world in Simply Irresistible(2002) and again in Abso-
lutely Captivated(2004). Her romances are reminis-
cent at times of Robert NATHAN.
During the 1990s Rusch tried her hand at hor-
ror fiction with Facade(1993) and the much more
interesting Sins of the Blood(1995), an unusual
vampire story in which a professional hunter of the
undead becomes emotionally involved with her
work. Her best novel of the supernatural is The
Devil’s Churn(1996), an atmospheric story about a
woman who worships the spirits of the ocean and
possesses the power to reanimate the dead. Unfor-
tunately, Rusch has written only occasional short
supernatural fiction since.
Despite her considerable output, which in-
cludes a very large number of science fiction nov-
els under her own and other names, Rusch is
consistently entertaining and sometimes impres-
sively thoughtful and prose conscious. She adapts
well to various styles and appeals to a wide range
of audiences.
Russo, John(1939– )
John Russo was the coauthor with George Romero
of the screenplay for the original film The Night of
the Living Dead(1968) and has subsequently writ-
ten a number of additional screenplays, some based
on his own novels. His first book was the noveliza-
tion of the Romero-directed movie, published in
book form in 1968, and his second novel was Re-
turn of the Living Dead(1978), based on the screen-
play for a film of that title, which he cowrote with
several others. Both stories deal with a contagious
plague that turns the dead into flesh-eating zom-
bies, and in neither case is there much effort to ex-
plain the phenomenon. Return of the Living Deadis
more clearly satirical, although much of the humor
of the film is lost in the text version. Russo wrote a
new version of the novel under the same name in
1985.
Midnight(1980) was Russo’s first original novel
of the supernatural. The children of a man who re-
portedly could summon demons decide to experi-
ment to find out if they have inherited his abilities.
They have, of course, but they summon an entity
who is much too powerful for them to control. The
plot too closely resembles that of a slasher movie to
be entirely convincing, and the carnival of carnage
begins to wear by the final chapters. Russo adapted it
as a film. His next, Black Cat(1982), is considerably
better, the first to indicate that the author might be
able to create something more than a fleshed out
screenplay. The soul of an evil magician has been
reincarnated in the body of a panther, which is
revered by a cult living in the American Southwest,
where they prey on unsuspecting victims.
The Awakening(1983), also adapted as a film,
is a straightforward vampire story with a few inter-
esting twists. Russo returned to the zombie story
with Inhuman(1986), in which a misguided gov-
ernment operation turns a group of terrorists into
virtually unstoppable walking dead. Voodoo Dawn
(1987), also a motion picture, describes the efforts
of a voodoo cult to find a fresh body for the disem-
bodied spirit of their spiritual leader. It is easily
Russo’s most effective and suspenseful novel. An-
other voodoo priest raises an army of zombies in an
effort to supplant the Mafia in the amusing but dis-
jointed Living Things(1988). His most recent hor-
ror novel is Hell’s Creation(1995), in which a
woman becomes convinced that her son was fa-
thered by Satan and surrenders him for manipula-
tion by a cult of satanists. Russo is far more likely
to be remembered for his motion picture work
than for his novels, but his better titles such as
Voodoo Dawnand The Awakeningsuggest that he
might well have been even more successful if he
had devoted more time to developing his prose
writing skills.Ryman, Geoffrey(1951– )
The Canadian writer better known as Geoff
Ryman has spent most of his life living in the
United Kingdom. His first genre fiction appeared
in 1976, and he has since alternated between sci-
ence fiction and fantasy. His first book-length
work, The Warrior Who Carried Life(1985), is a
fantasy that makes use of many of the standard
devices of modern fantasy but uses them for a
very unorthodox purpose, emphasizing the self-
destructive consequences of revenge. A young
woman whose family was brutally assaulted sets
out to track down and punish those responsible.
The Unconquered Country(1986) is technically a298 Russo, John