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Abraham Lincoln and Vampires

A few weeks ago I was fortunate to visit England. As I was touring by Big Ben, Birmingham Palace, and the Parliament buildings, I noticed a statue that seemed slightly out of place...
That's right, President Abraham Lincoln.

If there is anything I have noticed lately about honest Abe honestly it's the fact that he keeps showing up in odd places. 

Although Abe is in England as a symbol for slavery abolition, Abe has confronted more unusual frontiers in literature and film: vampire hunting.


Seth Grahame-Smith, author of the notorious Pride and Prejudice and Zombies strikes again. 


New York Times has Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter  as number 15 on its list of bestsellers in fiction, while its movie has gotten a terrible score of 35% on Rotten Tomatoes.


So why did the movie flop and the book fly?


Well, there's always the classic saying: the book was better than the movie.


But judging by the reviews of the movie from the book, the movie decided to take the humor out of the vampire hunter concept. The movie is rated R and falls under the category of horror.


Perhaps it was the author's creativity and humor in mashing up the idea of abolitionism and superstition.


As a LA Times review put it:


"...at a time when the market is flooded with vampire titles, most of them young adult romances, 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."


Either way, Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter leaves a compelling interest and looks like a pretty entertaining read at the least. If you're looking for Abraham in different contexts, this book will fulfill that need.


What do you think about this book, is it inappropriate for the U.S. president? Have you read Grahame-Smith's works? Does abolitionism have anything to do with vampire hunting?


-Hillary

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