Chances are we’ve all heard of Porter Grand’s Little Women and Werewolves, yet another literary monster mash-up. Thanks to Seth Grahame-Smith’s crazy popular Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, the publishing world has gone crazy over mixing the classics with monsters. The public’s view of these new books is pretty mixed, people either love or hate them. Many feel that re-imagining an author’s work into a book they had never planned to write is an insult to the original author. But what if the old writer really did want those monsters in their book?

According to publisher Del Ray, Louisa May Alcott originally wrote Little Women with werewolves, but her editor made her remove them. Porter Grand, author of the new Little Women and Werewolves (and a librarian), claims that she discovered an old manuscript titled Little Women and Werewolves in a box of books left to her by a library patron. She didn’t suspect the story’s authenticity until she flipped to the last page and found a rejection letter addressed to Louisa May Alcott from her publisher, asking her to cut out the werewolves to spare the “frail palates of women readers.”

The crazy thing here is that a lot of people seem to believe that this is all true, that this Louisa May Alcott rejection letter is the real deal. Personally, I think it is total bullshit. I am assuming that this it just a big prank or publicity stunt on Del Ray’s part. They aren’t the first publishers to pull this type of thing, you have many fictitious books claiming to be “real” as a kind of joke, like the Spiderwick Chronicles, which is obviously untrue but saying it’s real adds to the fun tale.

But I’ll let you guys decide for yourselves whether or not the rejection letter is the real thing. Check it out:

- Moonlight

Tagged: Little Women, Little Women and Werewolves, Little Women and Werewolves Rejection Letter, Louisa May Alcott, Porter Grand