Seth Grahame-Smith

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

Sarah Sammis

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith was recently released as a film. I haven't seen it but I might. I think the concept of vampires being behind the Civil War is an interesting one. The film might do a better job of showing the story as the book gets bogged down in endless, dry telling.

The framing story behind Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is of an author finding a secret Lincoln journal which covers his secret life as a vampire hunter. To keep the pretense of this book being the newly published journal going, long passages of the so called journal are presented in block text. It is a visually boring presentation and a fairly mind numbing read for something involving vampire hunting.

I got about half way through the book before I decided I'd had enough. These mash-ups aren't for me. It's not the juxtaposition of Lincoln and vampire hunting that I object to. It's the attempt to write in the style of another author or another era. It's an illusion that just can't be held for the entirety of the book (or even a chapter).

I prefer instead authors who write in their own voices even when dealing with historical figures.

Bri Billaney

Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother's bedside. She's been stricken with something the old-timers call "Milk Sickness." "My baby boy..." she whispers before dying. Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother's fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire. When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, "henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose..." Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House. While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years. Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Lacy W

Title: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Author: Seth Grahame-Smith
Genre: Paranormal Historical Fiction
Format: unknown
Star Rating: 5 stars

 this is an updated review. i am going back and editing these reviews as part of my throwback thursday posts on my blog. 

Please note that this is a review from 2016. At that time, I did not keep track of trigger warnings so apologies. Young Lacy did not know what she was doing back then. 

So I actually picked this book up because in 2012, or somewhere around there as anxiety can cause some memory issues. I watched the movie of this book and that’s how I came to discover that it was based on a book. The movie was pretty decent, as far as I remember, which again, is not a lot. So I thought that I would give the book a try a few years later.

I wasn't disappointed. This book basically follows the life of Abraham Lincoln with the help of a diary that the author “found”. Lincoln, at a young age, witnesses his mother getting killed by a vampire. Therefore, he devotes his life to killing vampires, hence the name "vampire hunter". I really do need to note that this book is not real. I mention this in the next paragraph but I just wanted to stress that. 

Some parts of this book were actually true. Lincoln did fail several times at becoming a senator. He did have a failing business. He also had a mental breakdown. Those are all facts. It interweaves very well with the rest of the book. Obviously, vampires aren't real but the way the author wrote this book, it was almost like it could be. There were even several pictures dispersed throughout the book that "prove" that vampires are real.

The book was an easy read. Even the parts where it was from Lincoln's diary were easy to read. I didn't get lost or confused by the big words they used back then. Most of the book was written in such a way that I almost believed it. I almost believed that vampires were real and that Lincoln actually hunted them. I had to bring myself back to reality a few times.

Some parts of the book were kind of unbelievable though. Like Booth being a vampire. . That just seemed a bit far-fetched, even for a book like this. Or that there is a whole union of vampires that want to run the US. Again, seemed just a bit far-fetched for me.

But overall, I have no real complaints about this book. It is well written. The diary entries did not seem too much. They added to the story very nicely. The pictures did as well. I felt like this book could easily be believed. It's just a really solid book.

Alyssa 

I really enjoyed this book! I liked how it combined my two favorite genres: history and fantasy, and made a story out of it. I liked how Abraham Lincoln was brought back as a vampire at the end after his assassination. I liked how he was eventually able to see the effects his Emancipation Proclamation had. He got to see Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech.

Indiana. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother's bedside. She's been stricken with something the old-timers call "Milk Sickness." "My baby boy..." she whispers before dying. Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother's fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire. When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, "henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose..." Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House. While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years. Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

Ethan E. Harris

It was ridiculous enough of a concept to keep me glued. The author does a great job at keeping the historical period in check (there are no surprise airplanes in the background). There aren't any steampunk devices to pull the character out of trouble. 

It's not too graphic and there are no profanities, but there is just enough violence to stay off the family bookshelf.

It's a simple, believable vampire tale. 

Well done!

Jessica Williamson

2.5

Idk y'all. I agree with most that this books seems to have been weirdly well-researched but honestly, I was just bored for the most part. There were some interesting bits and I did like the look at politics and slavery during the time-period but I don't know. There's something off putting about an alternate history where we can blame unholy creatures for all of the shit that happened during that time period. If anything it takes away from the fact that, as always, man is the most vile of all monsters.

cover 2; characters 3; plot 3; pace 2; writing 3; enjoyment 2

Kimberly

At first I was thought the concept of the book was bizzare and eerie. I didn't think I would like. However, after continuing on and giving the book a shot, I found it to be amazing. It's a great mixture of fiction and history. Grahame-Smith persuaded me that Abe Lincoln was a Vampire Hunter and every important event in his life was effected by Vampires. I also enjoyed when Abraham met Edgar Allan Poe! As a huge Poe fan I smiled when he had a small part in the book.

I haven't seen the movie, but I doubt it could live up to the book.

Marissa Scudlo

** spoiler alert **
           It was one the best books that I had read in a long time. It was a page turner and I really think everyone should read it. I seriously love Henry and Abe's relationship. And I jut love Henry.

From the creator of the international bestseller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes the untold (vampire-hunting) history of the Great US Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln.

Vampire Hunter

Abraham Lincoln

Zoe Smolen

Eh, it was ok. I was hoping for more action. I felt as if the biography style slowed the book down a lot for me. However, its a really fun concept, and I think it'll make a great movie.

Judy Hudgins

Jacklyn O’Brien 

** spoiler alert **
           I watched the movie first, and read the book once I heard it was based on it. The movie is very different, with different action and a main villainous vampire. That doesn't stop me from enjoying both separately. 

I loved that the movie had awesome kill scenes, slow-mos and action. I was concerned how those would be translated to a novel. Well my answer was, I need not worry, since they weren't in there. The book focuses on Abe fighting the vampires with politics, and trying to dismantle corruptness in the government. I loved that they mentioned that vampires wanted to keep slavery (in both book and movie), so they can feast without fear of repercussion. The book goes further and talks about a lot of government officials that are in the pockets of vampires, who turn a blind eye as long as it benefits them. 

I also loved that the book actually discussed Booth and his story, as the movie just showed Abe driving off to the theater at the end. As the novel ends, Henri leaves us on a cliffhanger! "Some men are too interesting to die" Does that mean what I think it means?

I'm only giving it a 3.5 (rounding up), because it focused a lot on the politics and made it a little dry. I enjoyed that it was written as if reporting from his journals (like a nonfiction), but it also distracted from the action. 

I'll be reading the next one, regardless if Abe is in it, and it makes me now want to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Ben Nathan

Tons of fun. Full of really witty ways of weaving a vampire story through history. Made me want to read more about Lincoln because there were enough things that I was thinking "this must be true and then altered" but I really didn't know. Really good. I suggest you give it a shot :)

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

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