Image Ten began production on Night of the Living Dead in 1967. The filming took place in and around Evans City, Pennsylvania, located half an hour from Pittsburgh. Funding had been secured through the production team’s money, along with borrowed dollars here and there.

The $114,000 budget rendered it a B-movie, yet the men and women who worked around the clock to finish the film --- from director George A. Romero to actors Duane Jones and Judith O’Dea --- never gave it much thought. Their focus was on portraying a tumultuous world in which the dead were alive and attacking the living.

"While labeled a horror flick, Night of the Living Dead explored themes about society and human nature that proved equally as compelling. Kraus continues to shine as a brilliant writer in fiction and (now) nonfiction."

Daniel Kraus was five years old when he first experienced this black-and-white world, where ghouls feasted on the bodies of the living. It began a love/hate relationship with the horror genre, yet Night of the Living Dead became a perennial favorite. By his own admission, Kraus has seen the movie hundreds of times, and he has a room that is awash in memorabilia. The film resonated with him on a level that other motion pictures haven't. Perhaps it was because viewings of it became a fun and bonding moment with his mother, or that the theme of survival paralleled his attempts to endure often brutal days at school in Iowa.

In the 58 years since its release, there have been sequels, books and documentaries about Night of the Living Dead --- but nothing quite so personal as Kraus’ latest effort.

Layers of plywood separated the seven survivors from the horrors that lurked outside the farmhouse. Barbara, nearly catatonic after watching her brother Johnny get attacked, sits on the couch while Ben boards up every opening. The marauding assailants continue to congregate outside the home, sensing fresh prey to feast on. Harry Cooper and his wife barely escaped a rampaging horde and now attend to their daughter, who was bitten by one of the attackers. The Coopers are hiding in the cellar with a young couple, Tom and Judy. Once Harry and Ben meet, a battle for control is waged while a certain doom threatens to barge its way in.

Night of the Living Dead scored big at the box office. However, it proved bittersweet for some as it marked the height of their acting careers, while Romero was often pigeonholed as a zombie movie director. Still, its staying power is undeniable as its influence on filmmakers and writers continues to this day.

PARTIALLY DEVOURED is an expression of love and appreciation for a film that broke boundaries and transcended the horror genre. Daniel Kraus breaks down the movie scene by scene and infuses his work with significant insights. The profound nature of the story arises not only from the oftentimes poignant elements of Kraus’ life, but from the unrealized potential of a few of its stars and a rift in the production team that eventually developed. Its success also was overshadowed by a copyright error that cost Image Ten millions of dollars.

While labeled a horror flick, Night of the Living Dead explored themes about society and human nature that proved equally as compelling. Kraus continues to shine as a brilliant writer in fiction and (now) nonfiction.