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Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?
By Samuel P. Wheeler | June 2, 2010
Books about Abraham Lincoln have traditionally sold well. In recent times, a number of television shows, movies, and books about vampires have popped up. Perhaps it was inevitable. Best-selling author Seth Grahame-Smith’s new book, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, has certainly garnered a lot of publicity in recent months.
The marketing campaign behind the book has been particularly intriguing. Several readers have forwarded me this advertisment/trailer for the book. If you haven’t seen it yet, click on the link below. Be warned though, the clip is a bit graphic.
The book has generally received good reviews. Both Time Magazine and Enertainment Weekly recommended the book.
But how have Lincoln scholars reacted? This article, which followed Graham-Smith on a recent book signing tour in Springfield, weighs in on the issue. It looks like Doris Kearns Goodwin and Harold Holzer praised the imaginative author, while Richard Norton Smith, the former director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, condemned the concept as a “bastardization of the Lincoln story.”
I haven’t read the book yet, so I can’t weigh in on the book’s literary merits. However, I don’t necessarily object to Lincoln’s appearance in works of fiction. In this case, I assume the majority of people who will read this book will do so because they like the vampire genre. In the process of rooting for Lincoln as he kills vampires, they might actually be drawn to the historical Lincoln. Maybe this book will encourage some readers to pick up a non-fiction book on the sixteenth president or the Civil War Era.
What do you think about the book? Has anyone read it?
By the way, there are rumblings that famed director Tim Burton is interested in bringing the book to the big screen. Do you think Johnny Depp could portray a vampire killing Abraham Lincoln?
Click Here to read an excerpt of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, courtesy of NPR.
Topics: Hollywood, Pop Culture | 2 Comments »
August 13th, 2010 at 11:28 am
[...] thanks to Samuel Wheeler at the Lincoln Studies blog for his original post on this subject. This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the [...]
August 17th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
I think this looks awesome haha Abe Lincoln fighting vampires. Speaking of Lincoln, the new Robert Redford film “The Conspirator” about his assassination looks great. There’s more on the film here
http://www.theamericanfilmcompany.com/films/detail/the-conspirator