Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
Posted by Jesse in Arts, Books, DVD & Blu-Ray, Events, Latest News, Movies, Television & Web Series, Toys & Collectibles on March 16th, 2010
We here at Famous Monsters love the Rondos, and who wouldn’t?
Begun in 2002 by David Colton and Kerry Gammill over at the scare-tastic Classic Horror Film Board, the Rondo Awards are dedicated to honoring achievements in classic horror, recognizing everything from “Best Movie,” to ”Best DVD Commentary” to “Best Horror Host.” Lucky winners receive a beautifully sculpted bust in the likeness of famed horror star Rando Hatton (The Pearl of Death, House of Horrors), for whom the award is named. And now, every year, the cool ghouls of the internet come together to celebrate the best and brightest in the world of classic horror, science fiction and cult films.
The best part is that anyone can vote. Your voice matters! As a fan of all that is classic horror (and surely that is you, fair reader, for who else would frequent the abode of the Ackermonster?), it is your sacred franchise to cast your ballot in favor of your favorite fiends.
Hit up the Rondo Awards’ official site when it is Kong-venient, and cast your vote!
While every category should be of great interst to FM readers, we wanted to single out a few awards and nominees that have particularly wowed us this year.
A bounty of excellent films from 2009 is present In the Best Movie category. Last year was a particularly rich one for genre fans, and pictures like Henry Selick’s beautiful Coraline, Neill Blompkamp’s astounding and provoking District 9, Sam Raimi’s delerious Drag Me To Hell and Duncan Jones’ mind-bending Moon represented the best of what genre cinema can be.
Fan favorites from the TV category include the final season of SyFy’s milestone Battlestar Galactica, Fox’s brilliant head-scratcher Fringe, as well as perennials Lost and HBO’s vampire drama True Blood.
This writer needs to single out the extremely overdue release of Night of the Creeps in a wonderful collector’s edition, for the Best Classic DVD category, as well as the Beware the Moon documentary from last fall’s excellent An American Werewolf in London special edition. When it comes to Best Commentaries, we were blessed with an embarrassment of riches last year, with Fred Dekker offering insights into the aforementioned Night of the Creeps, ace film historians Greg Mank and Tom Weaver (with guests Bob Burns and Charlotte Austin) lending great depth and context to classic Karloff creepers The Walking Dead and Frankenstein 1970, respectively, as well as another great duo of commentaries from Japanese film experts Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski for the Toho Science Fiction Collection.
If you head over the Rondo site, you’ll be greeted by the incredible nominees for Best Magazine Cover, including a Plague of the Zombies/The Reptile tribute, in the form of a startling contribution to Little Shoppe of Horrors by Bruce Timm.
Best Website has a daunting number of nominees (including yours truly, a-thank you), and surely one of the coolest of the bunch has to be director Joe Dante’s amazing Trailers From Hell, where Joe invites several celebrity buddies in to provide commentary for some of the greatest genre trailers. Everything from Attack of the 50ft. Woman, to Stanely Kubrick’s classic crime caper The Killing is up for your amusement, with commentators like Larry Cohen, John Landis, Eli Roth, Edgar Wright, and Roger Corman himself!
Nominated for Best Article is Steve Vertlieb’s excellent “The Most Famous Monster of Them All: A Personal Remembrance of Forrest J. Ackerman,” a feature FM is proud to have re-presented on our site. Also relating to Forry, Joe Moe’s wonderful tribute to the Ackermonster at the Egyptian Theatre is nominated for Best Fan Event.
The Best Toy, Model or Collectible category has too many goodies to name, but who wouldn’t want that Dracula ornament for the tree? Or to have Boris Karloff (with three changeable heads!) glaring down at you from the top of your desk?
And we would be remiss if we didn’t remind readers that we’re all partial to Eric Powell’s fantastic The Goon and Mike Mignola’s always brilliant Hellboy, which are both nominated for Best Horror Comic.
Count Alucard’s Controversy of the Year has some gems, including fans’ debate over whether or not a snippet of Bela Lugosi’s original Monster dialogue can be heard in a scene from Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, as well as the growing trend of big studios pressing specialty DVD’s by order, as opposed to standard releases.
There’s so many more categories and so much more to choose from, so head on over the Rondo Awards site for a full list of nominees and be sure to cast your vote! The polls are open until midnight, April 3rd.
