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The Bronx Honors a Horror Legend with 'George A. Romero: Stay Scared!' Exhibit
- Damian Ali
- Oct 10
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 22
Archived Event: This event took place on October 31, 2025. This article remains available as part of TalkTeaV’s Bronx Moments archive.
From Parkchester basements to museum walls, The Bronx celebrates the imagination that turned a local dreamer into the father of modern horror.
Keith Wayne, Duane Jones, and Russell Streiner on the set of Night of the Living Dead (1967) with George A. Romero: Image Courtesy of Image Ten, Inc.Image Ten, Inc
This Halloween season, Bronxites will be celebrating the borough's zombie roots. The Bronx County Historical Society's Museum of Bronx History will open George A. Romero: Stay Scared! on Friday, October 31, 2025, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., inviting fans to explore the life and legacy of the Bronx-born filmmaker who created the modern zombie.
"The story of George A. Romero is really a Bronx story. George became interested in filmmaking at an early age growing up in Parkchester, and he started pursuing that interest purely out of love for the medium," said Dr. Steven Payne, director of The Bronx County Historical Society.
Through rare photographs, yearbooks, film scripts, and behind-the-scenes memorabilia, Stay Scared! spotlights Romero's journey from a creative kid in Parkchester to the pioneering director of Night of the Living Dead (1968). The exhibition unfolds across three venues: the Museum of Bronx History, Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, and Bronx Music Hall. Each location explores a different chapter of his life and artistry.
George A. Romero in the St. Helena’s High School for Boys yearbook, 1956. This school merged with the girls school as Monsignor Scanlon High School in 1976. Collections of The Bronx County Historical Society.
At the Museum of Bronx History, visitors will find Romero's early years framed within the Bronx of the 1940s and 1950s, tracing his path toward becoming one of independent cinema's most influential voices.
The Poe Cottage installation highlights his best-known works, from Night of the Living Dead to Creepshow (1982), alongside his lesser-known creative interpretations of literary classics. Over at Bronx Music Hall, the focus shifts to Romero's unique approach to sound and score.
Councilwoman Amanda Farías, filmmaker Tina Romero, and Suzanne Desrocher-Romero attend the Bronx street naming ceremony honoring George A. Romero, October 12, 2024. Photo credit: Edwin Pagán.
"To many George A. Romero is the undisputed 'Father of the Zombies,' but to me as a lifelong horror fan and filmmaker working in genre production, he was also a tangible inspiration with whom I could easily identify," said Edwin Pagán, co-curator of the exhibit and founder-in-chief of LATIN HORROR. Pagán first encountered Romero's work at a Bronx drive-in, where he watched Dawn of the Dead in 1978 and never looked back.
Last fall, Councilwoman Amanda Farías introduced a resolution naming a Bronx street in Romero's honor, a tribute that solidifies his legacy just as Stay Scared! opens its doors. And while the street name and the museum find their home in the Bronx, another borough will soon be celebrating the name Romero.
George A. Romero with his daughter Tina Romero, early 1980s: Courtesy of Tina Romero
"I'm playing in a big sandbox that my dad made, but it's a special sandbox because he's my dad," Tina Romero said during an interview with Popcorn Frights. "I really am proud that this is a movie he would have never made. I hope people can feel the reverberations of his spirit in there 'cause he lives inside of me, and so I hope that comes across."
Romero continues the family legacy with Queens of the Dead, a fresh take on the zombie story that celebrates creativity and queer identity in the Brooklyn nightlife scene. The film premiered this year at the Tribeca Festival, winning the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, and drawing praise for how she makes "living dead cinema her own while still honoring her father's legacy," stated Tribeca programmer Matt Barone.
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Tina Romero's debut film, Queens of the Dead, turns a Brooklyn party into a zombie apocalypse, where drag queens fight back with humor, heart, and street smarts. What to Know About Queens of the Dead
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Image of George A. Romero on key art for George A. Romero: Stay Scared! exhibition: Image Courtesy of The Bronx County Historical Society
Long before his films terrified audiences worldwide, Romero was a Bronx teenager with a camera and big ideas. During a TIFF interview with host Colin Geddes, he told a laughing audience about getting arrested in Parkchester while shooting a homemade sci-fi short called "The Man from the Meteor," an early experiment that caught the attention of law enforcement when he tossed a flaming dummy off a rooftop for "production value."
As Dr. Steven Payne put it, "As a half-Lithuanian, half-Cuban kid from a working-class neighborhood in The Bronx, George was handed few favors in his early life. But he forged his own path and serves as an inspiration today for those of us, the vast majority, who burn with creativity and passion but are similarly excluded from the inner circles of wealth, power, and influence."
Author's Note: Writing about George A. Romero has been eye-opening. I grew up watching zombie movies through my fingers, half scared, and later switched to cartoons so I could fall asleep. I never gave much thought to who created them, but learning that the father of modern zombie horror was from The Bronx is the kind of twist I think even he would have loved. Since including stories about The Bronx in my writing journey, this borough continues to teach me something new. In this case, culture wasn't manufactured by a big-budget studio; it was born in the streets, with hustle, grit, and the singular vision of a working-class kid.
George A. Romero: Stay Scared! opens October 31 at the Museum of Bronx History, 3266 Bainbridge Avenue, The Bronx, and runs through June 2026, with additional installations at Edgar Allan Poe Cottage and Bronx Music Hall.
Follow:
BCHS Instagram @bronxhistorian
BCHS YouTube @bronxhistorian
Latin Horror Instagram- @latinhorror
Latin Horror YouTube @latinhorror
Learn More about George A. Romero: Stay Scared!
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