Someone in Pittsburgh Made an Amazing Tribute to Local Hero George Romero

George Romero was born and raised in New York City, but he was a Pittsburgh guy. He went to Carnegie Mellon University, and then shot his seminal zombie film, Night of the Living Dead, in western Pennsylvania. Even after Dead became one of the most influential horror movies in history, even after he could have sold out and gone Hollywood, Romero continued to live and work in and around the city. In addition to his many other contributions to cinema, he’s one of the most important Pennsylvania filmmakers (and makers of films about Pennsylvania) ever. 

That’s why this tribute, among all the hundreds or even thousands of tributes to Romero and his Dead series of horror movies (and others; let’s not forget The Crazies, set in Evans City, Pennsylvania) is so great. It’s a billboard in Pittsburgh, erected to honor the city’s fallen son.

(Eric Powell, by the way, is the creator of the awesome comic book The Goon. You should support his work, even the stuff that does not involve pictures of George A. Romero tribute billboards.)

Romero died over the weekend after a “brief but aggressive battle with lung cancer.” He passed away “while listening to the score of one his favorite films, 1952’s The Quiet Man, with his family by his side.” Rest in peace, George. You will not be forgotten, in Pittsburgh or anywhere else horror films are watched.