A mashup novel, or mashup book (also mash-up), is a work of fiction which combines a pre-existing text, often a classic work of fiction, with a certain popular genre such as vampire or zombie narratives. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which combines Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice with elements of modern zombie fiction, is arguably the first, and certainly one of the most famous and successful works in the genre, and has been credited with spawning a rash of imitations.[1] The term "Mashup" was borrowed from the world of computers and music, as Adam Cohen stated in his New York Times editorial about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: "The idea of combining two data sources into a new product began in the tech world (also think music remixes) and is spreading — including to book publishing."[2]
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Ward Sutton, writing in The New York Times, states that "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, captivated readers and unleashed a whole new genre."[3] Mashup books are seen as distinct from parody novels like Bored of the Rings, and parallel novels like The Wind Done Gone or Wicked since they do not merely make fun of the original text, or tell an alternative version of it, but also introduce the themes and characteristics of a wholly different genre.
While most works in this genre (or cross-genre trend) rely on fictional texts as their basis, other works like Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter superimpose the popular genres over historical figures and events. A more recent phenomenon within the genre is the combination of more than two original works, or genres, as in the case of Robinson Crusoe (The Eerie Adventures of the Lycanthrope), which combines the original novel with elements borrowed from the works of H.P. Lovecraft as well as the popular genre of werewolf fiction, and is accordingly attributed to three authors - Daniel Defoe, H.P. Lovecraft, and Peter Clines.
Quirk Books, an independent publisher which achieved great success with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in April 2009, followed it up with several more mashups of literary classics and in 2010 introduced its "Quirk Classics" imprint made specifically for the genre. Other publishers soon joined in the trend, as Jennifer Schuessler pointed out in a December 2009 New York Times piece on the phenomenon:
Several notable publishing houses like Del Rey and Harper also started publishing books in the genre, while some smaller publishers like Coscom Entertainment began flooding the market with rashly-made zombie or vampire themed versions of famous works in an attempt to cash in on the fad (similar to the mockbuster phenomenon in film).
Title | Authors | Publisher (Year) | Original text / Historical figure | Genre |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies | Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith | Quirk Books (2009) | Pride and Prejudice | Zombie fiction |
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters | Jane Austen & Ben H. Winters | Quirk Books (2009) | Sense and Sensibility | Sea monster legends |
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls | Steve Hockensmith | Quirk Books (2010) | characters from Pride and Prejudice | Zombie fiction |
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter | Seth Grahame-Smith | Grand Central Publishing (2010) | Abraham Lincoln | Vampire literature |
Android Karenina | Leo Tolstoy & Ben H. Winters | Quirk Books (2010) | Anna Karenina | Steampunk fiction |
I am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas | Charles Dickens & Adam Roberts | Gollancz (2009) | A Christmas Carol | Zombie fiction |
Little Women and Werewolves | Louisa May Alcott & Porter Grand | Del Rey Books (2010) | Little Women | Werewolf fiction |
Little Vampire Women | Louisa May Alcott & Lynn Messina | HarperTeen (2010) | Little Women | Vampire literature |
Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter | A.E. Moorat | Hodder (2009) | Queen Victoria | Demon fiction |
Jane Slayre | Charlotte Bronte & Sherri Browning Erwin | Gallery Books (2010) | Jane Eyre | Vampire literature |
Paul is Undead: The British Zombie Invasion | Alan Goldsher | Gallery Books (2010) | The Beatles | Zombie fiction |
Robinson Crusoe (The Eerie Adventures of the Lycanthrope) |
Daniel Defoe, H.P. Lovecraft & Peter Clines |
Permuted Press (2010) | Robinson Crusoe | Lovecraft Mythos; Werewolf fiction |
Mansfield Park and Mummies | Jane Austen & Vera Nazarian | Norilana Books (2009) | Mansfield Park | Mummy fiction |
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After | Jane Austen & Steve Hockensmith | Quirk Books (2011) | Characters from Pride and Prejudice | Zombie fiction |
The Meowmorphosis | Franz Kafka & Cook Coleridge | Quirk Books (2011) | The Metamorphosis |