Night of the Living Dead

The Living Dead #1

by John A. Russo

The dearly departed have risen and are thirsty for human flesh and blood, and when night falls they embark on a murderous and bloody rampage to satisfy their decaying bodies and quench their evil souls. Reprint.

Genres: Horror, Zombies, Fiction, Audiobook, Classics, Science Fiction, Apocalyptic

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

John A. Russo, sometimes credited as Jack Russo or John Russo, is an American screenwriter and film director most commonly associated with the 1968 horror classic film Night of the Living Dead. As a screenwriter, his credits include Night of the Living Dead, The Majorettes, Midnight, and Santa Claws. The latter two, he also directed. He has performed small roles as an actor, most notably the first ghoul who is stabbed in the head in Night of the Living Dead.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an absolute classic. War of the Worlds with eerie undead corpses instead of aliens! Who are those grey slow moving and death bringing hordes of undead people? Is there a remedy against them?What about Ben and Barbara? Will they survive the siege of the undead? Nail biting and fast paced horror action. Reading the book is like watching a movie. Really recommended. A timeless must-know novel!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

I was so excited to find this 1974 first edition copy of Night of the Living Dead by John Russo.....and for a decent price. Not the $1.25 it originally sold for of course.

The cover declares...."The most frightening movie ever made is now a novel."....with sixteen pages of photographs....and OMGOSH it is so like The Walking Dead TV series.

As for the movie, I only vaguely remember it. The Preface here gives an interesting background story about the phenomenon bringing "real startling shocks and gut-felt, edge-of-the-seat terror." It was produced for a mere $114k and grossed upwards of $4 to 5 million, one of the top-grossing films in both 1969 and 1970.

As for the novel, the setting is at dusk on a remote back road with a garbled message on the car radio....only one word is clear....emergency....then nothing as quarreling siblings, Johnny 26 and Barbara 19 are lost and anxious to find their father's graveyard.

Shortly after they finally arrive, a devilish Johnny hides hoping to frighten his sister with creepy threatening remarks as Barbara (praying) first notices the strange moving figure in the distance. Still listening to Johnny, the pursuing footsteps become louder and more ominous. She looks up to say hello, assuming its the caretaker, and then, the scream....and it all begins....the feasting on human life.

I don't know why I love this goulish stuff, but fellow horror lovers will understand....hehehe. What a great old classic....and Oh No! ending.

[Sarah ♡ (let’s interact!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The classic, definitive, Romero zombie film in novel form. John Russo does a good job of setting the scene of the zombie apocalypse in your mind. Every gory, visceral detail is played out.
The story is very fast paced and it just *feels* as though you’re watching this legendary horror movie in your head.

The opening chapter is one of the most iconic scenes in horror cinema for me. As two siblings, Johnny and Barbara, visit a cemetery and they notice a figure slowly approaching them. It soon becomes apparent that this is no friendly approacher, that is barely human at all and seemingly has a taste for human flesh... 🧟‍♂️

Upon escape from the graveyard, Barbara finds herself in a (apparent) derelict house but she soon also finds herself joined by a young man, Ben. He is hell-bent on keeping them safe from the lurking flesh-eaters outside. But they soon discover they aren’t alone, but are they surrounded by fellow humans, flesh eaters or both?
Ben plots to escape in his truck, barricade them in the house, anything to keep them away from these animated corpses. But will they all make it out alive...

[Shirley Revill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book at the time. I remember looking around the room every few minutes while I was reading this story late at night.
What was I like back then but think I ought to read this book again to see if it still has the same effect on me. The film was good too.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this abridged dramatization/audiobook is a good choice to listen to for an eerie hour of after-dark driving. The story is essentially the same as the film with two interesting differences that caught my ear. Anyone who might read this review has surely seen it multiple times, but I'll call spoiler alert here just in case. First, zombie Karen talks to her mother before dinner (which is pretty much opposite everything we learn about the living dead in the film), and, second, she also infects Ben before the rescue team arrives... which kind of takes a lot of the punch out of the ending. The biggest let down, though, for me, is that my favorite line from the film is missing; "They're dead all right. They're all messed up." It's been years since I read the original novelization, so I'll have to dig it up soon for a re-read. And then maybe warm up the DVD player!

