Inspired from the song numbers from The Land Before Time, I started riffing with a Neural Network on what different horror films would be like as musicals. So, I delved deeper and we created several catchy songs for Halloween. Some of these are first passes. Some of them took several passes. And some of them I corrected things manually afterwards. I aimed to blend camp with operatic horror. Some of the songs are still kinda clunkers. But, I think we landed on some good ones.
Please review and let me know if this is an interesting idea worth me developing further (Perhaps providing updates as I do multiple passes over songs and new songs?) or if the idea is just plain horrible.
Halloween the Musical!
John Carpenterâs classic reimagined as a full-scale stage spectacle.
A chilling story of terror and survival⌠told through soaring music, haunting choreography, and unforgettable stagecraft. From the laughter of HaddonfieldâŚ
to the face of pure evil⌠experience Halloween as youâve never seen â or heard â it before.
Halloween: The Musical.
The night he came home⌠to Broadway.
Halloween: The Musical
Opening Number: âOn Halloween Nightâ
[Curtain rises. Stage is in near-darkness. A full moon projection. Slowly, ghostly figures (children in masks, cloaked townsfolk, dancers as âspiritsâ) emerge. A single drumbeat like a heartbeat. The chorus begins, slowly and solemnly.]
CHORUS (chanting in unison, low and eerie):
Black cats and goblins and broomsticks and ghosts,
Covens of witches with all of their hosts.
[Strings creep in. The voices split into harmony, some higher, some lower, making the rhyme feel ceremonial.]
CHORUS (layered, rising):
You may think they scare me, youâre probably rightâŚ
Black cats and goblins, on Halloween night.
[Sudden burst â the CHILDREN run in, trick-or-treat bags in hand. The rhythm kicks up like a drumline, playful yet sinister.]
CHILDREN (bright, bouncing melody):
Trick or treat! Trick or treat!
Give us something good to eat!
[The CHORUS OF ADULTS overlays in dark counterpoint, almost like a warning.]
ADULTS (ominous harmony):
Masks and shadows, fear takes flight,
The Boogeyman walks on Halloween nightâŚ
[The two groups overlap, children joyful, adults foreboding. The stage fills with motion â a carnival of trick-or-treaters against the backdrop of dread. The chant repeats, faster, layered in canon, until it becomes overwhelming.]
ALL (swelling, fortissimo):
Black cats and goblins and broomsticks and ghosts,
Covens of witches with all of their hosts!
On Halloween night, on Halloween night,
The Boogeyman wakes when the moon is bright!
[Music crashes to silence. Spotlight isolates the Myers House. A single child sings the rhyme once more, softly.]
SOLO CHILD (haunting soprano):
Black cats and goblinsâŚ
On Halloween night.
[Blackout.]
Halloween: The Musical
Scene 1b: âFifteen Yearsâ
[Stage: Car projection through rain. Wipers = rhythmic percussion. A dark cello underpins the melody.]
NURSE CHAMBERS (gentle, almost pitying):
Fifteen years in silence, Doctor,
Fifteen years without a word.
Donât you think, if he were human,
Some small sound would have been heard?
LOOMIS (calm but cutting):
No reason.
No mercy.
No fear.
He hasnât spoken a word⌠in fifteen years.
NURSE (pushing back, quickened rhythm):
But how will he face the judge?
How will he plead his case?
If heâs still just a boy inside,
Locked away behind that face?
LOOMIS (rising, heavy brass accent):
He must not face them!
He must not speak!
Iâll give him Thorazine,
Iâll make him weak.
[Orchestra swells â the refrain returns, louder, firmer.]
LOOMIS (pounding, mantra-like):
No reason!
No mercy!
No fear!
He hasnât spoken a word⌠in fifteen years!
[Nurse recoils, then answers with a softer counterpoint â almost a lullaby over his thunder.]
NURSE:
Fifteen years of silence, Doctor,
Fifteen years of quiet breath.
Would you drug a child forever,
Keep him caged until his death?
[They overlap â her compassion weaving against his fury.]
DUET (counterpoint):
-
NURSE (tender):
What if the boy is still inside? -
LOOMIS (grim):
Iâve seen the devil in his eyes! -
NURSE:
What if the silence hides a plea? -
LOOMIS:
His silence speaks of misery!
