Thursday, September 12, 2024

6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Archives & Special Collections Instruction Room, 340 Hillman Library

Free and open to the public.

Registration encouraged.

In 2019, while sifting through University of Pittsburgh Library’s System’s George A. Romero Archival Collection, novelist Daniel Kraus turned up a surprise: a half-finished novel called Pay the Piper, a project few had ever heard of. In the years since, Kraus has worked with Romero’s estate to bring this unfinished masterwork to light - culminating in its publication on September 3.

Join Ben Rubin, Horror Studies Collection Coordinator, for a presentation and interview with Daniel Kraus about Pay the Piper and the new release's path from archives to shelves. 

Riverstone Books will be onsite selling copies of Pay the Piper.

About Pay the Piper

A terrifying tale of supernatural horror set in a cursed Louisiana bayou, from the minds of legendary director George Romero and bestselling author Daniel Kraus.

Alligator Point, Louisiana, population 141: Young Renée Pontiac has heard stories of “the Piper”—a murderous swamp entity haunting the bayou—her entire life. But now the legend feels horrifically real: children are being taken and gruesomely slain. To resist, Pontiac and the town’s desperate denizens will need to acknowledge the sins of their ancestors—the infamous slave traders, the Pirates Lafitte. If they don’t . . . it’s time to pay the piper.

About Daniel Kraus

Daniel Kraus is a New York Times bestselling writer of novels, TV, and film. His 2023 novel, Whalefall, received a front-cover review in the New York Times Book Review, won the Alex Award, was an L.A. Times Book Prize Finalist, and was a Best Book of 2023 from NPR, the New York Times, Amazon, Chicago Tribune, and more. With Guillermo del Toro, he co-authored The Shape of Water, based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film. Also with del Toro, Kraus co-authored Trollhunters, which was adapted into the Emmy-winning Netflix series. His also cowrote The Living Dead and Pay the Piper with legendary filmmaker George A. Romero. Kraus’s The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch was named one of Entertainment Weekly‘s Top 10 Books of the Year. Kraus has won the Bram Stoker Award, Scribe Award, two Odyssey Awards (for both Rotters and Scowler), and has appeared multiple times as Library Guild selections, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, and more. Kraus’s work has been translated into over 20 languages. He lives with his wife in Chicago. Visit him at danielkraus.com.

Hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Library System.

Interested in more?

Sign up here for the University Library System's Oh, the Horror! e-newsletter to stay up-to-date on news, event information, collection updates, and more from the George A. Romero Archive and Horror Studies Collection!

Sign up here for Daniel Kraus' Last Kraus on the Left e-newsletter to recieve an exclusive list of Daniel Kraus' favorite horror movies you've (likely) never seen. Future issues will include updates on his books, comics, movies, and who knows what else.

Hillman Library is located at 3960 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Free on-street parking is available after 6:00 p.m. on various streets surrounding the library. Paid parking is also available at Soldiers & Sailors Parking Garage (.2 miles from the library). Hillman is also accessible by public transportation. See the Pittsburgh Regional Transit website for planning your trip. 

The entrance to the library is located at the Forbes Avenue address, accessed by a ramp leading from street level to the First Floor plaza. Sidewalks around the library are closed as part of library renovation; follow signs to library entrance.

Please email uls-events@pitt.edu with any questions or accessibility accommodation requests.