You might know George A. Romero as the Master of Zombies; creator of Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead. But it wasn’t just zombies that fascinated Romero. You need only look at the recently uncovered The Amusement Park for evidence of Romero’s other interests. And then there’s his unfinished novel, Pay the Piper. Uncovered in 2019 by novelist (and co-writer of 2020’s The Living Dead), Daniel Kraus, Pay the Piper saw Romero wade into the bayous of New Orleans with a reinvention of the classic Pied Piper legend. Having completed Romero’s The Living Dead, Kraus returns to complete Pay the Piper. And while the resulting novel offers a captivating, emotionally-driven retelling of the Pied Piper legend, its narrative feels stretched thin and underbaked. An unfocused stew that boils over with electric ideas but nearly drowns under the weight of conflicting metaphors.

A Sprawling Small Town Epic

Something strange haunts the swamplands of Alligator Point, Louisiana. It’s a force that lures the bayou’s children out of their homes in the depths of the night and guts them. But what is this force and what does it want? As the citizens of Alligator Point reel from this series of tragedies, young Pontiac tries to make sense of the unexplainable. Secrets lie around every corner in Alligator Point, and it’s about time for its citizens to answer for the sins of their ancestors. But can they do so before it’s too late? Or is the Pied Piper about to get its due? In Pay the Piper, Romero and Kraus brilliantly reinvent the classic legend of the Pied Piper, giving it a very modern update. What once was a mere boogeyman haunting the dreams of children now morphs into an examination of intergenerational trauma and retribution.

Romero and Kraus weave together a sprawling epic – crossing generational and socioeconomic barriers to explore the history of this small, Louisiana bayou. It’s all at once horrific, emotionally raw, and lowkey hilarious. Where Pay the Piper shines brightest is through its characters and world-building. Through the residents of Alligator Point, Romero and Kraus craft a world that jumps off the page. Populated by characters you desperately want to spend time with and see overcome their seemingly mundane challenges, Alligator Point crackles with specificity and emotional vulnerability. Pay the Piper jumps back and forth between the points of view of over a half dozen characters – which may, at first, seem like a lot. But these varying points of view give the novel some much-needed depth, and Romero and Kraus craft each character with such love and care that it’s a gift to spend time with them.

A Legend (Messily) Reborn

The same cannot be said for Pay the Piper’s overarching narrative. Romero and Kraus’s reinvention of the Pied Piper myth oozes creativity. Now a mysterious shapeshifting being who lures children to their death not by magical song but by preying on their hopes and fears. It’s a dark twist that Romero and Kraus mine for everything it’s worth. But only in the novel’s first half, that is. For as Pay the Piper progresses, it quickly becomes apparent that this isn’t just some bog standard reinvention of the Pied Piper myth but, instead, a more Candyman-flavored reimagining. Biting social commentary disguised as a traditional supernatural horror story. And Romero and Kraus almost pull it off. Except Pay the Piper can’t seem to decide what it wants its central metaphor to be and, instead, stretches itself thin trying to be too many things at once.

On the one hand, it’s a story about a community forced to face the ramifications of their ancestors’ crimes. On the other hand, it’s a warning for humanity; a plea to take care of the planet, to treat each other kindly. And with this flip-flopping, the novel’s latter half feels quite unfocused. You’re never sure exactly what’s happening or why, and the Piper itself goes from a grounded, menacing threat to an over-the-top Lovecraftian nightmare. Given how simple the book’s first half is, this wild expansion stretches the novel to breaking point. There’s simultaneously not enough space to properly explore these conflicting themes nor is there enough meat on their bones to justify the inclusion of both. It’s fitting that the climax features a storm of sorts as the book, itself, kind of blows up in a tsunami of intriguing ideas that never coalesce into a cohesive whole.

Final Thoughts

Even so, it’s hard to walk away from Pay the Piper unsatisfied. While its narrative may sometimes be unfocused, plagued by a wealth of ideas that feel underexplored and underbaked, Romero and Kraus’s focus on character and world-building carry Pay the Piper over the finish line. All at once haunting, emotional, and lowkey funny, Pay the Piper offers an engaging reimagining of a classic legend told through a very modern lens. At its heart, it’s a tantalizing glimpse into the mind of a legend best known for his zombie movies; a peak into the other kinds of stories he was interested in. That the book itself kind of fizzles out towards the end matters little given how enjoyable a read it is. Come to Pay the Piper for the fleshed-out characters and lived-in world, and you’ll have a great time.

Pay the Piper is available now in paperback and ebook from Union Square & Co.

Disclaimer: A review copy of Pay the Piper was provided by the publisher. All opinions are the honest reactions of the author.