The Zombie…a mindless, shambling, relentless denizen of the underworld, and naturally the subject of many a lowbrow horror novel.  Yet in a new twist on an old idea, Jane Austen has unwittingly, (and posthumously), co-authored a Zombie novel of her own.  “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” (Quirk books…$17.95 Can.) is a unique blend of old world Romanticism and New World Schlock.  Her co-author, Seth Grahame-Smith has taken Ms. Austen’s timeless tale and blended into it a mix of the classic and the macabre (85% original material/15% Zombies) and put a whole new spin on the pre-Victorian world of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett.

For an interesting review, see Ann McDowell’s take on his reworking of a classic at the Mount Holyoke News.

In an interview with the L.A. Times entertainment correspondent, Carolyn Kellogg, Grahame-Smith fleshes out  his quirky take on the timeless novel…how the characters live a zombie-like existence, frittering too and fro without much thought…so why not put them in situations where they must fight their own apathy, albeit  in a  physical form?

Grahame-Smith explains to the Toronto Star’s Vit Wagner why a novel by Jane Austen is ripe for the monster mash.  Two words…Public Domain. 

Poor Jane must be rolling over in her grave…