I’ve always said the problem with Jane Austen’s novels is that there simply aren’t enough zombies. But — finally! — that situation has been resolved. On April 1, Quirk Books will publish Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an updated, and much buzzed-about, version of Austen’s classic novel, which injects her tale of mannered aristocratic Brits with great gory gobbets of undead mayhem. We spoke to PaPaZ author Seth Grahame-Smith — well, technically, PaPaZ coauthor, along with Ms. Austen — about why Pride and Prejudice is perfect for the zombie treatment.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did the book come about?
SETH GRAHAME-SMITH: I’m an aspiring screenwriter living in L.A. At the moment, I’m executive producing a pilot for MTV that I wrote which is a sort of updated Wonder Years-meets-Superbad. But I also wrote a book called How to Survive a Horror Movie and another called Pardon My President, which was letters of apology from George Bush to all the people that he had wronged. My editor at Quirk had wanted to do a mash-up of some type for a long time. He had all these lists of public domain titles and lists of modern literary devices. The robot phenomenon. The vampire phenomenon. And zombies. And we arrived at Pride and Prejudice and Zombies because, when you take a look at the original book, it’s almost as if, subconsciously, Jane Austen is laying out the perfect groundwork for an ultraviolent bone-crushing zombie massacre to take place. For instance, there’s a regiment of soldiers camped out near the Bennett household. In the book, they’re just there for characters to flirt with. But it’s not that big a leap to say, Okay, they’re there because the countryside has been overrun with what they call the "unmentionable menace."
The what, now?
"The unmentionable menace." They call zombies "unmentionables" because it’s a very polite society and the word "zombie" is kind of like a curse word. These aristocrats are trying to get on with their lives as best they can, despite the fact that the country is being devoured around them. They still have their balls and their teas and their manners. It was terrific fun to write, in the style of Jane Austen, describing horrific deaths and entire villages being slaughtered and burned to the ground.
Just this week it was announced that that Elton John is executive producing a movie called Pride and Predator in which an alien butchers an Austen-esque bunch of characters. Were you aware of that?
I’m very aware of Pride and Predator. After I had turned in the book, I was having a meeting with someone and described Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and he said, "You know, I think there’s a script out there called Pride and Predator." It had been languishing in development for years or something. And then, of course, we’re all excited about the heat and the Internet buzz about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and, lo and behold, Sir Elton swoops in. But I don’t feel it lessens our chances. For every Dante’s Peak there’s a Volcano. For every Step Up there’s a Stomp the Yard. I say the more mangling of literary classics the merrier. And it does sound very different. In theirs an alien crash lands and starts picking people off. In ours, there’s this zombie onslaught that’s been going on for years and Elizabeth Bennett has spent her whole life training to become a highly efficient killer of the undead, as has Darcy. It’s more about a love story between two headstrong independent zombie slayers.
It couldn’t be more different!
[Laughs] Well, on paper, it may not sound different. But it really is!
Comments (1-15) of 25 Add your comment
I have a recommendation…a very interesting website….called StayAwayFromWebsitesThatTrollsPostIn RandomCommentsSectionsOfOnlineMagazinesandNewspapers.com……Its all about dating and sexy people and how pathetic they are!
LOL @ Glenn’s comment–I have to wonder how much traffic these trolls actually generate for their pathetic, loser websites? I kind of wish that EW.com required registration and that anybody cared about weeding out the crap posts. At any given moment you can look at the “Latest Posts” list and see several that have been left by trolling scum.
Anyway, I love P&P and hate zombie movies, but P&P&Z sounds like it could be a hoot.
Glenn — Excellent! Those stupid trolling ads have really been annoying.
As for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I’ve been curious about it since I heard about it on Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. Sounds like a fun read!
My wife got me to watch the 6 hour miniseries of Pride and Prejudice. By the end of it I was cheering on Darcy, but I just couldn’t see myself muddling through the book.
Until now.
This could be hilarious, or at least hilariously bad. I guess this counts as “any publicity is good publicity” because either way I’m curious about it!
Check out the free streaming classic cartoon videos I’ve uploaded at http://www.OffTheLorry.com
hilarious, check this out
http://shitonthewall.wordpress.com/
hilarious, check this out
http://shitonthewall.wordpress.com/
anybody seen “I Walked With A Zombie”? It’s Jane Eyre with voodoo.
Can’t wait to read it!! All of my friends have preordered it and we are going to read it together. This could be a new sub genre. I have lots of good classics in mind…
ok am i the onlu one who thinks this sounds so tacky?!?! why would anyone tamper with classic literature and crap all over it? i am so offended by this new sub-genre and hope it dies out FAST!
If you like this idea, read the Jasper Ffordes series featuring Thursday Next, who in an alternate universe (don’t ask) enters books and sometimes changes the endings!- the first one is called “The Jane Eyre Affair”. Dodos, Minotaurs, villians – much more interesting, funny and brilliant that I make it sound!
oh chelle, i hope it doesnt hurt when you remove that pole from your rear…
Oh yay, I was hoping there would be at least one comment from someone complaining about touching Austen’s work. I’m amused, but I’d like more.
Don’t kid yourself. Over the course of two centuries Jane Austen’s novels have never been out of print. What Seth Grahame-Smith is doing has a sell-by date — with emphasis on the “sell-by.”
Isn’t Natalie Portman attached to the movie version of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” ?