Book #92: Friday the 13th Part 3 - 3D by Michael Avallone

 

Friday The 13th Part 3 - 3D

Michael Avallone

 Released: January 1st, 1982

My 35th book for 2025 was Michael Avallone's “Friday the 13th Part 3 - 3D”.  

I know what you're thinking.  Long time readers will recall that last year, I reviewed Friday the 13th Part 3 already.  So how can I review it again?  The answer is simple: there exist 2 novelized forms of Friday the 13th Part 3.

Back in 1982, Michael Avallone was commissioned to write the novelization for Friday the 13th Part 3.  This standalone novel served as the only novelized form of the series for several years.  In 1985, Simon Hawke was commissioned to write a novelization of Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.  The novel sold well enough that he was asked to go back and write novelized forms of the previous Friday the 13th movies.  After writing Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, sales began to dwindle, so Part 4 and Part 5 were cancelled.  So over all we have Parts 1, 2, 6, and two versions of Part 3.  Interesting trivia.

I didn't think I would care for this one.  The cover looks a bit odd and strange, and I just felt the writing would be off.  I was surprised.  I love the writing style of Simon Hawke, but Michael Avallone really outdid himself with this book.  I'm a bit biased because Part 3 is arguably my favorite Friday the 13th film of all time (Part 2 also stands in the running).  The fact that I could read it two different ways is awesome.  I'm curious how he would have fared if they had commissioned him to write the novelizations of the other films.

The difference between this book and the Hawke version is that this was written during production of the film, so it contains bonus scenes not seen in the film and adds it in as part of the story.  Hawke's adaptation follows the story much more faithfully.

The story follows Chris Higgins as she returns to the family vacation house at Higgins Haven, located on Crystal Lake.  She was attacked a few years earlier by a mysterious figure in the woods and was left with no recollection of what happened or how she got home alive.  Her eclectic group of friends, and a local motorcycle gang provide more than enough mayhem for Jason Voorhees to play with. 

Jason is a lot more human in this one.  We see him laughing, grunting, and making noises that are not in sync with the film series.  The book also features the dream-like death of Chris that was deleted from the final film, and replaced with Mrs. Voorhees rising from the lake a la Alice in Part 1.  We also see an additional encounter with Able, the town drunk, as Chris and Derick head back to the house.  Another change is Rick's name.  In this novelization, he is Derick, so that took some getting used to.

Avallone writes the scenes quite well.  It's very easily to visualize what is going on, and understand the dramatic effect of the horror.  I very much enjoyed it. 

Here is what I learned:

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• “There is a sign that is always posted on houses that harbor hatred and horror: TOURISTS ACCOMODATED” - Philip St. George, The Satan Sleuth.

• Ed Harris is the local radio newscaster for KLTZ at Crystal Lake in Pinehurst County.

• At the start of Part 3, only 8 victims from Part 2 had been discovered.

• Ginny Fields was taken to County Hospital in Linfield for observation.

• Harold and Edna’s is a local Ma & Pa structure.

• The shop has seen better days.

• Harold and Edna live on the second story.

• Jason steals Harold’s khaki pants and olive green shirt from the clothesline.

• Harold is paunchy, unshaven, and lost somewhere in his 40’s.

• Harold and Edna have an old black and white television set.

• Their dreams had died, and marriage has been failing.

• Edna dislikes living out in the country.

• Harold is good friends with a rabbit that frequents his shop.

• Edna strongly dislikes the rabbit.

• Harold eats his own store’s product, and puts it back on the shelves.

• Harold enjoys disco.

• Harold is a very simple man with little ambition.

• Harold’s doctor has instructed him to lose weight.

• Harold enjoys chocolate donuts.

• Timber Rattlesnakes can be found in the Crystal Lake area.

• Harold suffers from diarrhea.

• Harold hides whiskey behind the toilet tank.

• Harold doesn’t wipe after using the bathroom.

• Edna keeps a skeleton key in the desk in the living room for emergencies.

