What did YOU think about 'Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter'?

OK. I admit it. I read it, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, it was pretty good, and I kind of enjoyed it.

A few days ago, I finished reading “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter” by Seth Grahame-Smith. Judging the book by it’s cover, I thought the premise behind the book was pretty ridiculous. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, the President who freed the slaves and led the country through the Civil War, that Abraham Lincoln, as a vampire hunter. Pretty ridiculous, right?

I probably would have never even considered reading the book if not for the recently released movie based on the book. After seeing a few trailers, I thought, well, maybe the book’s worth checking out. I’m glad I had a change of heart because I was not disappointed.

Published in March 2010, “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter” is based on fictional “secret diaries” kept by Lincoln. At a young age, Lincoln learns that his grandfather and mother were killed by vampires, and he makes a vow to kill as many vampires as he can. He later witnesses a slave auction in New Orleans and learns that vampires are buying slaves for food. At that point, Lincoln vows to fight slavery to rob vampires of an easy food source. He eventually begins his political career and meets Edgar Allan Poe before getting elected President. The Civil War starts and Confederate vampires play a big role in how the war plays out. As you probably guessed, real life Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth is a vampire in the novel too.

All in all, I thought the novel was pretty good. Grahame-Smith did an artful job of realistically weaving vampires into many of Lincoln’s real life events. It didn’t come across as forced or unbelievable, and it made me want to read Grahame-Smith’s other books. His other books include:

- The Spider-Man Handbook: The Ultimate Training Manual

- How to Survive a Horror Movie: All the Skills to Dodge the Kills (2007)

- Pardon My President: Fold-and-Mail Apologies for 8 Years (2008)

- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009)

- Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (2010)

- Unholy Night (2012)

I have to admit that I have not seen the “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter” movie, but if it’s as good as the book then it’ll be pretty good. Grahame-Smith wrote the screenplay, and the movie was directed by Timur Bekmambetov. The movie stars Benjamin Walker and Abraham Lincoln, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Mary Todd Lincoln, John Rothman as Jefferson Davis, Jaqueline Fleming as Harriet Tubman and Alan Tudyk as Stephen A. Douglas. As far as I can tell, Poe is not in the movie, which I find somewhat disappointing. The movie was released on June 22, and it’s grossed over $69 million in revenues as of this writing.

In the end, how many of you have read “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter”? How many of you have seen the movie? What did you think about them? Let us know in the comments section below.