Dawn of the Dreadfuls

Ever since I was a little girl stories of people in faraway galaxies, magical kingdoms, and even the undead became an obsession with me. I wanted to know more and started delving into the world that is science fiction. Even if it wasn’t science fiction and just some mystery plot from the Hardy boys I was always quite curious how the story was going to end. I sometimes was disappointed by the ending for a lot of stories but then I started to wonder where the beginning actually was. What made the wicked witch of the west so wicked? Did things like zombies actually exist and where did they come from?

Thanks to the magical imaginations of some of my favorite authors and a few unknowns I started to get my answers to a bunch of questions that have been nagging at me for years. When I first picked up a Jane Austen book I was intrigued by her writing style, her heart that she put in it, the characters that entranced me so much that in social studies class I was actually sitting there reading Pride and Prejudice and not my actual lesson. I always wondered what these characters would be like before these stories were wrote or how they would be years after these stories were wrote. Jane Austen never really made a sequel to her novels. They were just left for the imagination.

I never thought that one day I would wake up and walk into a bookstore and find that very book that I was entranced with in social studies class to be sitting on the shelf at the front desk advertising it had zombies in it now. At first I was appalled that they could do this to Jane Austen of all people and then as I picked it up and investigated the back cover I was interested in how the story might be. I will admit I never bought myself a copy that day. I have too much homework in my college studies to actually sit there and read a book at times but my friend did buy a copy that day and I told myself I would read it later on. Later on was two weeks ago when in between homework I decided to pick it up and read it a little each day.

I couldn’t imagine this there was Elizabeth Bennett and her sisters kicking Zombie tail. It was so exciting and weird at the same time. It left little to the imagination and was still sort of in Jane Austen’s writing style. The characters were all there even Mr. Darcy that everyone is so fond of. I couldn’t believe the illustrations throughout the book as well it was amusing. I thought to myself that if everyone in High School was made to read something like this they might actually get a kick out of classic literature and maybe even want to read the real thing. Who knows? We might start an epidemic and everyone gets hooked on classic novels!

It was a great read in my spare time and I never thought I would actually enjoy it so much. The imagination of Seth Grahame-Smith who as he states” once took a class in English literature” has to be commended on his creativity in putting together this book. It must have really taken hours to figure out how to keep Austen’s tone throughout the book yet adding zombies and a little mayhem within.

As soon as I seen that Quirk Classics came up with another book “Dawn of the Dreadfuls” from a friend of mine’s face book page I was also intrigued. She signed up to get an advance copy of the book. It was four years before the Pride and Prejudice with Zombies was written and this time by a different author named Steve Hockensmith. Mr. Hockensmith being a reporter and prize winning novelist had more experience than the previous author and that made me think the book might actually be good.

I signed up for the contest as well and got an advanced copy myself from Quirk Classics.
I am going to be perfectly truthful; I was really disappointed by this book. I thought it would have a little more context and what happened to make the zombies appear. Not just the fact that someone has awoken from their grave and now it is happening all over again. There was no background to the “dreadfuls “. The characters were not straight out of an Austen book (maybe a movie and even then I can picture better); there was no Austen feel for a bunch of it. Elizabeth and Jane could have been so much better in this book. They just didn’t feel like themselves. There were some really funny parts in this book but that was way in the beginning and towards the end I felt a bit dreadful myself. I think if Seth Grahame- Smith had written this one it might actually be better to tell you the truth. I don’t think this author really got the concept of Jane Austen and really don’t know if he ever read Austen at all.

Don’t get me wrong on Quirk classics, I so far have really enjoyed their books and will be more than excited to read more in the future. I suppose I was expecting a little more from this book and wasn’t truly satisfied with the feeling of this book.

Here is some exciting news though for anyone who is going to read this book (and you may feel differently about it) there is a contest going on from QUIRK that you can win one of 50 Quirk Classics Prize packs. Each prize pack, with a retail value of more than $100, will include: An advance copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, Audio books of Pride and Prejudice with Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, A password redeemable online for sample audio chapters of Dawn of the Dreadfuls, An awesome Dawn of the Dreadfuls poster, A Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Journal, and a box set of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies postcards! You just have to go to Quirk blog site and mention my blog (Randomness of a Prose) and you will automatically be entered. Good Luck!