[Refrain swells again, full chorus joins in like a Greek echo from the shadows.]
LOOMIS + CHORUS (fortissimo, pounding):
No reason!
No mercy!
No fear!
He hasnât spoken a word⌠in fifteen years!
[Music crashes to a stop. Lightning flashes â the patients appear on stage in gowns, wandering in the storm. The car halts. Transition into the escape scene.]
Halloween: The Musical
Scene 3: âWhy?â / âThe Spook Houseâ
[Stage: A moving backdrop of Haddonfield streets, trees lit with orange glow. Laurie and Tommy stroll, holding books and a pumpkin. A light, skipping melody on woodwinds and strings sets the pace.]
TOMMY (bright childâs melody, sing-song):
Why do leaves turn red in fall?
Why are pumpkins round and tall?
Whyâs the moon so big tonight?
Why do goblins give us fright?
LAURIE (warm, gently melodic, almost nursery-like):
Leaves turn red because they must,
Pumpkins grow in autumnâs trust.
The moon looks close, the night feels near â
But goblins? Thatâs just make-believe, dear.
TOMMY (insistent, playful counterpoint):
But why, Laurie, why?
Why, Laurie, why?
If goblins arenât real,
Why do grown-ups still lie?
[They round a corner. The Myers house appears downstage â windows dark, shutters broken. Music shifts: strings drop into minor key, a low organ drone enters.]
LAURIE (pausing, pointing, more serious tone):
Thatâs the Myers house, standing stillâŚ
Where something happened, something ill.
They say a boy did something bad â
And after that, it all went sad.
TOMMY (stepping back, eyes wide, rhythmic chant):
Thatâs the spook house!
Stay away!
Thatâs the spook house!
Donât you play!
[The ensemble (offstage voices) join Tommy, chanting in layers like a jump-rope rhyme, surrounding Laurieâs slower, calming melody.]
ENSEMBLE (whisper chant, canon):
Spook house, spook house, shadows insideâŚ
Spook house, spook house, nowhere to hideâŚ
LAURIE (soothing, overlaying):
Donât be afraid, itâs only a place,
The stories we tell put fear on its face.
Itâs just a house, nothing moreâŚ
Letâs walk on, Tommy, past the door.
[Music resolves back into the lighter walking theme as Laurie takes Tommyâs hand and leads him away. The Myers house remains lit dimly, ominously, as they exit.]
Halloween: The Musical
Scene 4: âPoor Laurie, Scared Another One Awayâ
[Stage: A sidewalk with tall hedges (the infamous bush). Laurie, Annie, and Lynda walk home from school. A breezy pop-rock groove begins â think jangly guitar + snappy percussion, teen energy.]
ANNIE (mock-dramatic, swinging her bag, teasing Laurie):
Poor Laurie, scared another one away,
She blushes and she stammers,
Sheâs got nothing to say.
Poor Laurie, she hides behind her books all day â
If love came knocking, sheâd run the other way!
[Lynda laughs, chiming in with a bubbly counterline.]
LYNDA (teasing harmony):
Totally, Annie â sheâs hopeless, itâs true!
Boys call her name and she doesnât know what to do!
LAURIE (flustered, defensive, but melodic):
I donât need to chase them,
I donât need the fussâŚ
Maybe Iâm just waiting
For someone who sees us.
ANNIE (rolling her eyes, quick patter):
Oh listen to her â so dreamy, so shy!
If Mr. Right passed by, she wouldnât even try.
Poor Laurie, sheâll spend her life alone,
While the rest of us are kissing on the telephone!
[The trio walks, laughing and bickering. Behind them, Michaelâs SHAPE creeps across the hedge in silhouette. The music drops into a darker key â bass pulsing under the playful melody.]
ENSEMBLE (offstage whispers, layering):
Heâs in the hedges, heâs in the nightâŚ
Heâs in the shadows, just out of sightâŚ
[Annie pulls Laurie forward, singing the refrain again, bigger now, like a mock-anthem.]
ANNIE (belting, with Lynda joining in giggles):
Poor Laurie, scared another one away,
Sheâs haunted by her homework,
She wonât come out to play!
Poor Laurie, her chance will never stay â
Love slips by while she hides away!
