Escape from the Living Dead by John Russo

 

(pb; 2013: sequel to the 1978 book version of John Russo’s Return of the Living Dead. Third book in Russo’s Living Dead series.)

 

From the back cover

“In an isolated roadside diner, a desperate group of strangers barricade themselves against a ravenous horde of undead customers who crave something more than the early bird special. They want flesh. Human flesh. With a side order of brains and stomach-turning terror.”

 

Review

Escape, set sixteen years after the events of Night of the Living Dead (1968) and ten years after Return of the Living Dead (published in 1978), has the same virtues and drawbacks (for some readers) as Russo’s two previous Living Dead books, with a few series-fresh and world-expansive ideas thrown into the mix (e.g., a scientist, Dr. Harold Melrose, who’s infected with zombifying virus but doesn’t “turn”).

If you like blunt action with little nuance, short-lived characters whose pasts are effectively sketched out (to keep the action going at rapid clip), and villains who are repulsive in their outlooks and violence, Escape might be your pulpy, putrescent and gory kick. If I have any criticisms of Russo’s writing, it’s usually this: he makes philosophical statements that take me out of the story unnecessarily—these truths and musings could easily be woven seamlessly into the story, within the characters’ dialogue, actions, and situations themselves; also, some of his characters’ dialogues are stilted, providing awkwardly stated story information and information about their pasts (while talking to people who’ve known them awhile and therefore should already know them).

These minor nits aside, Escape, like Russo’s other works, is a choppy-edit, gory, grim, violent and character-sketched tale, one worth reading if you can embrace the above-stated qualities of his writing, and don’t mind a bit of bleak-humored misanthropy.

Return of the Living Dead by John Russo

 

(pb; 1978: sequel to Night of the Living Dead; prequel to Escape from the Living Dead)

 

Review

This book should not to be confused with the novelization of the 1985 horror comedy The Return of the Living Dead, for which Russo co-wrote the original screenplay—which was noticeably rewritten as a punk comedy later. John Russo also wrote the movie adaptation of the 1985 film, which is NOT this book.

Russo, co-screenwriter of the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead and its 1974 novel counterpart of the same name, keeps it raw, gory, and violent as the original film/novel, with posse-leading Sheriff Conan McClellan (who famously said “They’re dead. . . they’re all messed up” in Night) investigating what appears to be a fresh zombie outbreak in his county—it’s been ten years since the original undead attacks, something that haunts McClellan, who’s reluctant to publicly acknowledge this new zombie uprising. Still, he’s leading a new posse of thirty or forty men to put down this new spate of terror.

Meanwhile, taciturn farmer Bert Miller and his three daughters (Sue Ellen, Ann, and Karen—the latter of whom is pregnant) are four of the many people who also remember that pivotal event ten years ago and put spikes in the heads of the dead. When he lets three lawmen with two suspects in tow into their house, it might not be the best decision he makes.

As with his other works, Russo’s characters’ histories, motivations and personalities are sketched out throughout the book—thereby keeping their characters relatable, without cluttering the flow of the stark, action-oriented pacing of his storyline and, at the same time, maintaining Return’s palpable tension, effective gore, and stark, disturbing nothing and nobody is safe vibe. This is not a read for sensitive readers who need to know what the characters’ agendas and politics are or need their characters’ histories/emotions spelled out for them.

Was it the crashed Venus probe—also mentioned in passing in Night—or a weird energizing cancer spreading among the dead? It doesn’t matter for those in this tale; what matters is stopping the new uprising, something McClellan and, elsewhere, police officers Carl Martinelli and Dave Benton are keen on.  

Return, like Night, is about fear, violence, misunderstandings, and dark humanity, with touches of grim humor and an unsettling finish spicing up this blunt, sometimes horrific action read.

Night of the Living Dead by John Russo

(pb; 1974: movie tie-in novel, based on John Russo and George A. Romero’s screenplay. Prequel to Return of the Living Dead and Escape from the Living Dead, also by John Russo.)

