I have loved the movie Hocus Pocus ever since seeing it on VHS as a wee one. So, I was excited to see that they were going to make a sequel even in book form. This one combines a new novelization of the original movie along with the follow up and, overall, it was just okay. While the first half was superior to the second, even that fell a bit short than my expectation, likely due to it coming out so long after the original movie did. And it’s not like it was a re-release of the original novelization; it was a brand-new. The insight to some of the characters was a little appreciated but wasn’t consistent enough really add much. There was even more ‘background’ given on some which in some places ended up being strong, but others read like filler. It was awkward reading the musical number for ‘I Put a Spell on You’, which is something that also came up in the second part. It was nice reading it for the nostalgia factor but given the option between the two, the movie will win out each time since this was, at best, a lukewarm experience.

Spoilers ahead.

The second half read like fan fiction and was just ‘eh’. Poppy as a character was a bit hard to like if for nothing else than her unwillingness to believe the story since one would think that when three members of your family are agreeing on one story, you might be inclined to believe them and even if you didn’t you would at least indulge them on a few things. Part of this feeling could be because as the reader I knew it was true but still, that disbelief got real old real fast especially since she turned out be wrong.

The addition of the ‘not sister’ was a bit much for me since it seemed very cliched as well as who her descendant ended up being and having yet another member turn into an animal companion made me roll my eyes. The Sanderson sisters in the second half were washed-out versions of what they previously were. There was also a written ‘musical’ number here that came out of nowhere and seemed out of place because, at least with the one in the first half you know what they were singing and could follow along in your head. Then there was he meeting and subsequent demise of oft-mentioned ‘Mother’, which was a let-down. And while I get the focus was on Poppy and her friends, there wasn’t a lot of background given on Max, Allison, and Dani and how they developed or even Jay and Max’s relationship. I found it exceedingly difficult to believe that they didn’t hash out their misgivings at least once in the last twenty-five years over what happened with Ernie and Jay. I also find it hard to believe that Max didn’t go back for them at some point and that he left them there to die; he knew the potion was spent and daylight approaching and that it was a low risk of them being killed before the sun came up. And it made him look like the bully rather than the bullied. And, honestly, with Allison being well Allison how the heck did they make it so long through the rest of high school and working together without hashing it out? But I digress.

It was one of those that, honestly, if this is the idea they have for the screenplay, best to leave it alone. It was seasonal and offered nostalgia, which is why I read it and I don’t hate the time that I spent doing so. But with these the most important question I ask myself is if would re-read it and this? No, not really. I can’t even call this something that is fan service since, from what I’ve read, most die-hard fans felt either the same way I did or had much more passionate and negative feelings towards it. While I didn’t love this, I don’t wan to burn it in effigy, but it could have been so much more than what it ended up being.