[The girls exit, still laughing. The music cuts suddenly as Michael steps into a pool of light behind the hedge, watching them in silence. Blackout.]
Halloween: The Musical
Scene 2: âIf You Donât, Itâs Your Funeralâ
[Stage: A phone booth set on a desolate stage. A train rumbles faintly in the distance. The booth is lit in stark white. Loomis grips the receiver, pacing. Music begins with staccato strings, like ticking clock hands.]
LOOMIS (sharp, clipped recitative, like ringing notes on brass):
This is Dr. LoomisâŚ
Listen to me.
You must alert them â
Haddonfieldâs not free.
[He slams his hand against the glass of the booth. Orchestra swells behind him â low brass and timpani, ominous.]
LOOMIS (rising urgency):
Iâve told you before,
Iâll tell you again:
If you donât, itâs your funeral â
And the death of your men.
[He grips the phone, voice lowering, a cold stillness creeping in.]
LOOMIS (grim, steady):
Heâs waited, heâs watched,
Through fifteen lost yearsâŚ
Now the night has come â
And it feeds on your fears.
[Counterpoint: offstage chorus â faint, whispery voices (like townsfolk) echoing the words âfifteen years.â]
CHORUS (whispered echo):
Fifteen years⌠fifteen yearsâŚ
LOOMIS (erupts, belting over them):
If you donât lock your doors,
If you donât hear my cries,
The children will suffer,
The innocent die!
If you donât, itâs your funeral,
The blood will be yours â
Iâve stared into blackness
Behind human doors!
[The train roars by â percussion mimics its thunder. Loomis hangs the phone, staring out. The stage darkens around him, leaving just the booth in light. He leans into the final refrain, a grim mantra.]
LOOMIS (low, resonant):
If you donâtâŚ
Itâs your funeral.
[Music cuts. Blackout. Transition to Haddonfield.]
Halloween: The Musical
Scene 6: âHe Wonât Smellâ
[Stage: Annieâs car glides downstage, Haddonfield streets projected behind. A jazzy swing beat starts on upright bass with brushes on snare. The air feels playful but a little dangerous.]
ANNIE (grinning, leaning back, teasing):
Weâre cruising slow, weâre taking our time,
Just a couple of girls on Halloween night.
One puff here, one puff there â
Do you think my daddy will notice the air?
LAURIE (nervous, hushed, soprano):
Annie, donât! Heâll know right away!
Heâs the sheriff â youâll have to pay!
ANNIE (sassy, syncopated):
Relax, relax, he wonât smell a thing,
Just flash him a smile, let the church bells ring!
[Car slows. Spotlight: SHERIFF BRACKETT downstage, outside the hardware store, talking with an officer. The girls duck a little lower. Jazz percussion taps like a heartbeat.]
DUET (back-and-forth patter, whispered but bouncy):
-
LAURIE:
Annie, I swear â put it out, right now! -
ANNIE:
Laurie, come on â heâll never know how! -
LAURIE:
Heâs standing right there, heâll smell it for sure! -
ANNIE:
He wonât smell a thing â just drive by the store!
[They pass the Sheriff. He waves casually at his daughter. Annie waves back, all confidence. Laurie slumps in her seat, mortified. The music kicks up with a cheeky brass flourish.]
ANNIE (mock-triumphant belt):
See? Told you, told you, Iâve got the spell!
The Sheriffâs my daddy â and he wonât smell!
[Annie laughs, Laurie groans, the band plays a bright jazzy tag. Then, as the car fades into the distance, the lighting shifts â Michaelâs silhouette appears stage left. The swing rhythm fades into the faint, ominous Boogey Beat underneath.]
CHORUS (offstage whisper, eerie counterpoint):
He wonât smell⌠but he still seesâŚ
[Blackout.]
Halloween: The Musical
Scene 5: âYouâve Got to Believe Meâ
[Stage: The sidewalk outside the hardware store. Police lights flash faintly. Loomis grips Brackettâs arm; Brackett folds his arms, suspicious. The music begins low, with tense strings and a heartbeat rhythm on drums.]
LOOMIS (urgent baritone, almost breathless):
Sheriff Brackett, listen to me!
Heâs come back here â donât you see?
Fifteen years Iâve watched him wait,
Now heâs returned to seal their fate!
