George Romero may have passed away in July of 2017, but unsurprisingly, he’s not letting the grave hold him back from telling us one last zombie tale. Romero is world-famous for bringing us classic zombie films like The Night of the Living Dead, and before his death, he was working on a novel called The Living Dead. Unfortunately, Romero passed before he was able to finish the story, but Daniel Kraus has signed on to finish the novel, which Tor will publish in fall of 2019.
Kraus worked with Guillermo Del Toro on the novelization of The Shape of Water and has authored his own books called Rotters and the series The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch. Kraus has credited Romero for first sparking his interest in writing, and is ready to step into his hero’s shoes to finish Romero’s final tale of undead horror.As Entertainment Weekly reports, Romero toyed with the idea of writing a novel for years, and after he passed, his manager and wife decided to hire someone to finish the book he had started working on. And while Kraus certainly has some big shoes to fill, he’s up for the task, thanks to all the writing—some more fleshed out than others—Romero left behind. So Kraus is immersing himself in the movies, shows, books, and music Romero loved to “put George back together,” as he put it. It’s a big job to pick up where a legend left off, but Kraus seems ready to do whatever he can to channel George Romero as he finishes The Living Dead.
The book will be a sprawling story, spanning across the nation and the globe as it chronicles how a zombie outbreak impacts an individual, a community, and the world at large. In classic Romero fashion, it will be a biting social commentary with plenty of scares and zombie gore, and we just can’t wait to go on this last adventure with such a prolific storyteller.
Are you excited to read a book from the mind of George Romero? Do you think Daniel Kraus is a good choice to finish the work Romero started? What do you hope to see in the book? Let’s talk in the comments!
The Day of the Dead Doesn’t Have to Be Over…
- Check out this beautiful vinyl version of the soundtrack.
- Read Edgar Wright’s tribute to George Romero.
- And finally, read all about the classic Night of the Living Dead.
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Feature Image: IFC
