Robin Hood & Friar Tuck: Zombie Killers

by Paul A. Freeman

Medieval civilization was under threat from the undead. When lion-hearted Richard ruled the roost Of England, he decided that to boost His regal reputation he should mount A war to wrest from Turkish men the fount Of Christendom; yet in that desert land A zombie plague emerged from midst the sand. A necromancer's alchemistic spell Reanimated corpses bound for Hell (And even bound for Heaven's pearly gate). Soon after 'twas apparent that the fate Of all on Earth--the evil and the good-- Was in the hands of Robin of the Hood Whose outlaw men, along with Friar Tuck, Against rampaging hordes of zombies struck. They fought to save the likes of you and I, Not caring that one slip might make them die. Their tale lies here, within this humble book-- I pray you'll spare the time to take a look.

Genres: Zombies, Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Humor, Retellings

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 22, 2009

Reviews

[Paul A.]

As the author of this novella, I thought it might be a good idea to put this book in context.

Whereas many of the recent clutch of zombie books are mash-ups of classic stories, my book takes the characters from the Robin Hood stories and puts them into an original horror genre situation.

For your information, the Robin Hood stories we are familiar with actually come from legend fragments and are originally from many sources. Roger Lancelyn Green collected these fragments together to put his classic book 'The Adventures of Robin Hood'. A couple of the scenes I have in RH&FT: Zombie Killers are adapted from ideas in this book.

That said, the first third of RH&FT: Zombie Killers takes place on the First Crusade (in a part of the world where I live) with King Richard I, an event that does not feature in any of the Robin Hood text fragments I researched for my book.

Another point of interest is that RH&FT: Zombie Killers is actually 'The Monk's Second Tale', part of a vast project I'm working on to tell the stories of Chaucer's pilgrims on their return journey from Canterbury.

So far I've written eight 'new' Canterbury Tales, all in different genres, to vary the stories told by the pilgrims. The other Tales include such diverse genres as fables, fairytales, chick lit, crime and fabliau (bawdy tales).

The purpose of my Canterbury Tales project is to reconnect us with Chaucer by popularising (though hopefully not denigrating) the 'Father of English Literature', and to give those more reluctant Chaucer students a taste of Chaucerian English. Of the 100s of Chaucer scholars I've contacted, the responses have been most very encouraging.

As for RH&FT: Zombie Killers, I was hoping to write a Canterbury Tale in the horror genre, and when the opportunity came up to write on about zombies and get it published, I jumped at the chance.

Please don't be put off by the marketing title, and please put the book in context of the bigger picture.

If you want to see how far my Canterbury Tales project has gotten, check out my website:

www.chaucers-uncle.weebly.com

All the best

Paul A. Freeman

[Catherine Edmunds · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re into zombie tales, you’ll love this book. If you’re a Robin Hood fan, you’ll love this book. If you adore Chaucer, you’ll love this book. If you’re a fan of zombie tales, Robin Hood, and Chaucer – you must have already read this book, because before Paul Freeman wrote this work, I doubt if such a fan existed. This is cross-genre writing with a vengeance. I came to it as a Chaucer fan, who remembers liking Robin Hood as a child, but who has never had much to do with zombie tales. I found in this astonishing work the spirit of Chaucer living on: immaculate iambic pentameter rhyming couplets that never falter and therefore become invisible; great wit; great storytelling; vibrant characters; fabulous drama. I also relived my childhood enjoyment of the tales of Robin Hood. I won’t give away the ending here, but will just say it’s genuinely moving and is told with authenticity and a clear love for the traditional tales of one of England’s best heroes. As for the zombies… ‘She pulled him from the gore-bespattered mound, / Where strugg’ling for his life upon the ground / His body was immobilized by hands / Which soon plucked out his guts in glist’ning strands.’ Horror fans will not be disappointed. This stuff rocks.

[Kara]

EDIT:

The title made me think this was just another zombie-mash up book, jumping on the P&P&Z bandwagon. This is understandable considering that in the last year I have seen Elizabeth Bennet, Jo March, Dorothy Gale, Alice Liddell, Huckleberry Finn, Ebeneezer Scrooge, Abraham Lincoln, Queen Victoria, and more, fight zombies, vampires and/or werewolves.

However, see the author comment below - it appears the concept is part of a bigger picture with the emphasis on Chaucer and the modern world rather than playing into a current fad, so this might be worth checking out.

[Misfit]

Please, make it stop. Now.

[Lorna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weird. Too smart for its own good. Not for me.

[Rustlefjord · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read, very well written, a spunky tale with a difference. I don't like marking down but nothing against nobody its just not dark and violent enough for me to love it. Not a page turner if you like blood spitting in your face, but if you're a fan of clean fantasy then this is right up your avenue of fairy tales ... with zombies.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is impressive. I enjoy zombie fiction and I like paranormal, classic fixation mash ups, but this work is really something special. If you are a word nerd, you will definitely appreciate the iambic pentameter and rhyming couplets, which are impressive, but they just melt away as the story unfolds. The author is definitely doing a great job of making iambic pentameter and The Canterbury Tale more accessible to the average reader.

[Blair Hodgkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly enjoyable lost Canterbury tale of Robin Hood leading the fight against a zombie invasion in the 12th century.