BRACKETT (steady, skeptical, bass-baritone):
Doctor, Iâve heard your words before,
But Haddonfieldâs quiet, a peaceful shore.
Kids play tricks on Halloween night,
You see a shadow, I see no fright.
LOOMIS (rising, pounding rhythm):
No reason, no mercy, no fear!
He hasnât spoken a word in fifteen years!
Sheriff, believe me, this night will fall â
If you donât act now, it will consume us all!
BRACKETT (cutting him down, slower):
Doctor, you speak like the end has come,
But I see pumpkins, children, fun.
You call him evil, the Devilâs eyesâŚ
But what I see looks like disguise.
[Music swells into a tense counterpoint â Loomis hammering out his prophecy while Brackett resists.]
DUET (overlapping lines):
-
LOOMIS (desperate belt):
Heâs here! Heâs here! The Shape of Night!
He kills, he stalks, he wonât take flight! -
BRACKETT (gruff, grounded):
Calm yourself, man, donât spread alarm â
My town is safe, my streets are calm.
[Sudden break â Loomis steps center stage, spotlight on him alone, orchestra hits like thunder.]
LOOMIS (prophetic):
I met this child with the blackest eyesâŚ
The Devilâs eyes, where all good dies!
If you wonât help me, if you wonât see,
Then the blood of Haddonfield falls on thee!
[Orchestra crashes. Loomis slumps. Brackett pauses, uneasy but not fully convinced. The music softens into a tense underscoring.]
BRACKETT (quiet, conflicted):
All right, Doctor⌠Iâll walk with you.
But if youâre wrongâŚ
Itâs on you too.
[They exit together into darkness, uneasy allies. Lights fade.]
Halloween: The Musical
Scene 7: âAnnieâs Stuckâ
[Stage: The laundry room. Annie slips through the window, trying to fetch clothes. Lindsey sits nearby, half-bored, holding the dog. A plunky upright piano sets a bouncy rhythm.]
ANNIE (wiggling, comic soprano):
Oh great, just great,
Iâm stuck in this place â
A babysitterâs nightmare,
Laundry disgrace!
[She kicks her legs as she tries to squeeze through. Lindsey giggles.]
LINDSEY (mock-serious, sings deadpan):
Youâre stuck, youâre stuck,
Like a duck in a truck.
Whatâll you do, Annie?
Youâre out of luck.
ANNIE (groaning, half-sung):
Donât just sit there smirking, kid,
Come give me a hand!
Or Iâll be singing from this window sill
âTil Halloween is canned!
[Underscoring shifts: Lindsey puts down the dog, hops toward Annie, pokes her playfully.]
LINDSEY (teasing, sing-song):
You said you were clever,
You said you were cool,
But look at you now â
Youâre a stuck babysitter fool!
ANNIE (rolling eyes, mock-pleading, reaching out one hand):
Please Lindsey, please!
Donât laugh, donât tease!
If you donât help,
Iâll be stuck here âtil I freeze!
[Music picks up tempo; Lindsey grabs Annieâs arm, tugging with exaggerated effort.]
DUET (call-and-response):
-
LINDSEY:
Pull, pull, Annie! -
ANNIE:
Tug, tug, Lindsey! -
BOTH:
Weâll get me free, just wait and see!
[On the last tug, Annie pops free and stumbles forward. They collapse in a heap, laughing. The music pauses in a comic âplonk.â]
ANNIE (catching her breath, mock-triumphant):
See? Told you â no problem at all!
LINDSEY (deadpan, crossing arms):
Sure⌠until you got stuck in the wall.
[They laugh. But as Annie gathers clothes, the underscoring shifts â a dark cello note slides beneath their laughter. In the shadows, Michaelâs shape is faintly visible through the window.]
CHORUS (offstage whisper, eerie overlay):
Sheâs stuck, sheâs free,
But he still seesâŚ
[Lights fade out on the playful scene, leaving Michaelâs silhouette looming in silence.]
Halloween: The Musical
Scene 5: âBen Tramerâ
[Stage: Split screen set â Laurieâs bedroom on one side, Annie in her kitchen on the other. Each with a phone. A plucky guitar/bass line kicks in, light and teasing.]
ANNIE (sing-song tease):
So, whatâd you do,
Ask him out?
Whatâd you do, Laurie,
Come on, spill out!
