Stephen King

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 the first draft of Stephen King's screenplay for Pet Sematary - which is, of course, about resurrecting the dead - George Romero's Night of the Living Dead makes an appearance. This first draft, dated November 15, 1984, is unfinished. It was written and originally developed with Romero as the intended director, but unfortunate timing led to the producer moving on from Romero and drafting the great Mary Lambert to create her own iconic version of King's novel.

George Romero worked for several years on an adaptation of Stephen King's Pet Sematary, but the timing never worked out. Between post-production on Day of the Dead and the development of Monkey Shines, Romero's schedule conflicted with the various windows of funding/production that opened up. It was, for him as for King, a very personal project that spoke to family and fatherhood in ways that were incredibly meaningful to him.