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“Romero Started It”: Horror Masters From Stephen King to Jordan Peele React to George Romero’s Death

George A. Romero at a Survival of the Dead Midnight Madness screening during the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.

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The death of George Romero on Sunday has brought a flood of tributes and memories from horror writers, actors, filmmakers, and people who just love a good zombie movie. Here are just a few of the people missing the Night of the Living Dead filmmaker, starting with Stephen King himself. King, who wrote Creepshow for Romero to direct, called him his “favorite collaborator”:

Director John Carpenter also counted Romero as a friend:

Director Jordan Peele drew a straight line from Romero to his own film Get Out, including a still of black actor Duane Jones in Night of the Living Dead:

Meanwhile, Guillermo del Toro couldn’t find words at all:

Slither and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn also weighed in:

As did Hostel director Eli Roth:

Finally, as if things weren’t sad enough, journalist Chris Hewitt posted a photo from a 2005 interview in which he, Romero, makeup artist Greg Nicotero, and director Edgar Wright talked about horror films for an hour. (The tape on which their conversation was recorded must have been imbued with ancient, evil powers from being in the room with so many masters of the macabre, because it promptly disappeared.)

Romero will be missed.