The first thing that struck me about Dawn of the Dreadfuls was the cover which features a primped little girl with haunted eyes and blood dripping from her mouth and hands. Very unsettling. The story inside is equally creepy in parts but, like it’s sequel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith, it has it’s share of humor as well.

The story is set four years before P&P&Z, following the Bennet family as they’re faced with the reanimation of “Dreadfuls” (zombies for you non-18th century English readers). The story starts off with Mrs. Bennet hoping to marry off one of her many daughters to a better life and standing. However, with the Dreadfuls coming back into the forefront, Mr. Bennet has a different road for his daughters to travel. Mr. Bennet has grand aspirations of turning all of his children into Dreadful-killing warriors. He himself had been trained in the East in martial arts and sword fighting and had used these skills in a previous Dreadful uprising (I wonder if this might be another prequel). The girls are much more interested in “coming out” at balls and catching that certain high standing man’s eye than helping their father dispatch zombies. At their father’s insistence, though, they join his anti-Dreadful crusade and the book follows their adventures as they traverse the zombie ridden countryside trying to save their neighbors and England.

This is not a mashup between an Austen tale and new material like P&P&Z was. Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a completely original story using Austen’s beloved characters. Surprisingly, Hockensmith is able to make several 20th century references while still maintaining the demure spirit of Jane Austen’s voice. I enjoyed P&P&Z (the unabridged audiobook), but I was thoroughly entranced by Dawn of the Dreadfuls. I loved it’s unique humor and frivolity while still keeping to the temperament of Jane Austen’s characters.

If you’ve been pondering picking up P&P&Z you might consider picking up Dawn of the Dreadfuls first, since the introduction of martial arts into Regency England seems less jarring in Hockensmith’s book.

Whether you’re into the mashup books, like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, or not you really should look into picking up Dawn of the Dreadfuls. It was a quick, fun read that will delight new or hardened zombie fiction readers.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith is out March 23, 2010.

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Each prize pack will include:

• An advance copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
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  Monsters

• A password redeemable online for sample audio chapters of Dawn of the Dreadfuls
• An awesome Dawn of the Dreadfuls Poster
• A Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Journal
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