LAURIE (flustered, melody stuttering like her nerves):
No, I couldnât â Annie, please!
Donât make me talk, youâre such a tease!
ANNIE (mock serious, rhythmic):
He likes you, Laurie, I can tell,
Ben Tramer likes you â oh so well!
LAURIE (gasping, almost spoken-sung):
Donât mention that name!
Donât say it out loud!
If anyone heard â
Iâd just sink through the ground!
[Music picks up tempo â quick back-and-forth patter, like teenage gossip overlapping.]
ANNIE:
You want his arms, you want his eyes!
LAURIE (overlapping):
Stop it, Annie, no more lies!
ANNIE (pressing, playful):
You want his lips, you want his smile!
LAURIE (protesting, but canât help laughing):
It isnât like that, not my style!
[Small pause, Annie lowers her voice, conspiratorial.]
ANNIE (sly, slower):
What if I told him,
What if I say?
âBen, Laurie likes you â
Ask her out today!â
LAURIE (panicked high note):
Donât you dare, Annie, donât you dare!
You wouldnât â you couldnât â
You better not share!
[Underscoring drops for comic effect; Annie breaks into spoken-sung laughter.]
ANNIE:
Oh Laurie, Laurie, donât be so shy,
One little date,
You wonât even die!
[As the music winds down, Laurie turns toward her window â the melody fades into an eerie sustained violin as a shadow passes outside. Annie is still humming âBen Tra-mer, Ben Tra-merâ under her breath. Lights dim on Laurieâs side, leaving her uneasy.]
END SCENE.
Halloween: The Musical
Scene 7: âHe Could Have Seen Her, Standing Thereâ
[Stage: The ruined Myers House. A single shaft of moonlight through a broken window. Dust motes swirl. Loomis stands center, Brackett watching him warily. The orchestra begins with soft strings, almost hymn-like. Loomis stares out, lost in memory.]
LOOMIS (baritone, slow, aching):
He could have seen herâŚ
Standing thereâŚ
By the mirror, by the bedâŚ
Her laughter drifting through the air,
Unknowing what would lie ahead.
[Brackett shifts, uneasy, but says nothing. Loomis continues, his voice swelling, trembling with obsession.]
LOOMIS (sweeping, mournful):
He could have seen herâŚ
Standing thereâŚ
The sister he should have adored.
But through the mask, through hollow eyes,
He raised the knife⌠and struck his sword.
[The orchestra swells â strings climbing, woodwinds whispering. Loomis turns to Brackett, voice breaking, like a man confessing a wound.]
LOOMIS (desperate, almost a sob):
Fifteen years, the vision burnsâŚ
The night she fell, the world still turns.
But evil waits, and evil staresâŚ
He could have seen her⌠standing there.
[A pause. Brackett steps closer, his voice low, practical, grounding the aria.]
BRACKETT (soft, uneasy):
Doctor, the past is gone,
But you sing it like a song.
The boy you fearâŚ
Could he be more than what you see here?
[Loomis rounds on him, furious but still mournful â swelling to the climax, his refrain a howl of memory and doom.]
LOOMIS (thundering, sweeping, full orchestra):
He could have seen her, standing there!
Her smile, her youth, her golden hair!
And in that sight, a darkness grew â
The Devilâs eyes⌠that never knew!
[Music crashes into silence. Loomis stands in the shaft of moonlight, trembling. Brackett lowers his head, shaken for the first time.]
BRACKETT (quiet, almost conceding):
If youâre right⌠God help us all.
[Blackout.]
Halloween: The Musical
Scene 9: âCanât I Get Your Ghost, Bob?â
[Stage: Lynda sprawls on the bed, still in post-tryst glow. The room glows orange from a jack-o-lantern. Enter Bob â or rather, âghost Bob,â under a sheet with glasses perched on top. A cheeky jazz vamp begins â upright bass, muted trumpet, swing-cabaret style.]
LYNDA (flirty, faux-torch singer):
Bob⌠oh BobâŚ
You vanish, then you haunt!
Canât I get your ghost, Bob,
To give me what I want?
[âGhost Bobâ shuffles around the stage, arms out like a cartoon ghoul. He doesnât sing â just groans and moans rhythmically, to audience giggles. Lynda belts in mock torch-song glamour, stretching notes too big for the moment.]
