Partially Devoured - by Daniel Kraus (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"A stroke of genius! This is the definitive love letter to the film, written with such meticulous passion and demented glee that you feel yourself standing on the set during the shoot." --Greg Nicotero

The New York Times bestselling author of Whalefall and Angel Down dives into a horror movie classic to examine his favorite film's importance to our history, culture, and psychology--a perfect blend of research and memoir for fans of the movie, the genre, and beyond

Daniel Kraus first saw George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead when he was five years old. Through watching it approximately three hundred times since, Kraus discovered the many ways the film is tied to his childhood trauma and how its influence has carried into his adulthood. He couldn't help but wonder: Are there other admirers of the film out there who feel the same?

Partially Devoured uses a frame-by-frame deep dive into Night of the Living Dead to produce a kaleidoscopic cultural investigation of the film's importance and to examine the author's early life of rural isolation and local violence.

Careening from film analysis to rabbit-hole tangents, Partially Devoured will take readers from screaming laughter to the depths of grief, all while illustrating how a beloved genre film has woven itself into so many facets of our lives.

Review Quotes

The Orange County Register, A Most Anticipated Book
The Millions, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year

"Here it is--the ultimate autopsy of one of pop culture's master texts, capturing Night scene by scene, and everything outside of frame as well. Kraus is a sly, sympathetic, and funny tour guide, and he's concocted a lovely tribute to the grubby adventure of low-budget filmmaking and the delicate miracle that is the artistic process." --Colson Whitehead

"Horror cinephiles, this one's an essential." --Matthew Jackson, Bloody Disgusting

"This is more than merely a book about a cult movie. It's a scathing and deeply emotional look at America in the last fifty years . . . Trust me, no matter how much you know about Night of the Living Dead, Daniel Kraus will point out details you missed. He could probably have taught George Romero a few things about his movie. Partially Devoured is always interesting, occasionally hilarious, and all-too often devastating . . . Yes, Partially Devoured is my favorite Daniel Kraus book. Few books in my long life of reading have affected me so deeply and in such a penetrating way." --Mark Sieber, Horror Drive-In

"Careening from film analysis to rabbit-hole tangents, Partially Devoured will take readers from screaming laughter to the depths of grief, all while illustrating how a beloved genre film has woven itself into so many facets of our lives . . . Kraus crafts this book in a way that is captivating pushing the nerdy deep dive into the filmmaking just to the point where it might overwhelm to then switch to a personal reflection or connection to later years in the Night universe. It's amazing storytelling . . . Partially Devoured is Daniel Kraus's love letter to Night of the Living Dead and its creator, but it's also a memoir of sorts on the life of the New York Times bestselling author himself. You can feel the joy Kraus had in creating this book and sharing both is knowledge gained from researching the movie, but also the connection to his personal life all the way to working on projects that include George A. Romero's name. While yes, this book is for those fans of Night of the Living Dead, but it's just as much for those who enjoy Kraus's stories and the man who has written them." --Justin Soderberg, Capes & Tights

"Kraus's new release Partially Devoured goes far beyond just being a fan boy's rantings for a film he admires. Kraus approaches Romero's iconic film with a reverence and appreciation not normally manifested for a film. This film touched his life, changed his trajectory, and these pages serve as a testament to not just the attraction this film holds for him but also how that little black and white film from Pittsburgh changed a genre and entertainment as a whole . . . And through it all, Kraus sprinkles in how his viewing and ultimately his research into the film shaped his life as a creative, how it shaped his fandom, how it shaped him as a man. It's not just interesting, it's compelling, it's heartwarming, and for those of us who know fandom, it feels like home. Once you flip page one of Partially Devoured, you will not be able to stop till it is totally consumed. If you've ever watched Night of the Living Dead, read this book, and then watch it again. You'll see things in a completely different light after you do--and I can't think of any higher praise to give this book." --Dave Dreher, Gruesome Magazine

