John Russo was the co-writer of George Romero's original
Night of the Living Dead, and in the early 1980s Russo was determined not to let you forget that. Somehow, these slim and silvery paperback originals from Pocket Books never brought him the same respect and acclaim that Romero had in the genre. Go figure. At least the cover art was a great snapshot of '80s horror fiction: skulls with hair, skulls with candles, malevolent felines, and grasping hands. And a grasping feline hand, of course.
The Majorettes (1979) was a staple title on the shelves in the used bookstore I worked at, and I'm pretty sure
Midnight (1980) made its rounds as well. I paid about $10 for that
Night of the Living Dead novelization from '81 but haven't gotten around to reading it. I've got the movie memorized, why bother? I like the generic font of the titles: stark and simplistic, a promise, a threat... although
Limb to Limb (1981) makes no sense; I believe the phrase is "limb
from limb," no?
I got to thinking about John Russo thanks to an email I got from a Too Much Horror Fiction reader; he said
The Majorettes was truly awful. Anybody got anything else to report about Russo? These books seem ready-made to haunt some '80s kids' nightmares...
And one more:
Day Care (1985). Hmm... some sort of cyberpunk/horror mashup? Who knows...