Zombie Ball at Netherfield, April 15: Save the Date!

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One Seth Grahame-Smith appears to be - ahem - reviving the Austen oeuvre with his own personal touch: zombies.

Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers--and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead.

Mark your calendars now for this one, because if he can actually sustain the conceit for the full length of the novel, it could be hilarious. (I have my doubts he can.)

Also, isn't Lady Catherine de Bourgh already a zombie in the original novel? Wait - perhaps she's a vampire, and Mr. Collins is her personal Renfield. My bad.

Update: according to a competing novel, it's Jane Austen who'se the vampire!

Is this a bold attempt to scoop "Jane Bites Back," Michael Thomas Ford's forthcoming novel about an undead Jane Austen who, after 200 years of writer's block, takes revenge on everyone making money off of her? (source)

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Um. Well, at least the zombified cover portrait kind of sticks it to those who thought Jane was too unattractive to adorn her books without an editorial makeover. Kind of. Maybe.

Hey, this is the WorldWideWeb remember? We WestCoasters can't even figure out where in the friggin' world the Netherfield is! My search engines won't even tell me. Talk about an exclusive event! I would like to crash, it sounds like even more fun than a good wake (although the one I crashed last Saturday in Sebastopol CALIFORNIA would be hard to beat; I would post the video but I lost my camera in my frenzied state). Well it's not for 2 months, I can still fit in into my dance card if I can locate it and find some floozie to share the price of gas and a sleazy room or surf a sofa or some such folderol (try getting THAT past your spellchecker). Do you have a good band lined up? I recommended importing Blue Turtle Seduction, Antioquia, or 2 Me as being up your peculiar alley. That is if you are up for some kiss-ass Northern California existential rock nouveau.