Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (2010)

Abraham Lincoln: 16th President of the United States. The Great Emancipator. 

But did you ever think that, just maybe, he was a vampire hunter? 

Seth Grahme-Smith (author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) apparently thought so. In his book, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, he lays out the plot that Lincoln was inspired toward the idea of anti-slavery because of vampires. As a young boy, one of the bloodsuckers is responsible for his mother's death, and Abraham swears that, from that moment on, he will hunt down every vampire within the United States. 

The book is writtten as a biography, with excerpts from  Abraham's numerous journals (obviously fabricated for the biography itself) that he kept throughout his lifetime, as well as portions of news clippings and sometimes perhaps even the journals of others. I personally found this writing a bit confusing and often times unnecessary. The biography portion often veers between speaking of Lincoln in a descriptive fashion and becoming an outright third person narrative, complete with dialogue. If that was going to be the case, why was the book simply not written as his journal, rather than as a third person account? 

Other than that one complaint, though, the book was a fun ride through an alternate universe of history. Though Gramhe-Smith does play with some facts (though Abraham Lincoln was a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe, the two never met - the photo of the two in the book is an, uh, interesting if obvious photoshop; and the idea of Elizabeth Bathory being burned alive for her crimes is one I've never heard of before), for the most part a good portion of the story is merely edited historical events with the added flavor of vampirism. The thought that adding this supernatural quality might undermine the idea of desiring freedom for men for the sake of that in itself did occur to me, but since the book is a fictional work meant for entertainment, I tried not to let such ideas ruin the experience. 

And, like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Lincoln's vampire hunting biography is currently in the works to be made into a feature film. 

Attached to the film are Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim) for the part of Mary Todd Lincoln, Dominic Cooper (Captain America) as the vampire Henry Sturges, and for the leading man himself, newcomer Benjamin Walker as Abraham Lincoln. He certainly looks like he'll fit the part. I've seen posters in a few of my local movie theaters, so it looks like this one has more steam than it's zombie cousin, which has been up and down in terms of casting and production. 

I honestly would be intrigued to see this one make it to the big screen, so keep your fingers crossed!