Partially Devoured uses a frame-by-frame deep dive into Night of the Living Dead to produce a cultural investigation of the film’s importance and to examine the author’s early life of rural isolation and local violence.
Remarkable ... Kraus takes us through Night of the Living Dead in fascinating detail ... More than just an analysis of the film ... Kraus is a certified expert of the film (if not literally, he is the closest thing to), with an extensive knowledge of everything Night related ... Partially Devoured remains entertaining throughout, feeling something like an eloquent and charismatic friend talking about one of their favorite things ... Whether you’ve seen Night of the Living Dead ten times, or have never seen it at all, Partially Devoured makes for excellent reading.
Reads almost like a commentary track ... 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.
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.
