With
Halloween swiftly approaching, there's a damn good excuse for some paranormal
tales. (We'll pretend the ongoing vampire hype has nothing to do with it, okay?
Perfect.) Even so, besides the spark of supernatural stories making their way
to our bookshelves, there's been a sudden influx of something that's a little
more...well, ghoulish.
Remember Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Well, we do. If you didn't (and you may be just a tad confused), the book, written by Seth Grahame-Smith and published by Quirk, is a mash-up of a literary classic and...well, zombies. Basically a 'what if?' novel in which Austen's romantic Regency tale is gatecrashed by a horde of undead. Okay, so such a situation hadn't crossed my mind before. But now that you mention it...
Admittedly,
it was a fun read, and swiftly followed by more hilariously gory offerings
including Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter
and, more recently, Mr Darcy, Vampyre.
Classic tales. With vampires and demons and sea monsters (oh my!) Following these titles is Sherri Browning's Jane Slayre, which is all about...well, you can probably guess what this entails. But it's becoming a whole new genre of its own.
Personally I found these books quirky and amusing (let's face it, the whole zombie thing is a fun concept). It's becoming a whole new genre of its own. They inject a little bit of fun into the well-loved classics. Admittedly I have personally only read Pride, but have skimmed the others anc considered picking them up, only to reconsider. Is it going a bit too far?
Some friends enjoy them. Others? Not so much. Which is why today's Yay or Nay, we ask you: what do you think of these mashups?Have you read them? What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know!
