![]() ![]() When a tragic bus crash results in the death of several people, the fears of the congregation prove to be well-founded. A religious leader and his followers work surreptitiously to keep the dead from returning by driving metal spikes into the skulls of fresh corpses. Law enforcement does not believe that it is likely that the dead will rise again, creating a conflict in a small town hit hard by the original occurrence. There is also an ambiguity concerning the outbreak, which seems to have also gone into remission. Instead, the effects of the disease have been contained by properly disposing of the newly dead. ![]() ![]() The Return novel takes place ten years after the original zombie outbreak, which did not lead to the apocalyptic reckoning of the Romero saga. Russo’s novel would be eclipsed by the popularity of Dawn a harsh irony in that the Russo novel was based on his own screenplay that had failed to secure financing. Romero’s sequel, Dawn of the Dead, also arrived in 1978 and proved to be a huge hit both in the U.S. Both moved forward with their own continuations of the Dead saga, with Russo retaining the “Living Dead” descriptor for his work. After a lengthy court battle over the copyright ownership of the original film, each went their separate ways. Russo also authored a novelization of Night in ‘74, a fairly straightforward retelling of the film. The 1978 paperback was the writer’s direct follow-up to Night, a script that he co-wrote with Romero. Originally conceived as a straight adaptation of Russo’s novel of the same name, the project took several detours before its final theatrical incarnation. But its origins and the franchise that it created were just as rambling and unsure as the labored steps of the ghouls in that 1968 cult classic. The prolific author and filmmaker would eventually find success with a cinematic version of his storyline, Return of the Living Dead. While the trail of dead that Romero left behind after Night was easy to follow, Russo’s return to the cemetery was not as well-traveled. Though both men were essentially responsible for diverging Night franchises, neither had attempted a true follow-up dealing with events “the day after.” Fans of Night were torn by the rift between the two creatives each respected industry professionals who had enjoyed success mainly within the horror genre. Regardless of what one might think concerning the sale of such an item, the fact that it existed at all presented a tantalizing tease of what might have been. “George Romero and I were working on a movie project called NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD AND THE DAY AFTER when he, unfortunately, passed away, and this is the LETTER OF INTENT he gave me when the project started - IT IS ADDRESSED TO ME, JOHN RUSSO, AND IT IS SIGNED BY HIM! A treasure for serious collectors! $250 by PayPal.” A brief note posted by Russo explained the significance and why it was made public: Russo gave serious weight to the document. While it would be easy to dismiss as some bored fanboy creation, the fact that it was posted from the LinkedIn account of Night of the Living Dead co-creator John A. The letter is addressed to “Joe” and “John” and signed by the late director George Romero. ![]() It was a Letter of Intent confirming Executive Producer status on a project called Night of the Living Dead and the Day After. In August of 2019, an odd piece of horror film ephemera made its way across the internet. ![]()
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