You are here: Home » Blogs

Paper Cuts Blog: Lincoln as vampire slayer makes for good read

By Gaveliers, The Gavel Media Team, on April 28, 2010 12:31 AM

By Dan Monan, Culture Editor -

Yes, the “blog” is not dead! Although air-quotes may be necessary until some sort of regular schedule is worked out.

This time I’ve decided to go the route of historical fiction with Seth Grahame-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, the same guy who gave us Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, the gleefully irreverent corruptions of Jane Austen’s classic novels.

Unlike those earlier works, which interwove actual text from Austen novels with more, shall we say modern additions,  Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter does not use an older novel as its base material. Instead, Grahame-Smith claims to have uncovered a “secret diary” explaining Lincoln’s double life as a vampire-hunter, along with the hidden, vampire-based reasons for the Civil War and Lincoln’s political career.

The book is good. Let’s get that out of the way before anything else. Its Abraham Lincoln, axe in hand, chopping creatures of the night limb from limb, what’s not to like? The gore-filled pages move at a decent clip, and Lincoln is a surprisingly fleshed out character. True to life, Lincoln is a tragic figure, and by the end, feels believably presidential (But in a good, pre-George Bush kind-of way… actually, make that good in a pre-Bill Clinton way… actually, let’s just call it presidential like Harrison Ford in Air Force One).

Lincoln. Axe. Vampires. This is what the title offers; this is what you shall find. And Lincoln’s secret hack-and-slash pastime offers more than enough to create an engaging storyline, but deep social commentary this is not. Yes, vampirism makes a wonderful metaphor for slavery, yet once the connection is made, little more is done with it.

I suppose I’m saying the book is shallow, or maybe that it just feels too neat. The world Grahame reveals is exciting and interesting and at some points disturbingly believable, but he never plunges into the depths of it. If this were a movie, it would be a popcorn action flick, perhaps even a better-than-average horror film. Grahame seems unwilling or unable to pull away from the violence to focus on the complexities of his creation. And this prevents a good book from becoming a great one, although to be fair, Grahame never really tries to delve into these issues. He seems to know what he’s good at and stick to it.

Likewise, while Lincoln is a deep character, most of the others are not. It would be a shame to reveal too much of what is truly an enjoyable book, so without going into details, most other character he encounters is uninteresting and forgettable. I finished the book less than a week ago, and most of their names are already gone, though some are unique enough to leave an impression.

Despite these reservations, as before, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a worthwhile read. Something undeniably entertaining comes from a straight-faced account of America’s favorite president, decapitating fanged monsters. I’m looking forward to Grahame’s next foray into the genre, Teddy Roosevelt: American Werewolf perhaps?