It was first published in April 2009 by Quirk Books and in October 2009 a Deluxe Edition was released, containing full-color images and additional zombie scenes.

Quirk Books editor Jason Rekulak developed the idea for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies after comparing a list of "popular fanboy characters like ninjas, pirates, zombies, and monkeys" with a list of public domain book titles such as War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, and Wuthering Heights.

[1] According to the author, the original text of the novel was well-suited for use as a zombie horror story: You have this fiercely independent heroine, you have this dashing heroic gentleman, you have a militia camped out for seemingly no reason whatsoever nearby, and people are always walking here and there and taking carriage rides here and there ...

[3]In early 2009, awareness of the forthcoming novel rose due to attention from Internet bloggers,[6] newspaper articles,[7] National Public Radio,[8] and podcasts.

At the ball, Mr. Bingley and the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, make a connection in the midst of a chaotic zombie attack.

Elizabeth receives a letter informing the family that Jane will stay at Netherfield to recuperate, and insists on joining her sister.

When the local militia arrives in town to exhume and destroy dead bodies, the Bennet sisters also meet the charming George Wickham, whom Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley seem to avoid.

Elizabeth vows to avenge the separation by killing Darcy, and she is afforded that opportunity when he appears unannounced at a cottage where she is visiting her newlywed friend Charlotte.

The visit ends abruptly when Elizabeth learns Lydia has run away with Wickham and she returns home to support her family.

Elizabeth eventually discovers that it was Darcy who engineered the union and paid Wickham's debts as well as Lydia's dowry, thus saving the Bennet family from scandal and financial ruin.

Elizabeth hopes to renew her relationship with Darcy, but his aunt, the Lady Catherine, interferes and insists that her daughter Anne is a better match for her nephew.

Club gave the novel a grade of A, commenting that "(w)hat begins as a gimmick ends with renewed appreciation of the indomitable appeal of Austen's language, characters, and situations ..."[12] The New Yorker's Macy Halford called the book's estimated blend of eighty-five percent Austen's words and fifteen percent Grahame-Smith's "one hundred per cent terrible"; while she admitted that the mashup may have accurately identified a subtextual theme of "mystery and menace" in the original novel, she still found Grahame-Smith's writing awful, singling out a passage in which Elizabeth Bennet prepares to kill Mr. Darcy over an overheard slight.

[15] In May 2010, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel was published by Del Rey / Random House, with acclaimed comic writer Tony Lee adapting the text and art by Cliff Richards.

[20] Lionsgate originally planned to finance and distribute the film, with Natalie Portman playing the lead role, but she later reconsidered and decided to serve as a producer instead.

[33] On September 23, 2014, it was announced that Game of Thrones' Charles Dance and Lena Headey had joined the cast, and that Screen Gems purchased the rights to release it in the United States.

[36] Steve Hockensmith also wrote a sequel in the series titled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After, which was released on March 22, 2011.

[37] The success of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has led to several other mash-ups pairing classical works or historical figures with modern horror themes such as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters,[38] and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

In 2016, Hot Topic released a clothing collection inspired by the Regency-era fashion and "inner zombie slayer" style of the book.