REVIEW: Snow White and the Seven Dead Dwarfs
Bob McLain’s version of this famous fairly tale is not the family friendly Disney version. This tale goes back to the roots of the darker Grimm brother’s version then tosses in zombies. Mr. McLain does state that the story may be somewhat ‘corny’, to some it could appear that way on the outside, given the title. To others who actually take the time to read the novella, the story is far from corny. While Disney owns the names of their dwarfs, the Grimm brother’s tale did not name the dwarfs. Mr. McLain uses names that are similar in context to Disney’s dwarf characters that are fitting and easily recognizable.
For those of you who have never heard of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the basic story is centered on an evil queen who is the stepmother to Snow White. McLain’s storyline follows this route and then moves into the ‘what if ‘scenario after the Huntsman lets Snow go and slays a boar for the queen as proof that he dispatched Snow White in accordance to the Queen’s order. This time, however, the boar is infected with the undead virus. When the queen eats the tainted organs, she becomes infected and attempts to use her black magic potions and spells to unsuccessfully counteract her cravings to feed on flesh.
Meanwhile, Snow and the dwarfs have come to an arrangement where they work and she cleans their hovel. True to form we have the mirror, mirror on the wall scene and of course the mirror spills his guts and lets the queen know that Snow is alive and well. Deviating from the Disney version where the queen turns herself into an old hag, in this version, she orders the Huntsman back out into the woods to visit Snow and give her the infamous apple.
Of course, we have the typical end result as in the dwarfs return home to find Snow apparently dead on the floor. They fashion a glass coffin and set her out in the woods. Not knowing human physiology, they assume that Snow will revive somehow thereby forgoing actual burial.
Her prince arrives after hearing about a beautiful woman in a glass coffin but along the way he becomes infected with the undead virus as it is now rampaging wildly through the kingdom thanks to the queen. Instead of awaking Snow with a kiss, he bites her spreading the undead virus. This leads the storyline into the stereotypical fortified building under siege from the undead. In this case, it’s the dwarfs’ home. Toss in the one of us is bitten scenario and the story moves into a fairly tale version of something like the 1978 Dawn of the Dead.
While the end result of the novella is not what some would expect, McLain creates a nice lead in for a sequel into yet another version of a famous fairy tale with the zombie/undead insertion. This version of the Snow White tale was enjoyable to read and I look forward to the next in the series as the zombies romp through well known fairy tales.
Available at Amazon.
