In 1984, while finishing edits and filming A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven was also working on a script titled Twilight Adventure.  The script was co-authored with Vada Nayak and a revised script from August 1984 now sits within our Horror Studies Collections.  Some cursory research does not turn up any information about this project, so it’s unclear how serious the project was or if it made it past the script writing stage.  But let’s explore this rare and unproduced script here.  

Editor's Note: The following guest post was written by Mackenzie Morehouse, a local high school student completing an internship with Archives & Special Collections focusing on working with the Horror Studies Collections.  We are very proud to showcase her fantastic essay here examining a draft script of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). – Ben Rubin

It is no secret that George Romero and Stephen King enjoyed a close friendship and admired one another’s work.  This is perhaps to be expected from two of the most influential voices in horror.  Their friendship and mutual admiration led them to many ambitious plans to collaborate on projects, perhaps the most successful of which was the anthology film Creepshow in 1982.  An homage to the EC Comics of their childhoods, the film is perfect example of blending horror and comedy and truly lived up its tagline of ‘the most fun you’ll have being scared’.

In 2005, after a 20-year hiatus, Romero returned to his zombie universe with Land of the Dead.  The film was the biggest budget entry into the Dead series and featured Pittsburgh in its most prominent role despite being the first of the series filmed entirely outside of the region.  The film continues the bleak tone of Day as it depicts a stratified Pittsburgh with the rich living in safety and luxury within the fortified and barricaded Golden Triangle of Downtown Pittsburgh, while the rest of society toils amongst slums outside the gates with threats both human and undead