Buffyverse Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Buffyverse Wiki
Btvs The subject of this article is non-canonical.
While created as part of licensed material, it has not been confirmed as part of the "real" Buffyverse continuity.
Angelwings

Halloween Rain is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel. Written by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder, it was originally published on November 1, 1997 by Pocket Books.

Synopsis[]

CHAOS REIGNS

As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, to find them where they gather and to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers.

Around Sunnydale, they say a scarecrow saturated with Halloween rain will come alive and slaughter anyone in sight. (Lovely place, Sunnydale.) Buffy's best friends, Xander and Willow, used to think the tale was nonsense — but after a few adventures with Buffy, they're not so sure.

Even without a maniacal scarecrow, a Sunnydale Halloween is a truly horrific happening. There are enough zombies and vampires about, ready to party hearty and eat some brains, to keep the Slayer and her friends up all night.

And then rain starts to fall…[1]

Continuity[]

  • Buffy's use of a crossbow and references to the Master indicate that the novel takes place sometime after "Angel" but before "Prophecy Girl."
  • Halloween is depicted as an event with higher supernatural activity, which contradicts the statement first mentioned in the episode "Halloween." The rule that it tends to be lower is mentioned as well in "Fear, Itself" and "All the Way."

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Events[]

Locations[]

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

  • Halloween Rain is the first original Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel, third only to the novelizations The Harvest and Buffy the Vampire Slayer among all Buffyverse books.
  • The cover features a promotional picture taken for Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 1.
  • The Japanese edition includes ten original illustrations of the story.
  • Christopher Golden has discussed the divergent interpretations of Halloween: "We liaise with Mutant Enemy, but mostly for their approval rather than to avoid the duplication of ideas. [...] We wrote our Halloween novel before Joss [Whedon] did Halloween on the show. Again, it isn't in continuity, so we have to just judge it on whether or not its an effective story, which I think it is."[2]

Collections[]

Goofs[]

  • The original publication of this story has Samhain saying that "Erin Randall died more than four hundred years ago," which would put her active in the late 1500s. However, when Giles is referencing Timothy Cassidy's Watcher Diary, it is said Erin lived in the 17th century. This contradiction is solved in the collection edition, which has Samhain saying instead: "Erin Randall died centuries ago."

International titles[]

  • Dutch: Halloween
  • French: La Pluie d'Halloween (The Halloween Rain)
  • German: Halloween
  • Hungarian: A madárijesztő (The Scarecrow)
  • Indonesian: Hujan Halloween (Halloween Rain)
  • Italian: Il Ballo di Halloween (The Halloween Dance)
  • Japanese: 死霊の王 (King of the Dead)
  • Portuguese: Chuva em Dia de Bruxas (Rain on Halloween)
  • Russian: Дождь на Хеллоуин (Rain on Halloween)

Other[]

  • Halloween Rain is the first of a trilogy of standalone books connected by the loose theme of "Cowboys and Indians," along with Coyote Moon and Night of the Living Rerun. Halloween Rain mostly represents this theme with Halloween costumes, depicting two cowboy-themed vampires — dressed as cowboy and saloon girl — and two Indian-themed humans — a white guy dressed as a stereotypical movie "Indian" and a real Native American who takes issue with the former's costume.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. "Halloween Rain eBook by Christopher Golden, Nancy Holder". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved on August 18, 2019.
  2. "Christopher Golden Interview". The Watcher's Web. Archived from the original on November 9, 2006.
Advertisement