George A Romero's posthumous novel completed by Daniel Kraus for Titan

Titan Books has signed the final "lost" novel from George A Romero, the late director of "Night of the Living Dead", which has been completed by Daniel Kraus. 

Daniel Carpenter, fiction editor, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Rebecca Lake at Union Square & Co for Pay the Piper. The novel will be published in September 2024 and simultaneously with the US. 

Kraus has worked with Romero’s estate to finish the "masterwork" which he found in the University of Pittsburgh’s George A Romero archival collection. Pay the Piper is a "terrifying" supernatural horror set in a Louisiana bayou. The story follows Renée Pontiac who has heard tales of "the Piper", a murderous swamp being who haunts the bayou, all her life. When children start to go missing, the legend "feels horrifically real" and "the town’s desperate denizens will need to acknowledge the sins of their ancestors – the infamous slave traders, the Pirates Laffitte". 

“Titan basically publishes all of my favourite authors, so coming to Titan feels like coming home to a family of loved ones," said Kraus. "I couldn’t be more excited to be here, to stay here, to work here, and to play here.”

Carpenter added: "I’ve been an enormous fan of Daniel Kraus for some time, so getting to bring the wonderfully unsettling Pay the Piper to a UK readership is a dream come true. The story behind this book: an unfinished manuscript miraculously discovered in the archives, the final work of the legendary George A Romero brought to life in such an incredible way – it’s almost as engaging and thrilling as the book itself, which is really saying something."