OBITUARY—Legendary filmmaker George A Romero, creator of the genre-defining horror Night of the Living Dead, has died at the age of 77.

Romero passed away in his sleep on Sunday after a “brief but aggressive battle” with lung cancer, according to producing partner Peter Grunwald.

Filmed on a meagre budget of $120,000, Romero’s Night of the Living Dead is widely hailed as a masterpiece of the horror genre. Its tale of a zombie uprising caused by a contaminant from space gave birth to the undead, flesh-eating “ghoul,” which would later be called a “zombie.” The film not only spawned a series from Romero—which includes Dawn of the Dead (1978), Day of the Dead (1985), and Land of the Dead (2005)—but also a swathe of imitators across films and video games.