Zombies and Austen and Prequels, Oh My!
Yes, Zombies are dead smelly
things that live off human flesh - brains to be precise. We've all seen
the movies and heard the stories.
Kids - but more so adults -
dress up like the undead for Halloween, and some even claim that they
are in fact real zombies. Just turn on the National Geographic
Channel and you'll see a show about them. Apparently people are turned
into zombies in Haiti and other parts of the world where the religion
of voodoo is still practiced.
But I highly doubt that
voodoo was being practiced in the tiny English village of Meryton,
where we find our zombie killer extraordinaire, Elizabeth Bennet.
That's right folks. Elizabeth
Bennet of Jane Austen's classic Pride and
Prejudice is now a fierce zombie killer in
Jane Austen's and Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride
and Prejudice and Zombies, a book full of
love, lust, blood, cannibalism and thousands of the living dead
converging on the small town of Meryton. And to complicate
things, the handsome, dashing, arrogant Mr. Darcy has come to town to
not only kill the zombies, but to sweep Elizabeth Bennet off her
blood-soaked feet.
But just how did all this begin?
How did Ms. Bennet - and her bumbling sisters, to some degree - become
experts in killing the undead? That's where Pride
and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls comes in. Using the characters from Austen's
novel, author Steve Hockensmith begins his prequel with the funeral of
a Mr. Ford.
The Bennet sisters begin
wondering what happened to their friend, Emily Ward, who had simply
vanished one day. Things at the church get a little frenzied when
young Elizabeth Bennet notices that Mr. Ford was getting out of his
coffin. After Mr. Ford is dispatched, Mr. Bennet tells his daughters
that it's time they learn to fight "The Dreadfuls" (i.e.: the
zombies) - because where there is one, there is more.
The dead begin to rise from the
cemetery grounds, and soon the Bennet family is in full swing.
Bodies pile up while Elizabeth blossoms from a timid and shy
teenager to a merciless
killer.
But soon, she is not only fighting
off the undead, she is fighting off two men trying to woo her.
Master Hawksworth is a warrior who crosses the countryside,
killing the undead - and ultimately training Elizabeth to be the
skilled killer she would become in Pride and
Prejudice and Zombies. The other man
sloshing through severed limbs and blood battlefields for Elizabeth's
affection is Dr. Keckilpenny, who wants to cure the zombie problem
using medicine and science in place of force and decapitation.
I never thought I'd see the
day that Elizabeth Bennet of Austen's novel would be fighting
zombies…but it works. Both books work, in fact.
Somehow, the additional
authors managed to incorporate the original story into a new series.
There is action, romance, love, heartache as well as the eating of
hearts, hatred, abhorrence and utter chaos.
Both Pride
and Prejudice and Zombies - written by
Austen and Grahame-Smith, whose most recent novel is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter -
and the prequel Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Hockensmith are extremely entertaining reads.
There is no social commentary, deep thoughts, conspiracy theories,
signs or symbols to follow. They are just plain fun to read.
And if you just relax and let your
mind go with the story, the books are one incredible ride. There
are even talks of making Pride and Prejudice
and Zombies into a movie starring
Natalie Portman, but only time will tell.
In the meantime, if you find
yourself having already read the above mentioned novels, check out the
other books offered from Quirk Classics: Sense
and Sensibility and Seamonsters and Android Karenina.
Both will soon be reviewed here at Austin On Stage Magazine.
Nick Manix is a professional writer and journalist
who splits his time between Central Texas and New Orleans.
(Cover images courtesy Amazon.com)
