Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
Paperbook
By Steve Hockensmith
Quirk Books
Release date: March 23 2010

Is classic literature your thing? Do you think everything could use a little zombie in it? Well you are in luck, because Quirk Classic have followed up on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, their extremely wild take on Jane Austen‘s Pride and Prejudice, with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls.

Quirk has definitely made itself known for these interesting takes on classic tales, especially Jane Austen books, which they’ve infused with zombies. Let me just start off by saying that this concept could have easily been used to pull in zombie fans with no depth or quality in writing, but author Steve Hockensmith definitely does not take this approach and brings a fresh spin to zombifying a classic tale.

Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a prequel to the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies telling the start of the Bennet’s story. Oscar Bennet, the father of the family, had dealt with the dreadfuls — the zombies — in the past when he was in the order and now the dreadfuls are back and he has to prepare his family for their attacks.

Mr. Bennet decides it is finally time to train his five young daughters, Lydia, Kitty, Mary, Jane, and Elizabeth. This does not please Mrs. Bennet since this is especially close to Elizabeth’s coming out to society as a young lady and does not help with her overall goal of marrying off her two daughters that are of age, Jane and Elizabeth.

Throughout this origin story of the Bennets we meet some interesting characters, including Master Hawksworth, sent from the order to further train Mr. Bennet and his girls; Dr. Keckilpenny, the scientist trying to cure the zombie plague; and Captain Cannon, the military leader who has had both arms and both legs taken off because of zombie bites.

When I first picked up this book I didn’t know what I was getting into. I had never read a book from Quirk Classics mash-ups line, so I didn’t know what to expect. I had not read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to begin with but I am glad I had not. Personally when there is a prequel to something I would rather read or watch the prequel first. My reasoning behind this is mainly because when you read a prequel you know where the story is leading to which cuts from the suspense and being that this is a zombie story you really want as much suspense as you can get. Hockensmith definitely knows how to capitalize on the readers suspense in every moment of the story. He also does an amazing job at coloring the tale with tension, not just from the situation but from the characters’ relationships and interactions.

If there was one thing I find important in a story it is characterization and Dawn of the Dreadfuls definitely perfects this craft. Hockensmith definitely has an affinity for the characters and translates it beautifully to the reader. By the end of the story I was invested in each character’s story, especially Elizabeth. Overall this was the most fun with a zombie story I have had in a long time and I would definitely recommend reading this no matter who you are, especially if you have found zombie stories stale as of late.

I give Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls a 5 out of 5.