The smell of falling leaves, aisles of fun size candies in every store, and the sight of blood, even if it is fake, can only mean one thing: Fall is near! As Halloween inches around the corner, and the kiddies are preparing their trick-or-treat costumes, fans of John Carpenter’s Halloween are gearing up for a new holiday tradition.

Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures have released some sweet, never-before-seen, treats from the upcoming Halloween.

Nine new photos have been unleashed to whet our appetites for the already highly anticipated return of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. While the masked villain is not featured in any of the shots, the collection does give us a peek behind the scenes and a few glimpses from the film.

Jamie Lee Curtis returns to reprise her iconic role as Laurie Strode, but unlike before, Strode is ready for Michael’s return, preparing for an epic showdown 40 years in the making.

The cast also includes Judy Greer and Andi Matichak as three different generations of Strode females.

iHorror writer Kelly McNeely attended TIFF and witnessed the rebirth of Halloween. Just like Carpenter himself said in a featurette, Michael is back with vengeance and has not been “this good [as I’ve seen] since we did the first movie.”

https://youtu.be/aE0M0WC_u1M

Danny McBride, co-writer of Halloween, hopes the new sequel won’t ruin too many childhoods.

“In this day and age, Hollywood is tapping into so many beloved franchises that it seems like any time anything comes out there’s the contingency of people that are stoked, and the contingency of people that are fucking pissed off and saying you ruined their childhood somehow,” McBride told IndieWire.

McBride and Green are known for their comedic past working together on projects like the HBO original series Vice Principals. McBride promises this movie will be far from comedy, however.

“I hope this thing tips more into the world of people liking it. I hope we don’t ruin too many childhoods,” McBride continued. “I think it will be interesting for people to see what David Green has pulled off as a director, going from things like Stronger and Pineapple Express and being able to segue into something that’s just straight, gritty horror. I’m always impressed with the different genre hats that David finds himself putting on, and I think people will be pleased with what he’s done.”

Green revealed his original plan for the opening of the new Halloween while speaking at a press junket in Los Angeles. Since the new film is a continuation to the 1978 film – ignoring every sequel spawned after – Green initially wanted to begin with the ending of the original.

“We had this very complicated overhead view of Loomis shooting the gun, Michael going over and then the apprehension, assuming everybody was going to need a little bit to get back up to speed with where we are and we haven’t seen the movie in a long time or we’ve never seen the movie, had to invite everyone to the party and that kind of thing,” said Green according to ScreenRant. “We kept pushing it off.”

That would have called for a complete refilming of the 40-year-old scene.  Green explained the extensive procedure of how they were going to de-age Curtis  and bring Donald Pleasence back – Pleasence passed away in 1995 – with the help of modern day movie magic.

However (and thankfully), Carpenter stepped in and convinced Green to trash the idea.

“This was Carpenter actually calming me down on set,” said Green. “I’m like, ‘Nobody’s going to know what’s happening and where we’re coming from.’ He’s like, ‘Just trust ‘em and leave ‘em alone and let ‘em figure it out.’”

Carpenter is returning as executive producer, creative consultant, and composer of the film’s score. The direct-sequel to the original 1978 classic will hit theaters October 19.

Are the new stills from Halloween getting you excited for the October 19 release date? Will you be watching the return of Michael opening weekend? Let us know in the comments below.

Also, check out this little girl getting down to the tunes of the original Halloween. Relatable? I think so!

OK MOOD pic.twitter.com/9olt1fzJQJ

— Kimbérlllllly (@kimmmmmyv_) September 14, 2018