Posted by Natasia in Books, Home Page Top Story, Latest News, Movies on March 16th, 2010
With ongoing Frankenstein adaptations in the works, it is sometimes hard to believe that the original story Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, written by feminist author Mary Shelly, is almost 200 years old!
The first film adaptation of Frankenstein, produced by the Edison Studios in New York, will be celebrating its 100th anniversary this Thursday, March 18.
Eclipsed by the successful 1931 version produced by Universal Studios and subsequent adaptations, the 1910 Frankenstein was almost completely forgotten, until recently.
The picture, which is regarded by some to be the oldest horror film in existence, was discovered by author and film historian Frederick C. Wiebel, Jr. as he was researching the film for a magazine article. The film was originally thought as ‘lost’ by the American Film Institute when in fact one copy of the film survived, lying in the Wisconsin basement of an eccentric film collector named Alois Dettlaff, Sr. who acquired it in the 1950s.
Wiebel then arranged for the film’s restoration and release on DVD. His subsequent findings about the picture lead him to expand his magazine article into a book, entitled “Edison’s Frankenstein,” published by BearManor Media.
The centenarian film was produced by Edison Studios, the film production company run by the famed inventor Thomas Edison.
The studio went to great lengths to promote their film, with the managers bringing their best director and screenwriter, J. Searle Dawley, to head the picture. They also used their best actors, sets, costumes and special effects.
Dawley was instructed to adapt the source material with great care, with the studio publicist at the time stating: “In making the film the Edison Co. has carefully tried to eliminate all the actually repulsive situations and to concentrate its endeavors upon the mystic and psychological problems that are to be found in this weird tale.
Wherever, therefore, the film differs from the original story it is purely with the idea of eliminating what would be repulsive to a moving picture audience.”
The film deviates from subsequent adaptations in that the Monster is shown being born from a cauldron of noxious chemicals, instead of the familiar scene of a creature assembled from discarded corpses and brought to life by mechanical and electrical forces.
The Monster himself was played by Charles Stanton Ogle. The love interest of the film was played by famed silent film actress Mary Fuller, and Victor Frankenstein was portrayed by Augustus Phillips, a stage actor in New York.
Filming for Frankenstein began on January 17, 1910 and lasted a few days. The budget of the film is estimated to be around $500. It was released March 18, 1910 for a weekend premiere and received positive reviews.
At that time, Mary Shelley’s novel was already 92-years-old. It had been produced on stage for years and was already part of the culture through references like “creating a Frankenstein.”
Today, this historic film is in the public domain, and can be downloaded legally at Archive.org.
Posted by Peter Schwotzer in Books, Reviews, Terror Tales with Peter D. Schwotzer on March 16th, 2010
“They were just a group of high school kids looking for a place to party. They didn’t know the end of the world was coming. Now, alone and trapped below ground in a state-of-the-art bomb shelter, they are being stalked—and the creatures that come for them through the dirt and ash are like nothing anyone has ever seen before.
There is a new ruling life-form on earth, and these six humans are the only remaining prey.
Welcome to your worst nightmare. Welcome to…Sparrow Rock “
Sparrow Rock is Nate Kenyon’s fourth book with Dorchester Publishing and, I think, his best so far. Bloodstone was his first (in 2005 it was named a Bram Stoker Award finalist in hardcover, winning the P&E Horror Novel of the Year); The Reach (also a Bram Stoker Award finalist) was his second; and The Bone Factory was his third. (You can read my reviews of the latter two by clicking on the links.)
Sparrow Rock is a spine tingling, claustrophobic, creepy end-of-the-world tale that will leave you shuddering in its wake. Nate goes for the throat with the opening prologue and doesn’t stop until the very last page.
Though it doesn’t have the sprawling story lines and multitude of characters as King’s The Stand or McCammon’s Swan Song, it has the visceral impact that these inspired, and in my opinion deserves to be put on the same shelf as these classics.
I literally could not put this book down. Nate’s writing has continued to improve with each book and he focuses his tremendous talents on the small group of teenagers trapped in the bomb shelter while the world is destroyed around them.
How they handle the seeming inevitability of their situation (discovering that they don’t know as much about each other as they thought that they did), and the discovery that there are other things that lived through the bombings moves the story along at a breakneck pace.
And there are frights aplenty; if you’re claustrophobic like me this book will make you sweat. Kenyon has a sure winner on his hands and I can safely say it is the best book I’ve read so far this year.
Do yourself a favor and head over to Dorchester Publishing and pre-order Sparrow Rock, you will never look at ants the same way again.
