Francis Ford Iowa

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 25, 2009 7:00PM

Daniel Kraus must have invented a method of extracting more than twenty-four hours out of a day. When we last checked in with him, he had just premiered his documentary Musician, profiling jazz genius Ken Vandermark. Since then he's ramped up production of additional installments of his WORK series, with at least three new films in various stages of production; transitioned into a Books for Youth associate editor at Booklist magazine; and, oh yeah, also published a novel for young adults, The Monster Variations. It's enough to make the rest of us look like layabouts.

As if to confirm that he's a mere mortal after all, Kraus is cheerfully dragging his skeletons out of the closet for all to see. Growing up in Iowa he honed his cinematic prowess using a VHS camcorder and a willing group of friends, producing a whole library of sweded movies. Night of the Living Dead and Misery both got Krausizied, but best of all is The Blob, which stars a giant garbage bag. Let's hope the Guess Brothers can rustle up a few more scares than that.

Kraus will read from The Monster Variations at The Book Cellar on Wednesday at 7:00pm