By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Seth Grahame-Smith, author of such books as Pardon My President: Ready-to-Mail Apologies for Eight Years of George W. Bush, and Huffington Post contributor, is taking on Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice with a zombie-friendly spin.

Actually, it’s more of a mash-up than a parody, as unlike previous Austen-inspired novels, it is, according to Grahame-Smith, about 85% the original Austen text:

What the Los Angeles-based writer has added, however, are scenes of Austen heroine Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters pressed into battling an onslaught of undead zombies hailing from London. The Bennet girls are trained, interestingly enough, in Japanese fighting techniques by Mr. Darcy.

So I guess saying it’s zombie-friendly isn’t quite accurate. Too bad–I always say there’s not enough zombie love stories out there.

The book isn’t set for release until April, but apparently he’s already fielding requests for the film rights.

So if adding zombies to a public domain novel is a formula for $$$ (especially considering how hard it is to write something from scratch!), I think I might try this myself. If he’s got Austen covered, maybe I’ll start with Dickens. After all, Miss Hathaway is already about 75% undead, right?

Question of the day: If you could take any classic book and add zombies to it, which one would it be?

[Image Source: Flickr]