"Few authors understand the art of thrills like Daniel Kraus, and in Partially Devoured his knowledge is on full display. Partially Devoured is a fascinating deep dive into Night of the Living Dead that weaves together cultural reporting, frame-by-frame analysis, and personal narrative to explore the ways the famed horror film forever changed moviemaking and the way we look at American life. The book is a breathtakingly ambitious project in both the scope and depth of the research, yet Kraus absolutely delivers to create something astonishing. Partially Devoured is filled with grief, love, and fascination throughout every frame and word." --Michael Welch, Chicago Review of Books

"New York Times best-selling author Kraus loves the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, but he has never written about it with such heartbreakingly beautiful emotion . . . To say that Kraus takes readers down a rabbit hole is an understatement, one that trivializes the depths to which he probes the movie, the life stories of those involved in its creation, its worldly significance, and most importantly, how he would not be the writer, or even human, he is without it. More than the intimate memoir or film study the title proclaims, this is storytelling at its finest. For all readers, whether they have heard of Romero or not, this is a book about America and about death, oozing with grief on every page, while simultaneously bursting with life." --Booklist (starred review)

"Kraus guides readers with the passion of someone who has seen the film over 300 times, lovingly catching continuity errors but also marveling over actors' micro-expressions and exploring the expansive franchise of comic books, sequels, and remakes. Kraus says that every time he made someone watch Night, it was an act of love; his book is another act of love, highly recommended for horror buffs." --Library Journal (starred review)

"An entertaining deep dive into George A. Romero's classic horror film . . . Romero devotees will be enamored." --Publishers Weekly

"Kraus, author of this lively, conversational study of the 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead, has the proper bona fides for such a project: An accomplished horror and thriller author, he completed a couple of unfinished fiction projects by Dead director George A. Romero, including 2020's The Living Dead. But perhaps more importantly, he's a Dead superfan, estimating he's seen the film 300 times. And as the book shows, he's drawn plenty of insights from the film and its legacy . . . [H]is storytelling isn't off-puttingly geeky or fixated on fans-only details. That's partly because he's so personable, weaving Dead details into his own history as a teenage filmmaker, writer, and horror fan. But mainly he's persuasive about the idea that the film is not just a horror classic but a passkey through America's darkest instincts . . . A sage take on a low-budget classic." --Kirkus Reviews

"This meticulous, obsessive, and moving book is not only for fans of Night of the Living Dead; it's a stirring celebration of the beautiful and essential imperfectness of art and its creators." --Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts

"You don't have to care about Night of the Living Dead to be moved and inspired by this book. AN INSTANT CLASSIC." --Grady Hendrix, author of Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

"A STROKE OF GENIUS! This is the definitive love letter to the film, written with such meticulous passion and demented glee that you feel yourself standing on the set during the shoot. It perfectly captures who George Romero was, and I can't wait to read it again." --Greg Nicotero

"A primal scream and an intensely, even painfully personal deconstruction that connects dots you never knew were there. Highly recommended!" --Mick Garris

"George Romero created a new idiom of horror, connecting monstrous terrors to real world politics and traumas decades before anyone uttered the phrase 'elevated horror.' No one but Daniel Kraus could write this combination love letter, memoir, and deeply insightful cultural analysis of the lord of the Dead and his most memorable work. Your reading lamp will burn deep into the night as one master storyteller reveals how he, and all of us, have been shaped by another." --W Scott Poole, author of Wasteland and Dark Carnivals

"In this sharply drawn dissection of one of the great masterworks of American cinema, Kraus shares a lifetime of inspiration, comfort, and heartbreakingly personal connections. An absolute must for people who relish finding themselves reflected within works of art." --Lucky McKee, director of May

About the Author

DANIEL KRAUS is a New York Times bestselling writer of novels, TV, and film. His latest novel, Angel Down, was a New York Times Top 10 Book of 2025. His novel Whalefall won the Alex Award, was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, and was named a Best Book of 2023 by NPR, The New York Times, Amazon, Chicago Tribune, and more. With Guillermo del Toro, he cowrote The Shape of Water, based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film.