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CHAPTER I

DOWN THE DEAD-HOLE

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having noth¬ing to do. Her sister had seemed very displeased about having to accompany her against her will down to the graveyard that sprawled adjacent to their home. The graveyard, her favorite place to play, was all tangled gray vines and tilting ancient tombstones, bearing names she’d never heard be¬fore, though she supposed they must be family, in some distant past before she had been born. Alice loved to stroll through the graveyard, to pick the funereal flowers from old grassy knolls where someone dead most certainly must lie beneath. For her, there was always adventure in a graveyard.

Despite her sister’s nasty disposition, it would have been a perfectly cloudy, chilly day in her
favorite play place had she not been so hungry, for her sister had refused to have tea before angrily bringing Alice outside. Tea and a sandwich would be nice. Perhaps a nice meat pie, if the cook could be bothered to bake one up. For their cook made the best meat pies in the world and Alice could think of no better meal than a delicious hot meat pie.

As if being ravenous wasn’t enough, now her sister was also refusing her the joy of perusing the ancient stones, and had hold of her arm while she read such dull material. Once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice “without pictures or conversation?”

So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the chill of the bleak day made her feel very sleepy and stupid) whether the plea¬sure of making a daisy chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a sleek Black Rat with shining dark eyes ran straight from a nearby tomb and quite close by her.

There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Black Rat say to itself, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!” (when she thought it over af¬terwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but, when the Black Rat actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice broke from her sister’s grip and started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rat with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and, burning with curiosity, she ran across the graveyard after it, despite her sister’s angry yells for her to come straight back to her this instant, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down into a gaping open grave. Clods of gray dirt sat all around its edge and a displeasing smell seemed to waft up from it.

For a moment, Alice stood beside the grave, her sister’s voice far away and still frightening for all the distance, deciding whether she’d dare jump in after the strange Black Rat. In another moment, down went Alice after it, hardly considering how in the world she was to get out again.

Then she was tumbling forward into the stink¬ing, black grave which went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down and down. On the way down, she hit her head upon the leaning tombstone, and tears filled her eyes for a moment as she tumbled forward.

Either the grave was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she checked the smarting place on her head and pulled back a small hand coated with bright red blood. Her head hurt quite a bit, but as there was nothing to do but cry or get along with her adventure, she chose to stifle her tears and smile through the pain bravely. Then she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see any¬thing; then she looked at the sides of the deep, deep grave, and noticed that they were filled with strange and frightening things. In some places, she could see rotting bones poking from the dark soil; in others skulls leered at her as she fell by them, missing teeth giving silent voice perhaps to warn her back from what lie at the bottom of the grave. It made her feel quite out of sorts to see such em¬blems of death sitting so close next to her.

“Well!” thought Alice to herself, “after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they’ll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn’t say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!” (Which was very likely true.)

Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end! “I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time?” she said aloud. “I must be getting somewhere near the center of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think—” (for, you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) “—yes, that’s about the right distance—but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I’ve got to?” (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)

Presently she began again. “I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it’ll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—” (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn’t sound at all the right word) “— but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma’am, is this New Zealand or Australia?” (And she tried to curt¬sey as she spoke—fancy curtseying as you’re falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) “And what an ignorant little girl she’ll think me for asking! No, it’ll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.”

Down, down, down. The pain in her head had turned into a deep throb, but she continued to ignore it and held in her tears some more. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talk¬ing again. “Dinah’ll miss me very much tonight, I should think!” (Dinah was the cat.) “I hope they’ll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I’m afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that’s very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?” And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, “Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?” and sometimes, “Do bats eat cats?” for, you see, as she couldn’t
answer either question, it didn’t much matter which way she put it. She felt that she was doz¬ing off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and saying to her very earnestly, “Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?” when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of cold sod¬den earth that smelled of dead things. Nasty, pale worms writhed throughout the small hill and she hastily threw herself from the dirt, wincing in disgust. Worms and beetles crawled through the sodden earth, clicking and grubbing along at her feet. Was this what a grave was like inside? She wondered. She’d often wondered how the dark¬ness got along without the light of the sun, how things lived; now she had a better idea how the things that lived without light got along.

The first thing I can tell you about Alice in Zombieland is that it is sincerely cute, if not a little morbid. The general story idea is that the Alice of this text is an odd young thing with a heart for playing in cemeteries. Instead of following a white rabbit down a rabbit hole to Wonderland – this Alice follows a black rat down the whole of an open grave and travels on to Zombieland. Instead of a romp through illogical dream world, This Alice must find her way through a ever so creepy possible nether world of dangers, confusion, and nightmare things. Is Alice dead? Or worse – Undead? Is it all a dream? Pick up this delightfully fairy tale take on the classic Zombie story / fantastic zombie take on classic fairy tale like bit of literature and find out.

