1,000 units on October 29th, 2007. It will be distributed through Buysoundtrax.com on AHI Records.