Now, it’s not just about zombies. It’s also about war and dragons and sorcery and people. But I found the zombie part really compelling. In the prologue of the first book, A Game of Thrones, we are introduced to a creepy race of beings called the Others, which the characters speak of but don’t believe to exist. Then they meet one. It is gaunt and pale, with eyes that are blue and glowing. That is all well and creepy, but then we get to the part that caught my attention: After the Others kill a man, he comes back to life as one of them, also pale, gaunt, and with glowing blue eyes. Could the Others be zombies?

Game of Thrones - The Others

The first season of Game of Thrones is a pretty faithful adaptation of the first book, and I’ve only just begun to read the second. So, if you haven’t seen the series, some of what I’m about to say might be spoilers, but not much. I’ll mostly be talking about the world Martin created, not the actual plot. You’ve been warned.

Game of Thrones - The Wall

So, this situation seems rife for an epic zombie battle: We have an ancient wall that was likely built to keep the Others from infecting those in the south of the continent. We have the unexpected emergence of the Others in the north, though they are generally believed to be creatures of fairy tales. And we have them creating new Others – a swarm that must travel south to feed. I can’t wait to see what happens. I’m expecting some zombie mayhem.

Game of Thrones is a great series, regardless – but I’m happy to find a little living-dead action in there. Because everything is better with zombies, right?

In addition to killing zombies in P&P&Z, Johansson might soon be playing a zombie on screen. The actress is also rumored to be attached to the film adaptation of Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament. In the film, Johansson would presumably play Rita, the main character’s zombie love interest and attendee of Undead Anonymous. Killer!

To celebrate these awesome occurrences, we share with you this video of Scarlett being photoshopped into a zombie:

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Of course there isn’t. This is a prequel set before the characters are introduced to Mr. Favorite Literary Crush. But when I figured out he wasn’t in this book, I put it down and cried for a few months. Then took a deep breath, brought the book to the beach and loved it.

Of course I loved it. It’s funny zombie fiction. And it’s set in Regency England, where zombies aren’t just deadly, they’re an insult to good manners. The tight-lipped repulsion just leaps off the page.

Although it carries the same branding, P&P&Z: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a very different sort of book from P&P&Z. Rather than a literary mash-up of Seth Grahame-Smith‘s zombies and Jane Austen‘s prose, the book is original fiction by Steve Hockensmith. I had never read his other books and, although it appears that he’s a newcomer to zombie-fic, his humorous historical fiction has received much praise. Hockensmith’s writing is accessible and engaging, bringing a lightness to the P&P&Z franchise that should make it attractive to those turned off by Jane Austen’s profuse punctuation and pontification.

Dawn of the Dreadfuls begins at a funeral, when the body rudely awakens and reminds Hertfordshire of the dormant zombie plague it ought not to mention. As the undead continue to stumble from their graves, Mr. Bennet is forced to train his five daughters to be ninja warriors like himself — with the help of the handsome, strapping Master Hawksworth. Despite the dearth of Mr. Darcy, Hockensmith creates plenty of male characters to match up with Austen’s swarm of females, each of them flawed in ways that thankfully allow the ladies to kick lots of zombie butt.

Unlike in P&P&Z, the zombies are not an after-thought — or perhaps a never-thought on the part of co-author Austen (a point that I suppose is debatable). The zombies in Dawn of the Dreadfuls are plentiful and, as in most zombie books, the horde size increases with the page number. The black and white engravings also help to bump up the zombie-quotient, although I would rate the gore in this book as slightly less than in P&P&Z.

Overall, P&P&Z: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a fresh, fun zombie book: a historical rom-zom-com with ninjas too. I give it 4.5 brains out of 5.

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Zombie FUBAR is a forthcoming comic anthology of World War II zombie stories expected in Fall 2010. Considering the awesome World War II zombie art already featured on the website, this is going to be a spectacular read.

Also featured is the first few pages of one of the anthology’s 12 stories, Mother Russia by Jeff McComsey.