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

“They’re coming to get you, Barbara.”

-Johnny

A classic! I remember watching the remake as a kid and it scared the living shit out of me like no other horror film. 5 stars all the way!

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to a dramatic audiobook version of it really enjoyed. Don't remeber of I've seen the movies long time ago or not. Planing on picking up the next soonish

[Paul Ataua · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still remember the affect the movie had on me as a teenager back in the sixties. It was good to actually read the book that came out of that movie. It kept fairly close to the original or how I remember the original. Simple and solid zombie entertainment where the emphasis is on the people facing the undead and not the 'killing' of the zombies. That’s how I like it.

[Mientras Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me ha encantado recuperar este clásico del género en un momento en el que el fenómeno zombi parece hacer perder la fuerza a lo que fue en su día.
Interesantísimo el uso de la tensión narrativa e imprescindible el prólogo
http://entremontonesdelibros.blogspot...

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as much fun to read in Screenplay format..

[Gafas y Ojeras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hay ciertas películas clásicas de terror que permanecen en la memoria de todo amante del género. Grandes nombres como El exorcista o El resplandor siempre te vienen a la cabeza cuando piensas en aquellas obras que siempre consiguieron aterrarte.
Todas esas grandes obras suelen venir respaldadas por una gran novela que, por desgracia, pasará desapercibida por la popularidad de sus adaptaciones. Es el caso de esta novela de John Russo en la que se basó la conocida obra maestra del terror moderno filmadla por Romero.
Cuando uno se adentra a leer este tipo de libros no deja de recibir continuas imágenes icónicas de las películas que estropean la experiencia que supone descubrir la historia por primera vez. Eso hace que la lectura se enfoque hacia ciertos momentos que como aficionado deseas que aparezcan y que, motivado por tu expectativa, no terminan por impactarte como debieran.
En esta novela en concreto, no falta ninguno de los elementos que dieron origen a este tipo de monstruo que cambió los cimientos del género. Desde su manera de acosar a los supervivientes, su carácter antropofágico, sus debilidades, el comportamiento de los humanos, la asistencia de racionalidad ante lo que ocurre...todo está ahí en el libro desde un inicio, lo que supuso una enorme revolución en cuanto al modo de enfocar el terror.
Pese a todo , aunque no te vayas a llevar sorpresas durante la lectura, no dejas de disfrutar de algo que ya conoces. Aunque hay ciertos detalles a destacar como que las criaturas del libro son mucho más amenazadoras que en la película. Hay ciertos momentos realmente macabros ante los que la sociedad de la época no estaba preparada para ver en pantalla y aquí se narran sin ningún tipo de complejos.
La manera que tiene de escribir Russo hace que la novela se “devore” en apenas una tarde ya que tiene un ritmo tremendo lleno de tensión y dramatismo. Desde el primero de los capítulos los personajes se enfrentan a un mal que desconocen ante el que no están preparados. Y ahí está una de las grandes bazas del libro. Los personajes y la manera que tienen de afrontar una crisis de esta envergadura de todos los modos posibles. Quizás la novela nos permita comprender mejor a personajes que en la película son demasiado maniqueos en la película pudiendo empatizar mucho más con ellos.
Encima, siendo la novela de zombies que crea los estándares del género, hay que destacar el comportamiento de la criatura y la capacidad que tiene el autor para aterrar al lector con un monstruo de sobras conocido. Si cincuenta años más tarde de la escritura de esta obra aún impacta leer algunos pasajes es que algo tiene esta obra que difiere a las demás.
En definitiva, un clásico imprescindible que disfrutar con voracidad, carente de sorpresas, pero que es necesario leer para comprobar cómo se originó el subgénero. Toda una muestra del horror más terrible al que te puedes enfrentar.

[Doug Brunell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not expect a lot from this novel, but as a NOTLD fan, I got more than I thought I would.

The story here is a bit more expanded, delving deeper into things than the movie did. It doesn't change the movie in any significant way, but it adds elements that round out the story. Chiefly in the form of some of the characters' backstory, the news broadcasts, and the group of men who are hunting the zombies in rural PA.