LYNDA:
A sheet canât hide your smile,
Your touch, your kiss, your styleâŚ
So donât just stand and stare â
Come haunt me for a while!
[She grabs the phone, dialing Laurie. The jazz vamp continues, softening into plucky pizzicato strings. Laurie appears in a split-screen spotlight at her own phone.]
LYNDA (teasing, to Laurie):
Hello? Oh Laurie, donât you see?
Iâve got my Bob, heâs haunting me!
LAURIE (straight soprano, uneasy):
Lynda, stop fooling, this isnât a game,
Whereâs Annie, whereâs Bob â why wonât they explain?
[The two overlap â Laurieâs line serious, Lyndaâs playful. Lynda twirls the phone cord, rolling her eyes.]
LYNDA (sultry swing):
Canât I get your ghost, Bob?
Come close and thrill me near.
LAURIE (counterpoint, higher line):
This doesnât feel like laughter,
Something darkerâs here.
[âGhost Bobâ looms behind Lynda. The vamp grows darker, the brass more dissonant. Laurie sings higher, urgent. Lynda giggles into the receiver.]
LYNDA (laughing line):
Ooooh, Laurie, donât be so tight!
Itâs Halloween, babe â itâs our night!
[Sudden â Michaelâs gloved hand slams down, strangling Lynda with the phone cord. The vamp cuts to shrieking strings. Lynda gasps in rhythm as Laurieâs voice cuts through on the other side.]
LAURIE (frantic):
Lynda? Lynda?! Answer me!
Lynda?!
[Lynda collapses, phone dangling. Silence, except for the faint hum of the Boogey Beat. Laurie clutches her phone, spotlighted, terrified.]
CHORUS (offstage, whispering echo):
Ghosts donât answerâŚ
Ghosts donât speakâŚ
The Boogeyman takesâŚ
The ones he seeks.
[Blackout.]
Halloween: The Musical
Finale: âIt Really Was the Boogeyman (Boogey Beat)â
[Scene: Michael has fallen from the balcony. Loomis lowers the gun, Laurie sobs. The stage is silent â then a low, pulsing âboogey beatâ begins: bass and hi-hat, heartbeat-like. Blue ghost light fills the stage.]
LAURIE (fragile, trembling soprano):
Was that⌠the Boogeyman?
LOOMIS (grave, baritone, clipped to rhythm):
As a matter of fact⌠it was.
[The beat drops**. The CHORUS enters from the shadows, whisper-chanting âBoogeymanâ in rhythm. One by one, the** dead victims â Annie, Lynda, Bob â step onto the stage, pale, silent, spectral. They move with dancerly grace, not zombies, joining the chorus line.]
CHORUS (rhythmic chant):
Boogeyman, Boogeyman,
It really was the Boogeyman!
Boogeyman, Boogeyman,
It really was the Boogeyman!
CORPSES (singing in eerie harmony):
We thought we were safe, we thought we were fine,
But the Boogeyman strikes every time.
You can shoot him once, you can shoot him six,
But the Shape keeps coming â itâs his trick!
[Music builds â brass hits, funky guitar. The corpses sway and spin, ghostly arms reaching, their movements sharp and theatrical.]
CHORUS & CORPSES (call-and-response):
Who walks at night? (The Boogeyman!)
Who gives you fright? (The Boogeyman!)
Who wonât stay dead? (The Boogeyman!)
Whoâs in your head? (The Boogeyman!)
[Spotlight isolates Loomis. He staggers forward, wild-eyed. The corpses freeze, pointing at him.]
LOOMIS (manic belt, each line punctuated by gunshot brass):
I SHOT HIM SIX TIMES!
I SHOT HIM SIX TIMES!
I SHOT HIM SIX TIMES AND STILL HE CLIMES!
[The corpses resume movement, encircling Loomis and Laurie, their voices swelling, layering with the chorus.]
CORPSES & CHORUS:
Six times! Six times!
And still he lives, the Boogeyman!
Six times! Six times!
Forever he walks through Haddonfieldâs lands!
[Dance break: the corpses drift around Laurie, who reaches skyward in despair. The Boogey beat pounds harder. The voices crescendo into a wall of sound.]
ALL (fortissimo, final chord):
It really wasâŚ
THE BOOGEYMAN!