Posted by Bryan in Books, Comics, Home Page Top Story, Latest News on March 9th, 2010
Legendary fantasy artist Frank Frazetta and acclaimed publisher Vanguard Productions have announced a new publishing relationship.
Frazetta said, “We’ve known Vanguard publisher J. David Spurlock for many years. Vanguard publishes the very best! I’ve enjoyed their books on Hal Foster, Al Williamson, Jeffrey Jones, Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Basil Gogos, Carmine Infantino and more. David helped on our Painting with Fire documentary and we helped him on Vanguard’s Roy G. Krenkel, Wally Wood, and J. Allen St.John books. It’s natural that we should work together. I’m looking forward to seeing the quality job they do on the new Frazetta books.”
Frank Frazetta is considered by many to be the greatest heroic-fantasy artist of all time. His work has influenced generations of artists, fans, designers, and movie directors. From his 1950s comics; to his breathtaking book covers featuring Tarzan, King Kong, and John Carter of Mars; to his 1960s monster magazines Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella; to his major movie posters, including After the Fox, The Night They Raided Minsky’s and What’s New Pussycat?; and, of course, his revolutionary Conan paintings.
Active since October 1990, Vanguard has published pop culture books, graphic novels, mystery, science fiction, and more. Vanguard is best known as the world’s leading producer of art book biographies on illustrators and cartoonists and has garnered acclaim from The New York Times, The Village Voice, Time Out New York, The IPPY Awards, Starlog, National Public Radio, Video Watchdog, The Eisner Awards, Entertainment Weekly, Fangoria, Publishers Weekly, The Society of Illustrators, Variety, The Hugo Awards, Library Journal, The Rondo Awards, Locus Science Fiction Awards, and more.
Vanguard’s publications have been distributed through Diamond Distributors since 1993 with expanded trade distribution since 2000, through nearly every major distributor including Ingram, Baker & Taylor, and Continental Sales Inc. Vanguard’s presence at tradeshows include San Diego Comic-Con International (2010 marks Vanguard’s 17th consecutive year at Comic-Con), Book Expo America (often with their longtime associates, Watson-Guptill), New York Comic-Con, Wizard World, etc. Vanguard represents many top creators. Numerous Vanguard-related talents including Neal Adams, Carmine Infantino, Jim Steranko, and Vanguard publisher, J. David Spurlock are featured on the recent STARZ network documentary, Comic Books Unbound.
Vanguard founder J. David Spurlock said, “We are very excited about launching a line of Frazetta books under the new Vanguard Frazetta Classics brand. The line will include a series of volumes collecting Frazetta’s comics work in top quality book format. Other Vanguard Frazetta Classics will include a new edition of the 2008 hit, Frazetta – The Definitive Reference, a richly illustrated index of every Frazetta work ever published; a Frank Frazetta Sketchbook; and more—all in library-quality collections fully authorized by Frank Frazetta.”
For more Vanguard news, check out their Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vanguard-Productions/127661820833
Posted by Ashleigh in Books, Home Page Top Story, Latest News, Reviews on March 9th, 2010
“As this hilariously horrifying prequel begins, the Bennet sisters are enjoying a peaceful life in the English countryside. They idle away the days reading, sewing, practicing instruments, and daydreaming about future husbands—until, suddenly, corpses are springing from the earth. As bodies pile up, Elizabeth Bennet takes charge and transforms into the zombie-slaying machine readers know and love from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.“
Anyone who has spent some time on the Internet is probably familiar with the phenomenon of fanfiction. If you’re not, allow me to explain: fanfiction are works of fiction written by fans of a particular book, movie, video game, etc. Honestly, if it exists in some form of media, there’s probably a fanfiction about it – there’s even I Love Lucy fanfiction (if you value your sanity at all, then please, in the name of all that is good in this world, do not look it up).
These fan-derived works may or may not contain characters from the original but they almost always take place in the same world of the original. Some are good, most are awful. Like, forcing-you-to-lose-faith-in-humanity awful.
Make no mistake: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a work of fanfiction, but the good kind — one that can suck you in with relative ease if you’re willing to turn logic off during a few key moments.
Allow me to just say that the entire book is a loving-crafted tribute to both the work of Jane Austen and horror in general. From the dedication (“To Jane. We kid because we love.”) to the settings, author Steve Hockensmith obviously took great pains to create an original tale that’s set in a world that’s recognizably Austen’s.
