Night of the Living Rerun

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.

Night of the Living Rerun
The stage is set for a killer performance.
Type	Novel
Author(s)	Arthur Byron Cover
Publication	March 1, 1998
Length	178 pages
Publisher	Pocket Books
ISBN	0671017152

Night of the Living Rerun is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel. Written by Arthur Byron Cover, it was originally published on March 1, 1998 by Pocket Books.

Summary

A HISTORY LESSON?

In 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, the Despised One was raised from the Otherworld and Samantha Kane, that generation's Slayer, died while defeating it. Now in 1997, the Master is trying to have history repeat itself but this time with a different ending. The spirits of the people responsible for the rise of the Despised One in 1692 are now inhabiting the bodies of Buffy and her friends. Buffy must stop the ritual from happening or the Master will rise from his prison below Sunnydale.

Continuity

• The events of this story take place on Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2.

Appearances

Individuals

• Cordelia Chase
• Lora Church
• Rick Church
• Sheriff Corwin
• Judge Danforth
• Despised One
• Sarah Dinsdale
• Augie Duluth
• Edith
• Robert Erwin
• Eric Frank
• Rupert Giles
• John Goodman
• Alexander Harris
• Samantha Kane
• Daryl MacGovern
• Cotton Mather
• McCrumski
• Pat
• Heather Putnam
• Willow Rosenberg
• Buffy Summers
• Joyce Summers

Species

• Human
• Vampire
• Zombie

Locations

• Sunnydale
  • Billy Bob's Country Steak House
  • The gallery
  • Police station
  • Sunnydale Central Park
  • Sunnydale High School
    • Sunnydale High School library
  • Rosenberg residence

Weapons and objects

• The Book of Eibon
• 3HUJ259
• Moonman
• Stake

Behind the scenes

Production

• The cover features a promotional picture taken for episode "Prophecy Girl".
• The book was written during season 1 and the official summary references the Master being trapped in the church. Edits were made before its publication to make it compliant with canon established by "Prophecy Girl", making the Master plot from Hell and seek his return to Sunnydale through the Hellmouth, instead of merely seeking to leave the church.
• The Master holds responsibility for the Salem Witch Trials.
• The Lovecraftian tome The Book of Eibon appears in Giles' library.

Collections

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Volume 1

International titles

• Dutch: Herhaling van het Verleden (Recurrence of the Past)
• German: Die Nacht der Wiederkehr (The Night of Returns)
• French: Répétition Mortelle (Deadly Repetition)
• Portuguese (Portugal): A Noite da Reencarnação Final (The Night of the Final Reincarnation)
• Indonesian: Malam Pengulangan (Night Repetition)

Other

• The book is the third entry in a trilogy of standalone books connected by the theme of "Cowboys and Indians", along with Halloween Rain and Coyote Moon. The cowboy theme is represented by the climactic battle humorously taking place in a western-themed restaurant and the Indian theme is represented by both the historical conflict between Salem and the Wabanaki Confederacy in the flashback setting and as Native American bodies in the Sunnydale area being among the various zombies to animate in the modern setting.
• The book is the first Buffy tie-in novel whose plot is not envisioned as a one-shot monster-of-the-week adventure but as a full season arc — in this case, for a speculative season two — with scattered references to the monster-of-the-week adventures the Scoobies face in-between events that progress the main plot.

Gallery

Original photo for cover

Cover in France

Night of the Living Rerun GE.jpg

Cover in Germany

Cover in Indonesia

Cover in the Netherlands

Cover in Portugal