Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Novel) SPOILERS!

[gtrof]

Killing Monsters with Historical Figures
A Look at Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

First off I have been annoyed by the last Vampire trend. What women see in blood sucking monsters in beyond me, I mean no one is going, “Oh hold me zombie Jim!” Anyway as a result normally I stay away from Vampire stuff finding it lackluster or stupid. However I made an exception for the taking of what is probably America’s greatest president and making him a slayer of the undead (why hadn’t it been thought of before!). Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter came to my attention from the trailer for the upcoming movie. Learning it was a book I decided to check it out; curious as to if it could be as cool as World War Z. The novel is by Seth Grahame-Smith who wrote Pride and Prejudices and Zombies (I’m curious what’s next, To Kill a Mocking Bird now with Werewolves).

The story starts with the author of the book relating how he came to learn about the real history of the sixteenth president. A struggling writer is given the secret through a friendly vampire named Henry. He gives the author a journal, the Secret Diary of Abraham Lincoln. Along with other information and interviews the author was able to create the story. It begins with Abe as a young boy describing his early life. We learn that Abe’s mother was killed by a vampire who poisoned her. His father had been indebted to the vampire and unable to pay. Vampires have long tormented the Lincoln family with one killing Abe’s grandfather. Lincoln becomes obsessed with avenging the death of his mother, vowing to kill every vampire in America. He begins so a year later luring the vampire back and stabbing him through the heart.

When he’s a teenager Lincoln goes to investigate another vampire attack. He is nearly killed by this vampire and is only saved by Henry Sturges. He too is a vampire but unlike the ones Abe hates is interested in coexisting with humans and staying out of the lime light. He is the one to teach Abe more about vampires (sorry garlic doesn’t do crap) and gives Abe the names of vampires to eliminate. Eventually Lincoln travels south as a flatboat owner where he learns the connection between Slavery and vampires. The vampires use Slavery to provide them with a food supply. Southern politicians and plantation owners are becoming more and more puppets of the vampires. This is what makes Abe an abolitionist.

The book is told in a biographic style which moves into more fictional descriptions of events in dramatic points. Lincoln’s journal entries are used to give us his voice and thoughts on these events. Vampires are woven into American history by Grahame-Smith. For example Henry became a vampire when the famous lost colony of Roanoke was destroyed by a vampire. The doctor who accompanied them to the New World was a vampire and killed the whole town when discovered. Vampires are said to have come to America after finding resistance growing to them in Europe. It is even hinted that the French Revolution was affected by vampires, with Louis’s inability to protect the Third Estate from them influencing the start of the revolution. These bits of messing with history are nice in my opinion and I would have liked to see them better explored.

I’m less a fan of how much vampires continue to mess with Lincoln’s life. It gets a bit old in my opinion. For example Ann Rutledge who was Abe’s first love is killed by a vampire through poisoning her like Lincoln’s mother was. Lincoln’s son Willy during the Civil War will be killed by a vampire (again poisoning rather than biting). I was also disappointed to find John Wilkes Booth made a vampire but more on that in a bit. Anyway Lincoln’s historical and secret vampire life goes on. He meets Edgar Allen Poe and the two discuss their interest in vampires. Poe is the one who tells him about the European history of vampires. Abe even recruits his friends into vampire killing. When elected to the House of Representatives Lincoln learns that vampires are more widely known to the government than he thought. Most of the Congressmen know of them and their deals with the Southern political establishment.

Eventually we get to the growing time bomb that is leading to the Civil War. Henry and likeminded vampires call Lincoln to New York. There they tell him that the long feared storm is coming. The movement that will lead to the Confederate States of America is nothing but the first step to vampires openly taking over. Henry and his allies, both human plus vampire call themselves the ‘Union’. They want Abe to be their man to lead the fight against the vampires. As part of this they raise Lincoln’s stature through the debates with Steven Douglas. Douglas like many Southern supporters of the vampires is being duped by the undead not knowing there real plans. William Seward turns out to also be a vampire hunter and throws the chance to gain the Republican nomination for president for the 1860 election, pushing Abe into the spot.

The Civil War is affected by the vampires with CSA ‘ghost soldiers’ who terrorize Union camps. At the First Battle of Bull Run, vampire soldiers who tear apart Union lines help the Confederates turn the tide (of course this is not officially known). Abe and his cabinet all believe in and know about the vampires. To that end they are motivated to issues the Emancipation Proclamation to remove the vampire food supply. We don’t get as much about the war as I imagine people would like. We learn that Jefferson Davis totally knows the truth and is working mostly to save his own skin. What about Lee or other notable Confederates? There are some good little bits such as Lincoln traveling to visit McClellan and bringing his killing ax. He demands to know if McClellan is a vampire because Abe cannot think of another reason he would be so ineffective with the Union Army.

The Proclamation does it job and weakens the vampires in the South, losing food and the slaves turn against their masters. Much of the war goes as per OTL. Lincoln’s assassination is the same as well with Booth being the assassin but he’s a vampire. I felt that this was a mistake. I would have found it more interesting that Lincoln was killed by a regular Booth for his racial stance. Thus in the end Abe is not killed by his greatest enemy but a normal man. There is also one more point of the ending I disagree with. Henry, Abe’s vampire friend, makes the president a vampire following the assassination. Lincoln and he become shadows in American history, working against the KKK in the South, driving out the remaining vampires, and then informing us that Lincoln and Henry fought in Europe during World War II which was the Second Vampire Uprising (It strikes me that a sequel, George Patton: Vampire Hunter must be crafted!). The book ends with Lincoln and Henry watching Martin Luther King as he gives his famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial. I find it hard to believe Lincoln, who makes his dislike of vampires clear during the book, would accept what Henry did. He repeated refused offers from Henry to bring his loved ones back as vampires, so why would Lincoln accept his change?

All in all I liked the book. I can’t comment on how accurate the history parts are because I’m not the best when it comes to Lincoln’s background. However I thought most of the alternate history stuff with the vampires was done well. If anything it could have been expanded more. The book doesn’t really focus on the killing or hunting part, but more on what it all means for Lincoln. One flaw of the book is that there is no central Vampire Antagonist. It seems that this has been changed in the upcoming film (based on what I’ve seen in the trailers). With no central figure for Lincoln to focus on, the streams of bad vampires are pretty faceless and uninteresting, just one after another for Lincoln to deal with. I do think the book is worth a read though. It’s not World War Z, but it’s a nice tale of ASB history.