The characters are also familiar. Whether you’re a fan of Austen’s original works, or a fan of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies you’ll recognize each character’s subtle quirks and personalities that were established by the older works.
Despite Hockensmith’s amazing attention to detail, it doesn’t match its predecessor from a comedic standpoint. This is mostly because the prequel doesn’t have the same luxury of the original, in that it didn’t have an already-established and beloved work of fiction to take liberties with.
It’s a shame because I truly believe that if this was a stand-alone book with the character’s names changed and didn’t carry the Pride and Prejudice tag, no one would even notice that the absurd humor found in the original is lacking.
In fact, it could be said that the book’s pedigree is also its biggest drawback. I’ve read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and I felt myself continuously comparing the original to the prequel. Hockensmith writes in a more modern style whereas Grahame-Smith had Austen’s original prose to fall back on; the prequel places more of an emphasis on action and gore than the original.
But overall, those complaints don’t detract from the book’s overall experience.
Dreadfuls is a damn fun read. If you’re a zombie fan with a healthy sense of humor, I guarantee that this book will latch onto your brain with rotting hands and refuse to let go. Read it, if only for the quirkiness of it all.
Posted by Earl Roesel in A Walk Through the Forrest with Earl Roesel, Books, Home Page Top Story, Latest News on March 8th, 2010
A couple of days ago I went to see Alice In Wonderland with my friend and Famous Monsters contributor Dave Marchant. It was a fairly okay film, one that won’t make me forget about the Disney masterwork anytime soon. It did, however, sport at least one feature notable to horror fans: the vocal presence of Christopher Lee as the fearsome Jabberwocky.
Forry, of course, knew Lee well when the actor was living in America during the latter part of the 1970s. The two attended many a Count Dracula Society meeting together and enjoyed a friendship based upon mutual esteem…at least until one fateful day in 1979. Forry related the following anecdote to me, which details the breakdown between the two.
Forry and Lee were attending a function of some sort when the latter took the podium. He proceeded to announce, totally without prior warning, the following: “Forry Ackerman, I have a bit of a bone to pick with you. You’ve given out my address and telephone number without my knowledge.” Lee then went out to indicate that he’d received some umpteen thousand calls from Germany alone, and that he’d been forced to change his number.
Christopher Lee, Wendayne and Forry enjoy happier times. During this period Lee had moved to the United States in a bid for more diverse film roles. Circa late 1970s.
Forry, for his part, was totally astonished, as he most certainly hadn’t given out any such information and indeed kept his rolodex written in a code known only to himself. The Ackermonster could only respond with “what has become known as righteous indignation.”
Lee though would have none of it. He finished by saying, “Well, you’d better do something about it.” Forry, having no idea how to rectify a situation he did not cause, simply stood with his jaw agape.
Lee would no longer provide his address information to Forry in the wake of this unfortunate business. Thereafter, birthday announcements in the Nate L. Daye section of Famous Monsters carried the proviso that no such greetings could be forwarded to the actor.
I highly doubt Lee, a highly cultured gentleman of the old school, continues to bear any ill will about this, especially in the wake of Forry’s death. It is nevertheless regrettable that, according to Forry, no “burying of the hatchet” apparently took place between the pair. Nor that the real culprit, whomever that may’ve been, bore the deserving brunt of Lee’s wrath.
After FJA related this story, it became my habit to pull the Ackermonster’s leg by sneaking up behind his chair and declaring, in a low sepulchral tone, “Forry Ackerman, I have a bit of a bone to pick with you.” And to my eternal astonishment, he’d always respond, “You sound exactly like Christopher Lee!”
Posted by Peter Schwotzer in Books, Reviews, Terror Tales with Peter D. Schwotzer on March 8th, 2010
“Theatre director Beth Ortiz is the newest resident of The Castle, an exclusive Los Angeles artists’ community. Anxious actors aren’t all Beth has to worry about in her new space, however, for The Castle has a secret history of madness and murder, and a celebrity artist who develops a strange fixation on Beth.
And The Castle also happens to be haunted.
By some particularly uneasy spirits.”
Lisa Morton is probably best known for her short fiction (she won the Bram Stoker Award for short fiction in 2006) and for her non-fiction (she won the Bram Stoker Award for Non-Fiction in 2008 for A Hallowe’en Anthology: Literary and Historical Writings Over the Centuries). She is also a screenwriter and was editor for the anthology Midnight Walk which I reviewed at the link.
