'The classic film that changed cinema by redefining horror and zombies forever. George A. Romero’s hit movie is reimagined in this novel by John Russo, the co-screenwriter of the beloved flick.
'While visiting their father’s grave, Barbara and Johnny see a man slowly approaching them. Grotesque and ghost-pale, the man kills Johnny. Barbara manages to flee to a nearby farmhouse, where six other strangers have gathered to escape an outbreak of the unburied dead returning to life and attacking the living. This ragtag group struggle to fend off the horde of flesh-eating ghouls. Will any of them make it out alive?'
Night of the Living Dead was a gamechanger in many ways. Not only was it the beginning of the career of one of the most respected names in the horror genre in George A. Romero, but it forever forged a new type of monster in Romero's undead. Instead of the more ghoul-like slave zombies resurrected with magic audiences were given the shambling, flesh eating corpses that most people would think of when hearing the word zombie nowadays. Whilst not every aspect of the creature was locked in yet, and these features tend to change from story to story, you cannot deny that Night of the Living Dead forever changed the horror landscape and created one of the most used monsters to date.
The film became one of the most shown horror films of all time, thanks to a mistake that put the film into public domain immediately. Instead of being a bad thing, this made it so any movie theatre, drive-in, or television station in the world could show it; and this 'mistake' did more to help the film and the careers of those involved in it than anything the filmmakers could have done. With the film coming close to its 60th anniversary, and with zombies being the go to monster in film, TV, and video games for decades now, it feels like a perfect time to dive into the novelisation of the film written by the co-creator of the film John A. Russo.
The book is immediately striking, with a beautiful cover that features the image of the infected Karen Cooper, a character whose shocking turn into one of the undead is one of the more memorable moments from the original film. The black and white image is accompanied by the books title in big, red letters that stand out on the mostly white cover, evoking the black and white imagery of the film itself wonderfully. The back cover is also more than worth pouring over, with some imagery from the film and bold text that feel more like a movie poster then a normal back cover.
The story itself stays very true to the events of the film, and those hoping to see something new in the pages of this book might be a little dissappointed as there's no alternate scenes or new events and characters added to the narrative. However, Russo does go out of his way to try and add more context to what we have on the screen. The opening scene in particular stands out for this as we get some time inside Johnny's head before he dies, seeing from his perspective and building on what was only really suggested in the film in regards to his relationship with his sister. As the story progresses, however, these moments aren't always found, and there are times where things feel a little light in comparison; which is a shame as the novel format would allow us a much better opportunity to find out how characters are handling things and the thoughts that they don't openly share.
For myself, the book slows down where the film didn't. The opening scene in the graveyard is translated wonderfully, and it's a delight to follow Barbara as her world is shattered and she's forced to run for her life. However, once she reaches the farmhouse and Ben enters the story Barbara is reduced to much more of a background figure, passive and unreactive a lot of the time. I understand that this is because the character is in shock, but the pace shudders to a crawl when this happens, and it almost feels like Russo is just describing what's happening rather than making the moment feel alive a lot of the time. I can't also help but feel that this might be part of why the book is as short as it is, at around 180 pages, as there's little meat on the bones; perhaps because the dead got to it first?
As someone who really enjoys the film though, I couldn't hate the book for simply retelling the movie's events as even with very basic, quick to read prose it's still a great story. Is it as good as the film though? Well, I'd have to say no, as unless you've seen the film a lot, or have a photographic memory, your imagination isn't going to be framing or pacing things the same way that Romero did, and much of the punch and creativity of the final piece is missing here; kind of showing that even a strong story and script can be given more in the hands of a competent director. Weirdly, however, no matter how much I tried I couldn't picture it in colour, and my imagination presented me with the story in black and white, possibly yet another testament to the iconic nature of the movie being so good that even my brain tried to recreate it without colour.
I enjoyed Night of the Living Dead, and thanks to its short length it didn't take long to finish. It made for a fun way to start the Halloween season, ushering in October with the book, and for those who are fans of the work it'll make for a nice read. The new edition from Titan Books is also gorgeous, and if you're looking to get a copy you should definitely grab the hardcover while you're able.
