Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith

Dear Sirs and Madams,

I have recently had the pleasure of reading the scholarly tomb titled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith.

Whilst I enjoyed the previous tomb, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I must admit my disdain when this text was announced. I wondered briefly whether the publishers were simply trying to turn out a quick dollar or two by riding on the coat tails of their previous success. I waited with baited breath to be proved wrong in my assumptions.

Thankfully I was proved gloriously and wondrously wrong in my negative assumptions. Whilst Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters were a right fun romp through Austin’s Victorian London with new gory monster bits, the novels were hampered by having to stay true to Jane Austin’s original writings.

I must admit, though it will cause shock and disdain and perhaps some outrage, that I do not care for Austin’s work on its own. It has the power to cure even my most grievous cases of amnesia. If faced with the challenge to read one of Austin’s novels or instead spend my time being idly poked in my buttocks with a rusty poker of dubious origin, I am afraid that I would pick the rusty poker.

Whilst PPZ and SSSM (not to confused with the bedroom game called SM where patrons get to know each other in very different biblical relations than we would normally care to admit) make Austin’s original writings much more bearable, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls takes the genre of mashups to new levels of gore, hilarity and immense enjoyment, as they are not hampered or held back by Austin’s original flowery prose.

Freed of its flowery constraints, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is part prequel, part tribute and all fun. In fact, I can quite honestly say that I have never had such an uproarious time reading a book. The only other time that came close was when I was reading Lady Chatterly’s Lover in church behind the hymnal and had to stand after reading one of the more racy moments recounted within the books pages. Prudence Peddington, the local post mistress, glimpsed my discomfort and paid call to my place of residence every day for a week after that sordid event.

Not only does Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls stay true to the tone and flow of Austin’s original work (not to mention the previous book, the New York Times Best Selling Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), it manages to go beyond that and have a lot more fun besides. It’s gory, delightful and wonderfully engrossing…and also very gross in certain parts.

While not being held back by Austin’s prose enables the book to go above and beyond Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, PPZ: Dawn of the Deadfuls manages to give us a Victorian story filled with battles, history, romance and gore. Lots and lots of gore. It is without a doubt the best of the mash up novels I have read in recent times and even better than its predecessors. It is my humble opinion that PPZ: Dawn of the Dreadfuls brings the mash up to new, gory heights and it can only go up from there.

 I implore you, Sirs and Madams, to partake of this scholarly tomb, to succumb to the blood soaked hilarity and joy that its pages offer. You will laugh, you will cry, you will scream (only if you are really very squeamish) and you will laugh some more. Quite simply put, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a hilarious, gory, beautiful, wonderful ride.

Yours most truly,

Sir Jamieson Wolf, Esquire and Master of Letters