Castle of Los Angeles is a genuinely creepy story about The Castle, an artist’s community and theater in LA. Beth Ortiz moves into to take over the theater company and soon finds out that it is supposedly haunted.
Lisa fills her story with diverse characters; a genius artist that dabbles in the occult, prostitutes that are steadily disappearing one by one and other artists and talent behind the scenes of a theater company. I found the characters wonderfully written and believable, I could make an emotional connection with them and that is what always makes a great book as far as I am concerned.
The story also has a few nice twists and turns that will pleasantly surprise you. No spoilers from me though, buy the book.
My favorite part of the story besides the chills it provided was the detail she provides on the behind the scenes working of a play. I have been to a few plays in my life and never really thought about all the work that is needed behind the scenes to successfully pull it off.
Haunted places and ghost stories are some of my most favorite reads and Castle of Los Angeles ranks up with there with some of my all time favorites like Ghost Story and The Shining.
If you are looking for a well written, page turner of a ghost story you would be hard pressed to find anything published in the last few years as good as this.
Visit Lisa at her website www.lisamorton.com.
You can purchase the book at Gray Friar Press or at Amazon.com
Posted by Jonathan in Books, Movies on March 5th, 2010
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Matthew Greenberg, writer of the Stephen King adaptation 1408, will once again bring King’s words to the big screen with a remake of Pet Sematary.
The idea of a remake has been circling for a while, and at one point producer Alphaville, writers Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, and actor George Clooney were being considered. With a 20 year break and producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Steven Schnieder jumping on board, this will be an interesting remake of a classic to look out for.
Paramount first brought the book to life in 1989 under director Mary Lambert, which starred Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby and Fred Gwynne.
King’s 1983 novel follows the Creeds, a family who trade their city life in for a new life in the country, only to discover the pet cemetery behind their house rests on an ancient burial ground, which local legend claims has resurrective abilities. When their toddler son is killed in a tragic auto-accident, the father takes the body the burial ground in hopes of bringing him back to life. He awaits his return, only what comes back isn’t his son, but a demonic form set to kill!
Posted by Jonathan in Arts, Books, Latest News, Movies on March 5th, 2010
Patrick Bateman, the New York yuppie fixated on designer suits, business cards, and the typical daydreams of mutilation, is in the process of adding one more obsession to his list of very peculiar hobbies: singing in a musical.
Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial 1991 novel American Psycho was first adapted as a film in 2000 starring Christian Bale. Now, under the supervision of composer Duncan Sheik, Ellis’ vision will be transformed into a stage musical with lyrics and accompaniment reminiscent of 1980’s pop.
Sheik, who won two Tony Awards for Spring Awakening, will write the music and lyrics for the show while playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is set to write the book.
“I came to feel that what some people (including myself) may have seen as an over-the-top literary folly of the early nineties was in fact a pretty timeless tale of alienation and solipsism,” said Sheik, reflecting on a re-read of American Psycho.
“And, really, what could be more subversive fun than murderous bankers breaking into song?” he added.
Posted by Bryan in Books, Latest News, Movies on March 2nd, 2010
Remember back when in high school history class, when you’d stare out the classroom window and think of how much more interesting the material would be if there were just more monsters? Apparently you’re not the only one.
The infusion of horror into classic literature began with Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the success of which encouraged him to write a similarly themed follow-up, the intriguingly titled, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Although the book is only hitting shelves today, Variety is reporting that it has already been optioned for a feature film by producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov.
The story itself can be coyly summarized by a line from its press release: “While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years.”
We’re all for sprucing up historical stories with some fictional but fun horror twists, and its exactly the type of oddball project that suits Burton’s sensibilities. Burton recently collaborated with Bekmambetov on last year’s animated Shane Acker film, 9. Grahame-Smith is also on board to write the screenplay.
This news follows the last several years in which we’ve heard a lot about another project about our sixteenth president, Steven Spielberg’s long gestating Lincoln. Liam Neeson has been rumored to be starring in that film, which likely eliminates the ideal casting choice here. Knowing Burton, could he reach out to Johnny Depp, put him on a pair of stilts and hand him the axe? It would definitely be an interesting choice.
Obviously this project is in the very early stages of development, so we’ll keep an eye on it and provide additional information as it becomes available.
