Return of the Living Dead is a 1977 direct sequel to George A. Romero's film, Night of the Living Dead, written by John Russo co-scripter of Night. The book is set 10 years after the original zombie uprising; life is supposedly back to normal. After a horrific bus crash, the dead begin to rise again, to feast on the living. Russo wrote the book with the intention of developing it into a movie property. The resultant 1985 film, also titled Return of the Living Dead, abandoned Russo's plot and took a splatstick approach. Nonetheless, the movie has gone on to become a cult film.