From the back cover

“They are coming, rising rotten from their graves, filling the night with a furious howl, and staining the earth bloody red. . .

“They are growing, their powers are swelling, from feasting on flesh and gnawing on bone, now they are drunk on the sweet taste of blood. . .

“Now they are here, and they march to the rhythm of death. Now they will crash down the gates, take all that is theirs, and wipe the blood from their lips. . .”

Review

Night is an excellent, stripped-to-the-bone undead (as in: zombie, a word that’s not mentioned in Night) novel. Even if you’ve seen the original 1968 film like many people, this is a taut, chilling and burn-through book, with enough gore to satisfy many viscera-appreciative readers, but not so much it distracts from the deftly sketched characters and urgent happenings within the story. Many of the characters, e.g. Ben, are given more backstories than they are in the film, and there are at least two additional scenes that add to said backstories and further the minor differences between Night‘s book and original film version.

The book likely won’t alter anyone’s outlook on either book or the film versions, along with their sequels and offshoots, but Russo’s Night is a gripping, lean, no-bulls**t and short companion piece to the original film.

If you are a fan of Night like I am, this is worth owning for a quick-thrill, iconic, hour-or-so read, and an acknowledgment of what a milestone the original film is: it completely altered how filmmakers and viewers saw the zombie genre─a media-quaking switch from voodoo-based undead to modern-day-neuroses undead.

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There are too many film versions─remakes, sequels, spin-offs, rip-offs and the occasional worthwhile homages─to list here. Suffice to say, the original film, on which this book is based, was released stateside on October 4, 1968. George A. Romero, who co-wrote the screenplay, directed the film.

The Majorettes by John Russo

(pb; 1979)

From the back cover:

"They are young.  They are beautiful.  And they are terrified.

"Already two of the girls have been raped and murdered, victims of a brutal knife and a psychotic mind that kills with no apparent pattern and no apparent provocation.

"At least, that's what the police say.

"But, behind the veil of a murderous psychosis, there works a cold, cruel, calculating logic, with an ultimate goal so obvious the police should have seen it all coming.

"Long before it got this far.

"But they didn't, and they missed him - and he's still out there."


Review:

Fans of Jack Ketchum's novels may enjoy this word-lean, plot-taut slasher on the loose work from the co-screenwriter of the 1968 seminal zombie flick Night of the Living Dead.

In Majorettes, a slow-build book in its opening chapters, Russo takes an obvious set-up and genre-blends it with other elements (action, noir) and creates a clever, hard-to-set-down horror offering that sports some wow-that's-sick-sh*t scenes that are all the more unsettling because they read like real life.

This is not a flashy book. It is an occasionally gut-wrenching, smart and stand-out read, one worth owning. Its ending made me hope that Russo writes and publishes a follow-up story.

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The film version was released in England, on video, in March 1987.  It was released in stateside video stores on August 17, 1988.

Kevin Kindlin played Jeff Halloway.  Terrie Godfrey played Vicky McAllister.  Mark V. Jevicky played Sheriff Braden.  Carl Hetrick played Roland Martell.  Mary Jo Limpert played Marie Morgan.

Jacqueline Bowman played Nicole Hendricks.  Colin Martin played Tommy Harvack.  Sueanne Seamens played Judy Marino.  Tom E. Desrocher played Mace Jackson.  William R. Mott played Bart.  Tammy Petruska played Margaret.  Gina Cotton played Angel.

Denise Huot played Helga Schuler.  Harold K. Keller played Harry Schuler.  Tom Madden played Teela (who, in the source novel, is the same character as Harry Schuler). 

Edna Kleitz played Elvira.   M. Therian played Hank.  Bonnie Hinzman, real-life wife of the film's director, played a "Teacher".

John Russo scripted the film from his novel; he also played Dr. Gibson (aka "Coroner").  S. William Hinzman, who directed the film, played Sergeant Sanders.  (He also played a "Zombie" in the original Night of the Living Dead.)