Here Is Pittsburgh's Mt. Rushmore Of Halloween Horror Personalities

PITTSBURGH, PA — The Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota contains the massive sculpture of four 60-foot-tall heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

There is no similar-sized tribute to people from Pittsburgh who have scared countless throngs over the years. But if there were, who would be on it? With Halloween approaching, Patch identified four figures who clearly should be.

George Romero

The late Pittsburgh film director's most famous movie, of course, always will be, “Night of the Living Dead,” which jump-started an American love affair with zombies that survives to this day (see: “The Walking Dead.) In his second-most famous movie, 1978’s “Dawn of the Dead,” Monroeville Mall wasn’t just a film location; it practically was a co-star.

His other movies included "The Crazies," "Martin," "Creepshow," "Monkey Shines," and "The Dark Half. He also created and was the executive producer of the TV series "Tales from the Darkside."

Carve that man's image onto Mt. Washington already.

Bill Cardille

Sure, some of the movies he hosted trended toward the campy. But as the host of "Chiller Theater," which ran on WPXI-TV (formerly WIIC-TV) from 1963 to 1984, the late "Chilly Billy" provided a spooky atmosphere for Pittsburghers to end their Saturday evenings with a mix of horror and science fiction flicks.

The first movie shown on the program was "The Brain From Planet Arous" according to the Chiller Theater Memories website. The final program consisted of the double-feature "The Wolf Man" and "It Came From Outer Space." WPXI-TV recently revived the show for an eight-week run.

Tom Savini

A Romero protege, Savini is known for his makeup and special effects work on many Romero films. He has appeared as an actor and stuntman in such films as "Planet Terror," "Machete," "Django Unchained and Machete Kills." He directed a 1990 remake of "Night of the Living Dead," as well as several episodes of "Tales from the Darkside."

Savini also started Tom Savini's Special Makeup Effects Program at the Douglas Education Center in Monessen.

Greg Nicotero

A protege of both Romero and Savini, Nicotero in 1988 was a founding partner of the KNB EFX group, an Emmy Award-winning special effects makeup studio that has worked on more than 400 movie and TV projects. Now let's get to the really good stuff. He has served as an executive producer, special makeup effects supervisor and primary director on the classic zombie love fest "The Walking Dead" on AMC. He also created the web series "The Walking Dead: Webisodes."