Personally I have been rather fatigued with the entire Zombie genre. I think on a whole publishers over estimate the popularity of the Zombie humor/ horror/ classic literature mash up, and it all culturally peeked a while ago. But that is what made Alice in Zombieland actually a really pleasant surprise – it totally beat my expectations. The original material is adapted with ease and grace, The same sense of precociousness permeates the text, and the illustrations are humorous adaptations of the classic images we are all familiar with. If anything I am kind of amazed that this has come out SO late in the game. If you are still a ravenous fan of the zombie trend – but lean more towards Max Brooks’ work this read might be a little to frilly for you. It is very aware of its source material and does its’ best to keep in the same tongue. If you are and /or if you have a friend that is the kind of dark (possibly gothy) sort that loves Alice anyway for its already existing weirdness, and Loves all things Zombie equally as much then this book makes a perfect addition to any collection (not to mention gift). I am gladly holding onto my copy for the next time a friend has a daughter that enters into that maudlin, grumpy, angsty, dark phase along with puberty. I know when I was 12 and entering into just such a stage I would have LOVED to have gotten this as a gift. Hopefully Nickolas Cook and the good people over source books will follow this up with a “Through the Looking Glass” adaptation. I would love to see an illustration of the Red and White Queens at war in this world. If you would like to get your self a copy of this delightful read you can Here

Book Blurb:

They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the bank-the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their fur clinging close to them, and all dripping wet, cross, and uncomfortable. All of them were covered in Alice’s now cold and congealed blood, which made them even tastier looking to poor hungry Alice.

When little Alice follows the Black Rat down into the gaping darkness of an open grave, she falls and falls. And soon finds herself in an undead nightmare of rotting flesh and insanity. Venturing further into this land of zombies and monsters, she encounters characters both creepy and madcap along the way.

But there’s something else troubling poor Alice: her skin is rotting and her hair is falling out. She’s cold. And she has the haunting feeling that if she remains in Zombieland any longer, she might never leave.

Can Alice escape Zombieland before the Dead Red Queen catches up to her?

My thoughts:

This has to be one of the most fun mash-ups I’ve read.

Alice and her sister are passing the time in the cemetery when Alice sees a Black Rat run by. This is no ordinary rat - he is talking, wearing clothes and carrying a pocket watch.

Intrigued, Alice follows him and falls into an open grave. And falls and falls and falls.

Alice is now in Zombieland - and she is beginning to feel the effects. She is cold and hungry - oh, so hungry. If she could only get something (or someone) to eat, she would feel so much better.

After traveling for a bit and meeting some very interesting - though dead, creatures - Alice has come to the attention of the Dead Red Queen. Now the Queen wants Alice dead - permanently.

Alice is Zombieland is a fun, creepy mash-up of a classic tale. I think it’s great.

I give Alice in Zombieland 3 out of 5 stars.



Alice in Zombieland is not your typical childhood fairytale. Even though the storyline is kept pretty much the same, the author adds a demented twist to Alice’s “Wonderland”, turning it into a “Horrorland”. It took me sometime to develop an attachment to this version, and the attachment was more of a curiosity. I was curious to see what type of morbid adventures Alice would be taken through and what kind of misfit characters she would meet along the way. I am a fan of Horror, so I did find myself somewhat enjoying this read in a psychotic manner. =) All the characters, however mentally disturbed, fit perfectly in this freakish land of undead things. So, if you are wanting something familiar, yet truly bizarre, than you need to experience the tale of Alice in Zombieland for yourself.


This is an altered classic—a paranormal take on Alice in Wonderland. In this book, Alice falls through the hole and meets a bunch of zombies. This location begins to have a not so pleasant effect on Alice—she begins to crave flesh and her skin is beginning to rot. She knows she must get home. This was a cute, quick read. I think it is definitely more enjoyable if readers have read Alice in Wonderland—there is a lot of play on the characters and happenings of that book that could be lost on one who has never read it. This was a fun book. I was sent this book to review by Sourcebooks.

Ah, sweet deviant writing! From Dusk til Dawn meets Alice in Wonderland!

As Alice falls down the grave hole, we expect to find much the same story as when she fell down the rabbit hole to Wonderland. What’s better, it is the same story! Of course, the white rabbit has become a black rat. Instead of a cast of interesting characters, we have a cast of interesting undead characters.

Most of this read felt like I was reading Alice in Wonderland all over again, with a few twists and turns added. Those twists and turns, slight though some of them were, definitely made this an entirely different story. Cook’s wording is fabulously matching to that of Carroll, so if you don’t know the original Alice inside and out, you may not know where one begins and the other ends. Even if you do know your Alice, you’ll find yourself trying to remember if that was original or newly added.

I’d like to say this book was full of whimsy, and it some parts it was, but mostly I found myself disturbed. I love horror and gore and the more the better! I have no problem imagining playing croquet with a wriggling undead foot. There are lines that shouldn’t be crossed though and I found a few areas where it was just a little too unsettling for me. Most of this book was a joy ride for a nightmare lover, but once we get to hacked up baby parts in a stew, I’m ready to exit.

If you can handle the extreme, this is a great read. I love it just as much as all the other classics I’ve read that have been remade into horror. I can guarantee you that you’ve never read anything like this, and aren’t likely to again.

Final note: The end is EXQUISITE! The entire book I was wondering how a zombie Alice is going to wake up as if it were all a dream...and I was not disappointed! The ending was better than anything I’d imagined and it was totally worth the stewed baby parts to get to it! (As long as I keep reminding myself it’s not real, anyway!)