• Edna never knew what killed her, as she choked to death on her own blood.

• Chris drives a red passenger van.

• Vera Sanchez lives in a ghetto, in the downstairs area of a shabby two-family house with her mother.

• Vera is 20 years old, raven colored hair, and beautiful.

• Debbie is almost 20, brown hair, and could double as an all-American cheerleader.

• Andy is tall, slim, and handsome.  He is dating Debbie.

• Chris Higgins is Debbie’s age.  She looked like a suitable candidate for 4H honors.

• Debbie and Chris have been friends for 15 years.

• Shelly is overweight with greasy unkempt hair.  He is a prankster.

• Andy and Shelly are roommates.

• Debbie flunked Spanish.

• Chuck and Chili are a hippie couple who enjoy smoking marijuana, and listening to music on their Sony Walkman cassette players.

• Debbie is pregnant.

• Pregnancy makes one pee often.

• Shelly does not enjoy marijuana.

• Chili hides an emergency stash of weed in her blouse.

• Able is an older man in Pinehurst County.  He is his brother’s keeper.  He is a weathered old man, similar to Crazy Ralph.

• Abel warns the younger characters of impending death with a human eyeball.

• Page 33 has a typo, as there is a comma missing between Chuck and Chili.

• Higgins Haven has a rustic 2-story house with a barn, a lake, and rows of tall oak trees.

• Derek is a tall virile young stud of 23.

• Derek was changed to Rick in the movie.

• Shelly doesn’t skinny dip because he isn’t skinny enough.

• Derek is a good farmer.

• Derek gave up an opportunity to spend a weekend with the Mary Jo Conrad in order to spend time with Chris.

• Derek drives a VW Bug.

• Jason laughs quietly when hiding.

• The local package store does not accept food stamps.

• Ali has metallic molars.

• “And then Derek's rusted-out car shot away clear, heading for freedom, the highway and the road back to Higgins Haven.”

• Ali is the leader of the biker gang with Fox and Loco as his cohorts.

• Ali has issues with white people.

• Chris is a jogger.

• Andy does calisthenics.

• Chuck and Chili also do cocaine.

• Fox had never seen the inside of a country barn before.

• Fox dies a much slower painful death in this book.

• “Nobody loves a fat man, right?  Right!”

• In this book, Vera’s attempt to recover Shelly’s wallet from the lake involves diving into the lake as opposed to grabbing it on the surface.

• Debbie is reading “The Beast With The Red Hands”, a shocker by Sidney Stuart.

• The book contains an additional encounter with Able as Chris and Derek walk back.

• Chuck pops corn on the stove.

• Chili has 2nd thoughts about her relationship with Chuck.

• Jason laughs after killing people.

• In this book, the ending in the barn is different than the movie.  It is more in line with the original movie.

He stood up then, frustrated by her strange moods. Moving to the water's edge, he scooped up some pebbles and began to toss them into the still lake. 

“Why did you come back here, Chris?" He didn't look at her when he asked that question.  

"To prove something to myself... to prove that I'm stronger than I think I am."

"And what about us?"

"I'm here with you," she replied, simply. "Can't that be enough for you? For now?"

"I don't know. I don't see you for months on end, and when I do, you put this wall between us. How do I break through?"

She didn't answer, just stared down at the dark earth. He forgot about tossing pebbles and came back to her, sitting down again.







“He had to wonder, as he had since he first saw her, what it would be like to make love to a girl like Vera Sanchez. He was somehow certain he would never know.” - Shelly







But even as her dying body sank beneath the waters of Crystal Lake, there was an expression of disbelief etched on her lovely face, frozen for all time and all eternity.

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Overall, this was an excellent novelization of a classic horror film.  The writing is stellar, and even while reading it, I couldn't get enough of the thrill.  I highly recommend checking out this novel.  I would go the online route, as the physical copy will put you back several thousand dollars.

Highly Recommended, especially for horror fans.

On to Book #93: Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice by Katie Cicatelli-Kuc.