Horror fans know this story, as do zombie lovers. This tale isn't the first to be told, but it is perhaps the most influential, and it deserves to be read.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as novelizations go, this is a pretty good one. It’s a short little book, and it follows the movie closely with some minor changes to action and dialogue. It’s quite a bit more gruesome than the film, and descriptions of the zombies are more grotesque. Despite Russo’s efforts to ramp up the gore, it can’t help lacking the movie’s visceral impact. Russo’s novelization is a fun companion to the movie but definitely not a replacement for it.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

An immortal classic thanks the movie!

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

“They’re coming to get you Barbara”

I love this classic movie and so it’s was wonderful to read as a novel. Highly recommend for zombie/classic horror movie fans.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inexplicably, the dead begin to rise. These ghouls have an insatiable appetite for the flesh of humans and each person bitten in turn shall rise. A small group of uninfected people try to work together to survive until help arrives.

What a bleak and unforgiving novel! The characters are a bit flat and two dimensional but the plot is intense and the fundamental idea behind it is ingenious. Cleverly, the government are unable to explain what has happened and, although some causes are hinted at, the origin of the living dead is left wholly to the reader's imagination.

I know this is a novelisation of the classic film and am ashamed to admit I have never seen any of Romero's work. Reading the book on its own merits makes for an interesting experience and a desire to see the source film.

[Βίκυ Τάσιου · Rating 5 out of 5]

Η πρώτη φορά που ήρθα σε επαφή με την ασπρόμαυρη ταινία του George Romero ήταν μια εμπειρία που χαράχτηκε ανεξίτηλα στη μνήμη μου, όχι τόσο για το οπτικό σοκ, όσο για εκείνη την αίσθηση ότι ο κόσμος που γνωρίζουμε μπορεί να καταρρεύσει μέσα σε μια νύχτα. Θυμάμαι την ηλεκτρισμένη ατμόσφαιρα καθώς το φιλμ αποκάλυπτε το μοναχικό νεκροταφείο και εκείνη την αργή και παράξενη φιγούρα να πλησιάζει στο βάθος.
Έκτοτε δεν είδα πάλι την ταινία παρά μόνο εφόσον διάβασα το βιβλίο, το οποίο έπεσε στα χέρια μου μετά από πάρα πολλές δεκαετίες. Αυτή η παράδοξη διαδρομή, μου επέτρεψε να δω το έργο του John Russo κάτω από ένα εντελώς νέο φως, ανακαλύπτοντας στρώσεις τρόμου που η οπτική εμπειρία από μόνη της αδυνατούσε να φανερώσει.

Ο John Russo, ο οποίος συνέγραψε το σενάριο της ταινίας, γνωρίζει το DNA αυτής της ιστορίας καλύτερα από τον καθένα και αυτό το μυθιστόρημα αποτελεί μια συγκλονιστική προέκταση του οράματος του Romero. Η λογοτεχνική μεταφορά λειτουργεί ως ένας εσωτερικός μεγεθυντικός φακός που μας επιτρέπει να δούμε πέρα από το γκρίζο του φιλμ και να βυθιστούμε στην ψυχολογία της απόγνωσης. Ενώ η ταινία βασιζόταν στην υποβλητική εικόνα, το κείμενο του Russo εκμεταλλεύεται τη δύναμη της λέξης για να ανατομήσει την εσωτερική κατάρρευση των χαρακτήρων.

Ο Russo δεν διστάζει να γίνει γραφικός, προσφέροντας λεπτομέρειες που η κάμερα της δεκαετίας του '60 ίσως άφηνε στη φαντασία μας. Οι περιγραφές της σήψης και της απόλυτης κτηνωδίας του κανιβαλισμού προσθέτουν μια αισθητηριακή διάσταση που κάνει τον τρόμο σχεδόν απτό. Το βιβλίο καταφέρνει να μεταδώσει την οσμή του θανάτου και την αποπνικτική ατμόσφαιρα του οχυρωμένου σπιτιού, το οποίο από καταφύγιο μετατρέπεται σταδιακά σε τάφο.