(Check out the rest of the Mother Russia preview here.)

Although the full list of participating artists and writers is not yet out, we’re looking forward to getting this indie comics publication into our hot little hands later this year.

EW.com has a great interview with Dawn of the Dreadfuls author Steve Hockensmith, who discusses the mixed critical reaction to the first Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith):

You see the lovahs and you see the hatahs. And yeah, there were definitely some haters out there, and I’m sure they’re still there. It’s something that I can totally understand, it’s not something I look askance at, at all. Somebody having a cynical reaction when they find out that something that really means a lot to them, their beloved ex, is about to be lovingly satirized. I can understand how people can be a little defensive about things that they feel are near and dear to their hearts, but I would say, having thrown all that out there, that I think a lot of those people were actually won over when they read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Not all of them. I would hope, actually, that some of the folks that weren’t won over, would actually respond better to my book, because it isn’t a mash-up. [From EW.com]

Hockensmith makes an excellent point: Most of the hatas were not fans of Jane Austen, and therefore hated the prose. Or, they were huge Austen fans, and hated zombies. If someone isn’t open to both aspects of the mash-up, it’s lost. Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a new thing entirely: Historical zombie fiction. Oh yes.

According to reports based on the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Twitter feed, the zombie-romance-classic mashup will be adapted into a 6-part miniseries. As P&P&Z fans, we can’t wait to see this Regency-ninja-zombie thing done right!

The miniseries will evidently be produced by Deadline Productions, which seems relatively legit. We are, however, calling the report unconfirmed, since we’re unsure of the Twitter page‘s authenticity. But IMDB and P&P&Z author Seth Grahame-Smith have mentioned a P&P&Z adaptation, and the Twitter page does have some pretty great concept art (as seen on the left of this post) — so, we’re going to go ahead and celebrate.

Anyone who is a fan of P+P-Z (i.e., the original Pride and Prejudice) knows that the most beloved adaptation is the 6-part 1995 Pride and Prejudice BBC miniseries starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.

This begs the question of whether the miniseries will be produced as a parody of the much-loved BBC miniseries. We say, bring on the critical disdain!

Related: Check out our review of P&P&Z and our other P&P&Z-related posts.

With just two weeks until the highly anticipated release of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the book reviews are beginning to come out. They include excerpts that reveal some plot details, including chivalry, minor characters, and … ninjas!

Entertainment Weekly‘s review gives the book an A- and discusses opposing Chinese and Japanese zombie fighting techniques in Regency England. Its excerpt reveals some of the nuances involved when Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy slay zombies together.

The San Luis Obispo Tribune‘s mostly positive review borders on giving spoilers when it comes to a few of the book’s minor characters (Wickham and Collins). It mentions that the end of the book contains a “Readers Discussion guide”, that actually asks, “Can you imagine what the book would be like without the zombies?” Yes, the reviewer can: “Something like Pride and Prejudice.”

The book comes out this April 8, 2009! We have pre-ordered our copies and we’re all over this book like Caroline Bingley after some Darcy lovin’.

(Image is via Irreference, the book’s publisher.)

With the sixth movie due in July, new clips and trailers are constantly showing up on the internet. In the most recent trailer, we get our first look at the inferi — looking pretty zombie-like if you ask me.

You can get a glimpse of them in action around 1:38 in the trailer. We’re looking forward to seeing the full scene in the movie!

These vividly drawn black-and-white comics feature multiple short stories about Jesus’ zombie slashing adventures. Later stories feature “Laz”, Jesus’ zombie sidekick. The second installment in Jesus Hates Zombies (2008) features even more sacrilicious gore with the bonus story, Lincoln Hates Warewolves.

Some people say that Jesus was the original zombie after he returned from the grave (not to mention the cannibalistic undertones of the Eucharist, which began at The Last Supper), but Jesus Hates Zombies clears that rumor up completely. (via GeeksOfDoom)