Austenized!

Jane Austen's been poked fun at recently. There's been a slew of books like Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the like, mash-ups of classic literature and horror. But what if you reversed it? What if you took horror classics and Jane Austen-ed them up?

From a piece on Open Salon...

Jane Austen hated horror. The first novel she ever completed (though it remained unpublished until after her death) was Northanger Abbey. It featured a heroine enthralled with The Mysteries of Udolpho, a popular gothic novel of her era. Unlike the traditional gothic romance heroine, Catherine Moreland does not overcome supernatural obstacles to land a handsome hero. Instead her poor taste in fiction almost costs her a good man who writes her off as a half brain. (She is, and remains, a half brain. But this being a novel of its time, he must marry her anyways.)

So enough with the zombies, the vampires and the sea monsters! I’m with Laura Miller. The time has come to avenge the relentless mangling of Austen.

Here, Austenized for your amusement, three Hollywood horror classics, re-energized with the kind of rigorous moral message and redemptive plots that have been entertaining readers for generations. Like Austen, I’m a realist. I don’t expect to turn back the blood dimmed tide of CGI and 3D. But, readers, let's go down fighting!