Abraham Lincoln is one of the most likely, of all characters from American history, to challenge the threat of vampires threatening the landscape of the country. His battles against slavery and the bondage it threatened to spread into the nation’s new territories are indicative of the fight within him. So a juxtaposition of his name, alongside a fascination with vampires, was a believable premise to consider; and if Grahame-Smith allegorized slavery with the evil of vampirism, this book could have boasted extraordinary results. If slavery were given the venomous face of the vampire, the teaching of that evil to the next generation, with such an original idea, would convey the knowledge with a greater impact.
To my regret, this failed to occur. Grahame-Smith wrote an exceptional narrative of Lincoln’s true life – with vampires sprinkled in-between the cracks of history. Yet the question of who they are in 19th century America is never addressed. They live in stealth, but no one is all that surprised when their existence becomes known. And what of their weaknesses? As they are stronger, faster, quicker, why are they not hunting humans, rather than primarily depending upon Southern slaveholders to supply them with worn out slaves, why do they not devour humanity sans mercy?
Too many questions float through these pages with no viable answers to ponder. And yet, this is an entertaining read. Any story, which represents Abraham Lincoln faithfully, as this one does, is worth time spent. If only the reality of vampires had been more substantive, revealing an aspect of Lincoln’s character that could only best be conveyed to a 21st audience through the popular medium, something extraordinary may have materialized.
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