Jane Austen, Hollywood Stars, and Zombies Oh My!

Todd Jepperson

(KEVIN WINTER/GETTY)

The undead horde grew to record breaking numbers last weekend when they invaded Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, CA. Bringing with them the brightest stars from the upcoming film adaptation of Jane Austen/Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, they packed the theatre to the walls and grabbed the Guinness World record for most zombies reading Jane Austen at the same time. 

The A-listers showed up in their trendy best, but the zombies were clad in the disastrous ruins of once magnificent Romanticist gowns and Dapper period suits. By all accounts, everyone had a shambling good time. The stars aligned to present attendees with photo opportunities and even prizes for best makeup and costume. 

Interestingly enough though, everyone’s got a copy of the 1813 Jane Austen book and not the 2009 Seth Grahame-Smith adaptation that the upcoming movie is actually based on. In case you have forgotten, or haven’t read the book, here’s the blurb from the back:

“So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton--and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers--and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you’d actually want to [see].”

To read more, hop on over to People.com. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is slated to infect theaters nation-wide on February 4th.

Pride and Prejudice turns 200!

Todd Jepperson

The Jane Austen classic, Pride and Prejudice, is turning 200; but, you’re the one getting gifts!

That’s right, to celebrate the bicentennial of one of English Literature's most beloved classics, Quirk Books is giving away two copies of their Deluxe Heirloom hardback editions of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the Seth Grahame-Smith infected version of the tale, to our lucky ZOMBIES&Toys readers!

Winning is very easy. Email your name and mailing address to me, todd@zombiesandtoys.com, and we’ll pick a winner at the end of January. For a little more of a taste of what’s on the line here, head over to the P&P&Z page over at Quirk Books.

So, here's a big happy birthday to Pride and Prejudice, and to all of you, from Quirk Books and all of us here at ZOMBIES&Toys!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - book review

David Brown

What do you get when you take a literary classic and add a spattering of zombies?  What if we add a dash of ninjas and ancient martial arts? You get a re-imagining of the classic, Pride and Prejudice, written by Seth Grahame-Smith.  Only now we have zombies, or “unmentionables” as they are very frequently called, take over the quaint countrysides of Regency-era England. For anybody who has read the original, you will find many similarities between this re-imaging and Jane Austin’s original.


This is a novel that essentially follows the four Bennet sisters, now trained in the ancient martial arts, and their trials and tribulations. Essentially the story begins with the sisters’ mother searching for wealthy suitors to marry her daughters. Mr. Bennet, on the other hand, spends his days training the girls to be a fearsome zombie-fighting army proficient in martial arts as well as a weapons use.


The girls are by no means tomboys either.  They are civilized ladies who maintain their proper social standing who happened to be trained in zombie fighting techniques. In fact, there are even parts where the girls debate carrying a musket for defense because even though it brings safety, it is considered unladylike. This is definitely a novel where civility versus defense is a common debate.


With everything being said thus far, it is important to note that this novel's biggest downfall is that is not lite reading.  PPZ still maintains the classic reading of the original and demands a lot of patience to get through. Not that this is a bad thing, but definitely worth mentioning. Grahame-Smith is definitely doing justice to the source material here and there are few disappointments. There are also some wonderfully morbid illustrations scattered throughout this great novel.


If you have the time and an interest in Victorian zombie stories that include ninjas and martial arts, then you are definitely in for a treat. There is enough presented here that truly sets this as a novel of its own and not just a rewrite of the original with the word "zombie" thrown in where necessary. This is a book that begs to be read, especially with the announcements that casting for the movie adaptation has begun. Quirk Books and Grahame-Smith have truly captured lightning in a bottle with a novel that is so well-written that many English teachers are even introducing this story into their materials. Find this book and read it when you get the chance, you will not regret it.

Interview With Seth Grahame-Smith

Author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Graham-Smith, was recently interviewed by USA Today. The interview is mostly about his latest novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. But for those die-hard PPZ fans, you may want to head over to see what he has to say.

Find the interview here.