PULITZER AWARD WINNING AUTHOR, DANIEL KRAUS, TO DISCUSS MOVIE AND HIS BOOK, PARTIALLY DEVOURED
Champaign, IL – Champaign Park District is pleased to announce a special screening of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) followed by onstage discussion and book signing by Pulitzer Award winning author, Daniel Kraus, at the historic Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at 7:00 P.M. General Admission seating tickets are $10.00. Tickets can be purchased. at the Virginia Theatre Box Office, online at thevirginia.org, or charge by phone at 217-356-9063.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) | Horror | 96 min | Unrated
George A. Romero’s 1968 horror masterpiece, Night of the Living Dead, follows a group of panicked survivors trapped in a rural Pennsylvania farmhouse as flesh-eating ghouls lay siege to the house. The movie is celebrated for revolutionizing the modern zombie genre.
Night of the Living Dead premiered in Pittsburgh on October 1, 1968. It grossed US$12 million domestically and US$18 million internationally, earning more than 250 times its budget and making it one of the most profitable film productions of all time.
DANIEL KRAUS / Discussion & Book Signing
In 1968, Night of the Living Dead opened in theatres and revolutionized the horror genre, becoming an enduring classic and inspiring thousands of zombie films in its wake. U. of I. alum Daniel Kraus, MS ’06 IS, winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Angel Down, first saw Night of the Living Dead when he was five years old, and in the half-century since has watched it more than 300 times—which makes him the perfect person to write a book about it! Kraus’ new book, Partially Devoured: How Night of the Living Dead Saved My Life and Changed the World, is one-part cultural history, one-part memoir that explores the movie’s major impact on film history, American culture, and Kraus himself.
Following the movie, there will be an on-stage conversation between Daniel Kraus and Illinois Alumni magazine editor-in-chief Ryan Ross about the film and the book, followed by a book signing.
The Illini Union Bookstore will also be selling copies of Partially Devoured at the screening. This special event is sponsored by Illinois Public Media, the University of Illinois Alumni Association, The Film-Fanatic Club, and Champaign Park District.
For more information or to request an interview with Daniel Kraus, please contact:
Mitch Marlow
Virginia Theatre Operations Manager
217-819-3936
mitch.marlow@champaignparks.org
