Rekulak & Austen

It might be hard to imagine a more unlikely literary pairing than zombies in one of Jane Austen's Victorian romance novels, but Jason Rekulak proved that not only can it be done, the results can be quite successful.

Mr. Rekulak, an executive editor at Quirk Books, spoke with us about how he came up with the idea for the underground hit "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and his plan in case of a zombie attack.

QHow did the concept of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" occur to you?

AI made a list of all these titles, like "War and Peace" and "Moby Dick," and then I made a second list in a column of things that could enhance those works -- things like pirates and ninjas.

As soon as I drew a line between "Pride and Prejudice" and "zombies," I knew that it was either the greatest title in the world or the dumbest title in the world.

QDo you see the recent surge of zombies in pop culture as the start of an "age of zombies"?

AI don't know that it's anything new. I had a writer call me last week from the L.A. Times and ask me what next year's monster is going to be, and I have no idea what the answer to that question was. If I did, I'm not sure I'd tell anyone.

These things seem to run in cycles. You sort of reach a limit with this stuff. I don't think monsters will be around forever. I think they need some time to go away and have some new minds to bring them back in a fresh way.

QDo you feel like you achieved a good balance in the book between pleasing Jane Austen fans and horror fans?

AI think so. There's more overlap between those two groups than I would ever have imagined.

I've found that the Jane Austen fans are surprisingly tolerant of the zombies. Both groups have largely been supportive of the book ... but it's also been huge with people who don't like Jane Austen. They say, "I never would have read 'Pride and Prejudice' before, but this version made it palatable to me."

QWas there any part of you that approached this idea like taking your vengeance out on Jane Austen for her books being inflicted on you in high school English class?

ALook, most 17-year-old boys are not the target audience or ideal reader for a Jane Austen novel. That's not a knock against her as a writer. She's obviously an incredible writer. These books are classics, and they're really well-constructed books, but they're not for everybody.

The idea of reconstructing a literary classic just seemed really fun to me. There was nothing malicious in my intent. It just seemed like, "Wow, this would be really fun to do as a creative experiment like all the stuff you see on YouTube."

QIn the event of a zombie apocalypse, what's your plan of action?

AGosh, I guess I'd get to a shopping mall and try to barricade the doors.

QAnd your weapon of choice?

AHmm ... that's a good question. I guess I'm taking a baseball bat. That's what I've got in my house.