Dawn of the Dreadfuls – Review

This isn’t about ghosts.  It’s a book I’ve enjoyed and friends might, too.  However, unless you’re familiar with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice — and liked it — this review probably won’t interest you.

If you do enjoy Jane Austen’s books, and you have a rather dark sense of humor, this book might delight you, too.

The book is Dawn of the Dreadfuls, a prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It is about zombies… animated bodies of people, who are rising from their coffins.

First, let me explain the context of my review.  If you know me in real life, you know two things:

1. I have a very odd sense of humor, and
2. Despite my interest in ghosts and related subjects, I don’t like anything creepy, gory, gruesome, violent or ghoulish.

Point #2 generally trumps any interest I’d have in most horror-related novels.  (However, I don’t think ghosts are “creepy.”)

Dawn of the Dreadfuls is an exception.  It’s the humor that won me over when I started reading this book.  The puns, the wit… they’re laugh-out-loud funny.

Make no mistake, this is a gruesome book in many ways.  That’s part of what makes it hilarious.  The contrasts with upper middle class propriety and manner… it’s absurdity at its best.

I haven’t read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, yet.  I am part of the way through Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (by the same author) and it’s amusing.  The latter is the kind of book I’d read at the beach or by the swimming pool, but it’s not exactly a page-turner.  It’s simply ridiculous fun.

Dawn of the Dreadfuls is ridiculous. There’s no other word for it.  If you’re a fan of Jane Austen and/or have a background in Regency England’s manners and morals, you’ll either be outraged by this book or you’ll laugh out loud every two or three pages.  I don’t think there’s any middle-of-the-road with this.

The plot is fairly simple to start: Attending a funeral, the Bennet family witnesses a corpse rising from his coffin.  Mr. Bennet realizes that the zombies — or “dreadfuls” — are back.  He promptly converts Mrs. Bennet’s greenhouse to a dojo, and starts training his five daughters to fight zombies.

Meanwhile, there is the matter of romance, or at least marriage.  Jane, the oldest daughter, is being pursued by Lord Lumpley.  He’s interested because she looks like a good, docile young woman who’d stay out of his way once they’re married.

As you’d expect, this is not a courtship that will go well.

With that foundation, the story leaps from one preposterous scene to the next, and each successive problem (or the solution these people choose)  is more absurdly funny.

If your humor is like mine, and you’re a fan of Jane Austen and Regency England, I think you’ll love this book.

• Official website: Quirk Classic – Dawn of the Dreadfuls
• Dawn of the Dreadfuls at Amazon.com
• Quirk book contest/forum: Quirk Classics Contest