Revisionist Fiction Novels: A Spooky Spin On Classic Literature
There are a handful of books that you can pretty much guarantee any person who graduated High School has read at some point: Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby, and Jane Eyre to name a few. It’s terrific that these classics are still being read, but we’re willing to bet that out of those who did read these in class it would be a challenge to find anyone who really remembers them, unfortunately.
Recently there has been a trend to ‘re-invent’ the classics. Although these new adaptations are just a tad different from the original classics, we would guess they are also more remarkable and memorable years down the line. We’re not saying these should be taught in schools but just imagine…
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)
This was the first Quirk Classic. I have no idea why people love zombies so much, but I’m no exception. Not only does this book make Pride and Prejudice more easy to read, it’s incredibly interesting to see how well this new zombie plot is woven into Austen’s original narrative.
Memorable excerpt: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen)
Again, a very carefully adapted novel. This one even has a trailer!
Memorable excerpt: “Their conversation was cut short by the clang of the monster bell; the servants were arriving in a mad panic and bringing up the drawbridge…the beast was some leagues out to sea, but it was uncertain how far inland such creatures could deliver a fireball.”
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
This is currently on my bookshelf. While not as much a reinvigoration of the Abraham Lincoln biography and more of a fictional revisionist history, it has been called the “most weirdly well-researched account of the Civil War” and has been a terrific read so far. They are making a movie out of it and to say I am excited would be an understatement. Trailer here.
Memorable excerpt: ”While hunting vampires offered a surplus of vengeance, it paid nothing in the way of real money.”
Android Karenina (Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy)
Memorable excerpt: “Functioning robots are all alike; every malfunctioning robot malfunctions in its own way.”
Little Women and Werewolves (Little Women by Louisa May Alcott)
In this version, Civil War is replaced by Werewolf war with entertaining results.
Memorable excerpt: “The gazes of hunter and prey were locked, and Mr. Davis could not look away from the gleaming golden eyes.”
Jane Slayre (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë)
An under-appreciated tribute to Charlotte Brontë.
Memorable excerpt: “Gentle reader, may you never feel what I have felt! May your eyes never shed such stormy, scalding, heart-wrung tears as poured from mine. May you never have to be the instrument of evil to what you wholly love.”
Grave Expectations (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens)
Memorable excerpt: “Heaven knows, we need never be ashamed of our wolfish cravings…”
Do you have any great rev-fiction or quirk classics you think should be on the list?
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