Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (novel)
OCLC 458890478 | |
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a
Plot summary
The
When Abraham Lincoln is only eleven years old, he learns from his father Thomas that vampires are, in fact, real. Thomas explains to his son that a vampire killed Abraham's grandfather (also named Abraham Lincoln) in 1786. Young Abraham is also shocked to learn that his beloved mother, Nancy, succumbed not to milk sickness but rather to being given a "fool's dose" of vampire blood, the result of Thomas's failure to repay a debt. Lincoln vows in his diary to kill as many vampires as he can. A year later, he lures the vampire responsible for his mother's death to the family farm and manages to kill it with a homemade stake.
In 1825, Lincoln gets word of a possible vampire attack along the Ohio River and investigates, but this time he is no match for the vampire and is nearly killed. He is saved at the last moment by the intervention of the vampire Henry Sturges. Henry nurses Lincoln back to health and explains some of the nature of vampirism, emphasizing that some vampires are good, such as he, and others are evil. Lincoln spends the summer with Henry sharpening his senses and being trained as an expert vampire hunter. Henry sends Lincoln the names and addresses of evil vampires; Abraham dutifully tracks them down and kills them.
As a young adult, Lincoln and a friend travel down the
While in Washington, Lincoln meets his old friend
Lincoln's
The Civil War ends with the Confederacy's defeat. Lincoln receives reports that the vampires in the South are fleeing to
98 years later, during Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, both Lincoln and Henry attend and Lincoln writes about spending the previous night at the White House as a guest of then-current president John F. Kennedy (and how the monument dedicated to him gives him "no shortage of discomfort"). Henry had used his powers to turn Lincoln into a vampire, believing that "some men are just too interesting to die".
Reception
The Los Angeles Times gave Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter a positive review, noting that "a writer who can transform the greatest figure from 19th-century American history into the star of an original vampire tale with humor, heart and bite is a rare find indeed".[2]
Time magazine gave the novel a mixed review, calling author Grahame-Smith "a lively, fluent writer with a sharp sense of tone and pace", but finding the novel "a little too neat" and noting that "once the connection is made, it feels obvious, and neither slavery nor vampirism reveals anything in particular about the other. One could imagine a richer, subtler treatment of the subject, in which the two horrors multiply each other rather than cancel each other out".[3]
Film adaptation
Sequel
A sequel, titled The Last American Vampire and focusing on Henry Sturges's experiences during many major events of the 20th century, was released on January 13, 2015.[5]
See also
- Mashup novel
- The Amazing Screw-On Head, a comic book and cartoon involving Abraham Lincoln and vampires
References
- ^ "Seth Grahame-Smiths neues Werk 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'" Archived 2010-03-05 at the Wayback Machine. Nerdcore.de. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
- ^ Mcintyre, Gina (2010-03-04). "BOOK REVIEWS Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 17, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ^ Grossman, Lev (2010-03-08). "Critique of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter". Time.com. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ^ Michael Cieply (May 9, 2011). "Aside From the Vampires, Lincoln Film Seeks Accuracy". The New York Times.
- Shock Till You Drop.