Friday the 13th Part 3

Friday the 13th #3

by Simon Hawke

Genres: Horror

172 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 3, 1988

About the author

Also published as J.D. Masters.

He was born Nicholas Valentin Yermakov, but began writing as Simon Hawke in 1984 and later changed his legal name to Hawke. He has also written near future adventure novels under the penname "J. D. Masters" and mystery novels.

Reviews

[Jeremy Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm being generous by giving this book three stars. That is not a knock on the writing. I've never been a big fan of the third installment, and this book did not change my mind.

[David Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novelization of the third installment of the Friday the 13th franchise is pretty much exactly what you would expect. Dumb, mostly forgettable characters go out to Crystal Lake immediately after another massacre has just gone down there, and Jason shows up to execute (pun intended) yet another killing spree. But in that way, it’s pretty awesome and mostly forgivable because the only people who would bother to read this are the dorks (like me) who enjoy basking in cheesy 1980s slasherdom.

I’m not sure if the story is based on the script or the movie itself, but it sticks very close to the film. I half expected the author to include the 3D effects, like Rick’s eyeball popping out toward the screen, in his descriptions. But we also get some extra background info. It turns out Chili’s sister is named Pepper. And Shelly has plenty of sob stories of not fitting in from earlier in his life.

However, the most interesting addition is the inclusion of Jason’s perspective. This makes him less scary but provides an interesting insight into the character. He remembers what happened to his mom and kind of understands what he’s doing even though he doesn’t understand the rage burning inside of him. His view of people is not entirely different from God’s view of sinners according to Jonathan Edwards. They are both even willing to delay quenching their unending wrath for a while, Jason to allow for enough jump scares before the killing starts and God because he’s just that magnanimous.

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third verse, same as the second and the first! If you've kept up with my reviews then you know by now that I really enjoy seeing Simon Hawke tackle the novelizations of the Friday the 13th movies. He especially made me love the character of Shelley by giving him a nice degree of sympathetic depth, and the same really goes for Fox! I'm also going through the Michael Avallone novelization of this movie, to compare and contrast. I went through this one first, (and if my understanding is correct, Hawke's version is based on the finished movie, where Avallone's adaptation was made off of an unfinished version/version of the original movie script,) and I think Hawke definitely made all the characters more likeable and their emotions more real.

And again, as with the first two books in the series, I wanna say a huge thank-you to The 80s Slasher Librarian on YouTube for making fan-recordings into free audiobooks on their channel so I could listen to them! These books are impossible to find in print unless you want to cough up a pretty penny, which I'm not keen on. I recommend their channel if you want to go through these novelizations for free, and support them if you're able!

[William Cherico · Rating 2 out of 5]

This might be the worst of the three of Hawke's novelizations that I've read so far. It really captures how formulaic and soulless the slasher genre can be, and takes a F13 film that already focuses way too much on an immediately dated visual gimmick (3D) and translates it to a book. There's no attempt at a setting - Hawke seems to expect that the reader will simply imagine Crystal Lake from the movies. That doesn't seem like a hugely egregious thing for a novelization of a movie, but it's been about three or four years since I last saw this film and I can safely say that this entire book took place in a blob of empty space. When the book is at its most boring, in which Jason picks off the teenagers scene after scene, it's impossible for any tension to be created because we have no idea of space and where people are. The ending, which is actually one of my favorites in the franchise, ends pretty lamely without even trying to include some sort of dynamic writing for the final girl's showdown with Jason. Shelley's even more of an incel in the book than the movie which isn't necessarily something I'm holding against the book since I don't think we're really supposed to root for him, but God is it hard to read the parts from his point of view.

[BozCitac · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unlike the bizarre version by Michael Avalone, this novelization of the movie that introduced the iconic white hockey mask by Simon Hawke actually follows the basic rules of grammar and spelling for the most part. However, the problem is that the movie it’s based on is an incoherent idiotic mess only made to cash in on the long-forgotten fad of 3D movies during the 80s. In my opinion, by faithfully reiterating everything in words, the book only shows how stupid and shallow the plot of the movie is. In fact, the only remotely good thing about Abalone’s abysmal rendition was the ambiguous ending which was different from the movie, but this version only reinstates the movie’s extremely lazy and unsatisfying ending, not even mentioning what happened to the eyeball preacher.