Οι gore σκηνές στο βιβλίο λειτουργούν ως μια βίαιη υπενθύμιση της φρίκης, καθώς ο συγγραφέας εστιάζει με σχεδόν κλινική ακρίβεια στον τρόπο που οι ζωντανοί νεκροί ξεσκίζουν τη σάρκα. Η περιγραφή των δοντιών που βυθίζονται σε ζεστό ιστό, ο ήχος των οστών που σπάνε και η λεπτομερής απεικόνιση των οργάνων που καταβροχθίζονται, προσδίδουν μια ωμότητα που ξεπερνά το οπτικό εφέ.

Το βιβλίο περιλαμβάνει σχεδόν όλες τις σκηνές της ταινίας, διατηρώντας την αίσθηση της απόλυτης πιστότητας, όμως η γραφή του Russo προσθέτει πολύ περισσότερες πληροφορίες, φωτίζοντας το παρασκήνιο της τραγωδίας. Μέσα από τις σελίδες του, μαθαίνουμε με λεπτομέρεια πώς ακριβώς κατέληξαν στο σπίτι οι υπόλοιποι, δίνοντας μια σαφή εικόνα για τη διαδρομή και τον τρόμο που βίωσε η οικογένεια του Harry Cooper, ο Tom και η Judy πριν συναντηθούν με τον Ben και την Barbara.Αυτές οι προσθήκες δεν λειτουργούν απλώς ως συμπληρωματικά στοιχεία, αλλά χτίζουν ένα πιο στέρεο υπόβαθρο για την απόγνωση που θα ακολουθήσει, κάνοντας τις μετέπειτα συγκρούσεις τους να μοιάζουν ακόμα πιο μοιραίες.

Όλα αυτά συμπυκνώνονται σε εκείνη την εμβληματική φράση που στοιχειώνει το έργο και συνοψίζει την αναπόφευκτη απειλή:

"They’re coming to get you, Barbra!"

[James Mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and spooky treat!

Smashed through this bad boy in one sitting and had a cracking time! I'm generally not a big fan of novelisations but this really hit the spot not just mirroring but at times elevating the source material due to not being held back by the NFPB. The characters swear, the kills are more gory and the ghouls are much more horrific than the film it's great, there's a reason that this is the foundation for all modern zombie media you can really feel the paranoia of everyone as they slowly lose their minds and turn on eachother.

A couple negatives, the mid-point twist doesn't really hit as well as it's hard to shock as much on the page without the audio of the basement flying open, Barbra is unfortunately still the most useless character in horror and I am disappointed they didn't use the book as an opportunity to delve into the racial element of the story at all but hey they didn't have that many pages to work with so I'll let them off.

Overall would highly recommend it if you're after a fun little Halloween treat full of delightful gore and a cheeky dose of timeless social commentary. Can't wait for George Romero to come back as a zombie so we can lock him up and have him cracking out masterpieces for all of time

[Todd Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate to admit this, but I'm a 41 year old man that loves zombies and I've never seen or read Night of the Living Dead before now. (I still need to see the movie) It was nice to finally listen to this classic that has inspired so many zombie movies and books! Michael Reeves does a good job with the narration and even has a bit of a creepy tone to his voice when needed.

[Zach Hilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good retro zombie romp, very dated now but for 46 years old it’s still good and holds the tension
Gory and good descriptions of the zombies and dismembering of the annoying characters

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy pocas veces la versión cinematográfica es mejor que el libro, pero en este caso que es a la inversa (adaptación de la película a libro) me dejó sorprendido.

[Henrique Cassol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esse foi o livro que deu origem à palavra Zumbi como sinônimo de mortos-vivos, ou pelo menos foi a primeira vez que ela foi utilizada. Na verdade, “A noite dos mortos-vivos” de John Russo e do George Romero nem livro era, porque originalmente fora um roteiro escrito para o cinema. Virou livro algum tempo depois com a popularização do tema. A história é bem interessante e está bem escrita. Porém, como é um roteiro, carece de maiores fantasias e descrições. É bem cru, por assim dizer. Tem muitos caminhos em aberto para os diretores, mas a trama é bem amarrada. Funciona. Esta edição de aniversário de 50 anos ficou irada!
Após terminar a leitura, como de costume nestes casos, fui assistir ao filme de 68, o original. A experiência foi boa, considerando que é um filme P&B, mas não assusta. Falta ação, emoção.