Posted by Bryan in Books, Latest News, Television & Web Series on March 2nd, 2010
It’s been a big day for HBO. Earlier they confirmed rumors that famed screen actor Dustin Hoffman had been cast as the lead in a new David Milch (Deadwood) horse-track gambling series, Luck. Now they’ve followed that announcement with another that fantasy buffs have been eagerly awaiting for several years — George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones has been ordered to series.
For those not in the know, Thrones is the first in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of epic novels written by George R.R. Martin. The first (Thrones) was published in 1996, and to date four out of a projected seven volumes have been published. Three years ago, HBO optioned the rights to adapt the novels into a weekly television series, and since that time the project has gone through various stages of development.
Finally in 2009, the project got off the ground, with the pilot going into production under the direction of Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor), and featuring such actors as Sean Bean and Peter Dinklage. Devoted fans followed the process through a trail of informational scraps left by Martin on his blog, culminating in his recent proclamation that the pilot had been completed, and they now merely awaited the official decision of the HBO executives on whether it would be ordered to series.
That news came today, courtesy of Variety, that the official decision has been made, and A Game of Thrones will enter production in Belfast in June. Ten episodes will be produced for the first season.
HBO should be the perfect venue to provide the proper treatment for the very adult themes in this fantasy series — they’ve proved with both Deadwood and Rome that they can tackle historical periods while allowing for whatever mature themes the story might require. The fantasy of Thrones takes place in a fictional world that the production will film primarily on foreign soil in Belfast. It’s definitely an ambitious project — probably the most expensive HBO has tackled since the unceremonious decline of Rome, but it’s encouraging to see the pay-cable channel reinvesting themselves in ambitious projects.
Thrones is set in the mythical land of Westeros, and tells the story of the noble Stark family who become entangled in some unwanted intrigue when patriarch Eddard becomes the king’s new right-hand man. The books take the approach of setting each chapter from the perspective of a separate character, with each ending in a cliffhanger — a structure that would likely lend itself well to television translation. Martin himself got his start in writing for episodic TV (Beauty in the Beast).
The plan will be to have each book cover the length of one season, in much the same manner as True Blood is produced. The pilot was written by David Benioff (The Kite Runner, Brothers) and D.B. Weiss. In addition to Bean and Dinklage, the cast includes Mark Addy, Lena Headey, Jennifer Ehle, Richard Madden, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
With production beginning this summer and looking at the slate of upcoming projects they have planned, it’s probably reasonable to guess that Thrones would premiere sometime in the coming spring. Color us insanely excited about this news, as it’s always nice when some great material seems to get the treatment it truly deserves. The wait until next spring will be brutal.
Posted by Ashleigh in Books, Latest News, Reviews on March 2nd, 2010
So you think you know classic literature, eh? Maybe you’ve read some Shakespeare and Brontë in your day, and you consider yourself something of an expert when it comes to the books English teachers love and high school students fear. All right, hotshot, then you should remember that scene at the very beginning of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice when Elizabeth Bennet first encounters Mr. Darcy.
Poor Elizabeth is sitting by herself at a ball. Mr. Darcy’s friend sees this and urges him to go dance with her, to which he responds by insulting her. Understandably upset, Elizabeth takes a knife out of her boot and is prepared to slit Mr. Darcy’s throat until a zombie horde suddenly crashes through the door, devouring anyone in their path.
Revenge will have to wait as Elizabeth takes her place with her four sisters in the “Pentagram of Death” formation; the five young women hacking and slashing their way through the undead masses.
Wait, sorry, that’s the beginning of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a book that proves anything good can be made better with a heaping helping of zombies. It’s science, folks.
But what led Elizabeth to become a hunter of the undead in the first place? Why aren’t the dead staying, well, dead? Why are poker games broadcast on ESPN when everyone knows that poker isn’t really a sport? I mean, seriously.
Enter Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith, a prequel that will answer two of those questions while exploring Elizabeth’s earlier romantic adventures – hopefully amidst all the blood and action of the original. Because, as all horror fans know, it’s just not a proper zombie story until someone gets eaten.
The book also features fifteen illustrations by artist Patrick Arrasmith, adding a visual element to Elizabeth’s origin story.
Dreadfuls will be published by Quirk Books (which also published the monster-meets-classic-literature-mashups Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters) and will be available for $12.95 wherever books are sold on March 23. Audiobook and eBook formats (for the Kindle and Sony Reader) will also be available for purchase.
In the meantime, look out for FM’s review of Dreadfuls coming soon.
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