[Dope Ghost Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friday The 13th Part 3 is definitely middle of the road material for me as a movie, #6 out of 12 in my ranking of the franchise from worst to best. The novelization by Simon Hawke does little to nothing to extend my love for it; it's still a fun, dumb slasher flick with lots of carnage candy kills, a killer looking Jason Voorhees, spooky disco music, and entertaining comic relief. It also still has hokey dated 3D effects, a lame set of characters, and an almost non-existent plot. While I appreciate author Simon Hawke delving more into the characters' backstories and explain some more details about the maniac Jason Voorhees, this novelization delivers nothing else original. A fun read nonetheless but nowhere near as good as the Friday The 13th Part 2 novelization.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

On with the show. First there are Edna and Harold, then we see some children play. When a group of youths move to Higgins Heaven gory scenes are soon to start. Killing is Jason's business. His hatred can't be satisfied. If someone asks the question "who's there?", it's already too late. Soon the victims are beyond everything. Well, nothing new under the sun. Jason does what he knows best and the book is quite near to the movie. It is a slasher series and here we see the protagonist in action. Liked the cover. Recommended!

[KAggie97 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable and fun read, unlike the Michael Avellone version of this movie. Follows the movie almost to the letter (if you've seen the movie as many times as I have, you'll see it as you read) but fills in gaps and adds more depth to the characters. (Well, as much depth as characters in an 80s slasher film can have, I guess.) I had a blast reading this. Simon Hawke owns the novelizations of this franchise. If you're a fan, definitely read this one.

[Russell Holbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Jason, are you kidding? Mr. Stabby McStabberson is up to his antics again and this time he gets a hocky mask! This is the classic novelization of the classic third film in the classic horror series. I listened to a homemade audiobook version of this on the YouTube channel Slash Trax, and it included music and sound effects and was super, super fun. I enjoyed the inner dialog and the added character details and of course, all the mayhem! Highly recommended for all F13 fans!

[Gnat Prowse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book from a bin of my dad's old books from when he was a teenager and I must say, it's a very fun read. I haven't watched many of the Friday the 13th movies but slashers are my absolute favourite subgenre of horror and I was unsure of how they would translate to writing, But this is great! If you've got an hour to kill on a drive or are just a huge fan, I'd highly recommend(:

[Paul Lê · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another decent novelization for the underrated second sequel in this long-in-the-tooth franchise. Hawke's writing style is less artful than that of Avallone, yet I do appreciate the extra insight into Jason (including his POV) and certain characters (made Chris, Rick, etc. even more likable than they already are).

[Scott Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with part I and part II, this was great read

Reading these is every bit just as good as watching the films

I haven’t seen this film for a long while but it all comes flooding back , scenes, voices all of it

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Jason Collier. For AWESOME-tober-fest on the blog. Actually not bad. I need to see the movie again now.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty basic by the numbers novelization, fun albeit it more useful during the age it was written.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Youtube

[João Bastos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simon Hawke follows the script with almost no major change. There's however one thing that if in the film works very well, in the book it would be even better, but Hawke ends up choosing make it different. I'm talking about the final dynamic between Jason and Shelly.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was enjoyable, but not quite as good as Hawkes's novelizations of the first two Friday the 13th films. Part of the fault for this lies with the fact that most novelizations are only as good as the film they're based on, and Friday the 13th Part 3: 3-D is a pretty crummy movie. In fact, there were parts of this book that I could tell had been originally used in the film merely to show off the 3-D and shock the audience, because they made absolutely no narrative sense. For instance, a crazy old hitchhiker extends his hand to the driver of a van, revealing ... an eyeball! She drives away in panic, and this scene is never further explained. Recommended only for Friday the 13th fans and lovers of trash fiction.

[Andrew Cliett]

As with most novel-movie adaptions, I prefer the film over the book. The character of Jason Voorhees is one of the most recognized in cinematic history. The story & setting are not that far apart, especially the encounter with the biker gang. Part 3 is the first time Jason sports the hockey mask & I'm really glad for this. Overall, the kills, characters, setting & story are well done in both the film & book. Good job, Simon!!

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

They give fodder characters from the film unnecessary background. It's kind of amusing that you're built up to care about the first two characters that get killed in the film. Fun read.