[H.G. Gravy · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOTE: This is a review for the Abridged Night of the Living Dead fully dramatized audio narration.

As a fan of the original movie and the 90's remake, I can say this "dramatized" audio narration is an incredible departure from the source material. I'm not actually sure if the intention of the audio production director was to make this as silly and as campy as possible to make it comedic or if this was a serious attempt at producing a work based upon Night of the Living Dead.

If it was meant to be comedic, they certainly succeeded. If it was meant to be serious, oh boy, did they miss the mark. I certainly hope it was the former because if it was the latter, Simon and Schuster needs to fire some people and enforce better quality control on their releases.

Assuming this was meant to be comedic, the actors took the campiness to whole other level. The actress for Barbra was completely over the top and grating on the soul in her performance. Her screaming was so irritating it made my ears hurt. Not to outdone, the actor who played Ben took all the likability, leadership qualities, and rationality from the character and left him seeming like an angry black man bullying everyone else into doing what he wanted. Considering these were the main roles, they were responsible for carrying the story. The other actors were forgettable in their roles which ends up being more of a compliment to them since they weren't memorable for being as terrible as the main characters.

Once again, if they were going for comedy, they certainly succeeded because I laughed entirely way too much at this audio production. The reasons above would outline why this is.

If they were going for a serious adaption, the reasons above would outline why this was one of the worst attempts at adapting Night of the Living Dead ever. For the sake of everyone involved, I pray this wasn't the case.

Finally, there are two main differences in the story which one didn't make sense and the other which could have been a somewhat creative difference which would have been fine if it didn't stomp all over the impact of the ending. The first difference is most likely a massive error or oversight. Throughout the whole story, we're being told the undead have no human qualities like speech, compassion, recognition of their loved ones, ect. These are fresh eating corpses. Near the end of the story, a zombie speaks...

The other major difference is the fate of the last surviving member of the group.

Overall, since I don't know the intention of the producer on this, I cannot give it a bad rating. If it was supposed to be comedic and campy, I'd give this four stars for managing to make me laugh more than I ever thought I could at people being eaten alive. If this was supposed to be serious, I'd give this two stars, only because it would fall into the category of being "So bad, it's good."

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very gruesome, I finally get the horror cult classic hype. Definitely not the ending I was expecting or hoping for

[Robert Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one, it did not deviate from the movie much at all (too bad poor Barbara's all too brief revenge attack wasn't present in the movie), but its descriptions of the ghouls were much nastier than in the film and you get more from the inside the heads of the characters. There was also more with the posse on the move and the sheriff who is more of an actual character here appearing in the latter third of the story. The first half of the book was very thrilling (a little more than in the movie and gorier), which I enjoyed. The only thing I really did not like here was that there was a strange semi-philosophical ramble as intro before the story gets started in chapter one which was utterly unnecessary and, in my opinion, a major misstep by the author. Likewise, the preface by George A. Romero was, unfortunately, horribly boring. However, I would recommend this one to those who just want a quick, to-the-point, easy-to-read, zombie romp whether they have or have not seen the film (and/or its 1990 remake). Just skip the preface and that weird little bit at the very beginning of the first chapter.

[James Jeans · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Russo's Night of the Living Dead is a fairly bog standard novelization of the original film. It adds a couple of new scenes and passages that give context to the sheriff and his posse, but otherwise it brings nothing groundbreaking to the story.

Actually, it succeeds in making the entire cast even less likable than they are in the Romero original. Ben and Barbara suffer from this the worst, given that they're the characters who get the most screen time in the original film.

It's worth reading/listening to if you need to kill some time, but otherwise you might as well just stick with the film.

[Paul Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but pretty much a straightforward telling of the exact beats of the film. Doesn't really stray much at all. For some reason I didn't think this was just a straight up novelization so I expected a bit more. It's fine though, but you might as well just watch the movie instead.

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not a bad book, but I read it after seeing the movie so it didn't do much for me.

[MH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reseña completa aquí -> http://inquilinasnetherfield.blogspot...

[Gregg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great story. Lousy execution.