[Final tableau: corpses in ghostly tableau around Laurie, Loomis framed at the balcony, the mask spotlighted alone on the stage floor. The beat cuts. Blackout.]
Halloween: The Musical
Epilogue Coda: âToo Lateâ
[Stage: The aftermath. Silence. Faint smoke and moonlight. Laurie sits on the floor, torn and bloodied. Loomis stands, gun heavy at his side. The corpses of Annie, Bob, and Lynda stand upstage, ghostlike, still. A soft piano begins, strings entering one by one.]
LAURIE (soft, fragile soprano):
The laughter is gone,
The voices are stillâŚ
The night we thought harmless
Was waiting to kill.
LOOMIS (low, sorrowful baritone, entering like a response):
I warned them, I begged,
But none heard my pleaâŚ
And when evil walked out,
It walked silently.
[They circle each other slowly, like a duet in a love song, but with no romance â just grief intertwining.]
LAURIE:
Annie, she joked,
Said Iâd die a lone old maidâŚ
But the joke turned to silence
When her life was betrayed.
[ANNIEâS CORPSE collapses slowly to the ground, spotlight fading.]
LOOMIS (grim, stepping toward Annieâs body):
She should have been safe,
She should have been spared.
But my words were dismissed â
No one cared.
LAURIE (turning to Bob, voice trembling):
Bob, he was laughing,
He never saw the knifeâŚ
He kissed her goodnight
And it cost him his life.
[BOBâS CORPSE collapses, a dull thud echoed by the orchestra.]
LOOMIS (lifting his head, pained):
I watched for fifteen years,
I swore he must not roamâŚ
But they opened the gates,
And he came home.
LAURIE (reaching toward Lynda, almost whispering):
Lynda, my friend,
So silly, so freeâŚ
A phone call unanswered
Now echoes in me.
[LYNDAâS CORPSE collapses, her phone cord dangling. Silence hangs.]
[Loomis moves beside Laurie now. They sing together in counterpoint â she in anguish, he in guilt.]
DUET:
-
LAURIE (crying, high line):
Iâm broken, Iâm haunted, Iâll never be wholeâŚ
The mask of the Boogeyman lives in my soul. -
LOOMIS (heavy, low line):
Iâm burdened, Iâm guilty, I failed to restrainâŚ
The evil I studied now walks again.
[Orchestra swells â strings, brass, timpani. The corpses slowly rise behind them, ghostlike, forming a tableau around Laurie and Loomis.]
ALL (fortissimo, united lament):
Too late, too late â the warnings, the criesâŚ
Too late, too late â beneath Haddonfield skies.
The night is not ended, the shadow wonât fade,
The Boogeyman lives in the darkness we made.
[The corpses collapse in unison as the final chord crashes. Laurie and Loomis stand alone, center stage, bathed in a single white spotlight. Silence. Blackout.]
Halloween: The Musical
Curtain Reprise: âOn Halloween Night (Reprise)â
[Stage: Black. Total silence after Laurie and Loomisâs coda. Then, faintly, a single childâs voice sings from the darkness â pure, unaccompanied.]
SOLO CHILD (haunting, offstage):
Black cats and goblins and broomsticks and ghosts,
Covens of witches with all of their hostsâŚ
[A dim orange glow rises â the outline of the Myers House. Slowly, more childrenâs voices join in, not playful but solemn, like a requiem.]
CHILDRENâS CHORUS (soft canon, layered):
You may think they scare me, youâre probably rightâŚ
Black cats and goblinsâŚ
On Halloween nightâŚ
[A low organ enters, giving the rhyme a dirge-like weight. The corpses rise one final time behind Laurie and Loomis, not dancing â simply standing as shadows.]
ENSEMBLE (dark harmony under the children):
Trick or treat, trick or treatâŚ
Evil walks on silent feet.
Masks of white, knives that gleamâŚ
Death awoke from a childâs dream.
[The childrenâs voices grow thinner, more echo-like, as if fading into the wind. The corpses collapse in unison one last time. Michaelâs silhouette appears in the doorway of the Myers House, framed in stark white light.]
ALL (whispered, final refrain):
On Halloween nightâŚ
On Halloween nightâŚ
On Halloween nightâŚ
[Lights snap out. Curtain falls.]
