Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

By: Seth Grahame-Smith

Narrated by: Scott Holst

Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother's bedside. She's been stricken with something the old-timers call "Milk Sickness."

"My baby boy..." she whispers before dying.

Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother's fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.

When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, "henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose..." Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.

While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.

Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

©2010 Seth Grahame-Smith (P)2010 Hachette Audio

Great Story!

What made the experience of listening to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter the most enjoyable?

Seth had a great sound.

What did you like best about this story?

Really enjoyed the history mingled with fiction.

Which scene was your favorite?

The best scene was the fight scene with the old woman.

If you could take any character from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Abe definitely!

Hard to finish!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I should have gotten this abridged. The idea of the story is interesting, but listening to all of it just takes too long. And it is not really a long audiobook. I find the reading really annoying. Also, the book switches from first to 3rd person all the time, so it makes it confusing as to the narrative. Maybe in the written book there are obvious quotes from the journals (first person) and obvious shifts back to the 3rd person narrative, so maybe it is easier to follow in written form? I don't know: haven't looked at the book.

Would you be willing to try another book from Seth Grahame-Smith? Why or why not?

Probably not, which is a shame. He has some interesting titles, but if they are like Abraham Lincoln I probably won't bother.

How could the performance have been better?

The reader has a monotone voice, and sometimes it is hard to know which character he is reading.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No. Although there were some interesting reviews of the movie. In fact, the reviews I read about the movie back up my opinion of the book.

Great blend of genres

If you could sum up Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in three words, what would they be?

Beguiling, enchanting listen!!

What did you like best about this story?

I like the blend of genres, horror and history. Much of the information used as the setting was accurate background information on Abe Lincoln and yet, one would believe he was actually hunting vampires in the shadows of his rise to the presidency.

What does Scott Holst bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A great dialect, you could picture Abe talking.

If you could take any character from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Henry Sturges, he has lived hundreds of years and could fill in the gaps of our Nation's history.

Historical tidbits abound

I originally purchased this book to see what all the hype was about. I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining the book turned out to be. I love the historical tidbits the author included. They make the reader believe in a world where Abe really could have been a vampire hunter. I hope the movie lives up to the book.

Wish I could go 5 stars.

It's worth the credit. Outrageous and I very much wish Mr. Lincoln was such an honorable, kind man. Alas... he was not. Either way... Just for those that see this... Book is good, narrator is good, worth the credit.

Now... I guess I might as well use this chance to just be honest. Abraham Lincoln unfortunately was a tyrant of a president. I'm not gonna judge his ideas of race and stuff. He was a man of his time. No getting around that. (Pretty much everyone was a racist monster). .. That war was not fought over slavery. Slavery in the north was just as and sometimes even worse. These are just facts. He went after the press worse than any other president ever. Imprisoning them. Deporting them. Jailing his detractors. All the propaganda is just staggering. I mean look at his memorial!!! He's on a GIANT THRONE. Lol. Sigh... Look... I'm not saying I think he deserved his end or anything like that. He just was not some saint. it wasn't even him to actually free the slaves. It's not even like he WANTED to. Ugh... States Rights. That is what the average rebel thought they were fighting for. Nothing else. There are SO many sources for this info... but you do have to dig around all the propaganda though.
Let me check.... Okay... Took a while... But there's a YT channel called "Rageaholic" (lol)... He has a video essay on the 16th president. Watch it. Pretty mind blowing... and that is just SOME of the stuff. Idk.

I very much like this fictitious version of him though. Escapism is truly the best. Great book.

Missing a few pages

Great book. I’m glad I have decided to listen to it again. Love the edits too. 5 stars.

More for history buffs than Buffy buffs

Probably better for those that already have a historical context for Lincoln, this book was interesting solely for it's unusual mashup of content. While Lincoln as a vampire hunter does make some sense based on his rough biographical information, the book loses it's steam shortly after the two ideas meet. I'll admit I was disappointed with the amount of actual vampire hunting that was shown "on camera" as opposed to just alluded to. Sure every vampire book these days has the basics thrown in there (blah blah stake and sunlight blah blah cursed to live forever) and it can be tedious to read about them again and again. But after all the hype I'd heard about this book, I was hoping to read about creative new twists on the vampire myths. Not so much.

The author has an engaging writing style that hooked me in the beginning but he seemed to have difficulty finding a good balance/pacing between the character narrative for the story and the historical reference points that is supposed to ground this tale in reality. Often the various "footnotes" detract from the story and break up any rhythm that might have been taking place.

The narrator was another obstacle for this book. This was the second narrator I've experienced whose idea of a southern accent was just to sound like they had difficulty reading. Also, the narrator didn't do the best job at distinguishing between characters with his voice. Every character sounded pretty much like every other character, which sometimes gets confusing.

With the movie coming out soon, I'm glad I read it. But I doubt it will ever get a repeat performance.

Unusually, a clever concept that is ALSO well exec

Would you listen to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter again? Why?

I would listen again. The story is compelling, and the central metaphor (vampirism=slavery) is well structured. The characters are engaging, but this book does not pretend to be anything but what it was intended to be: a lot of fun.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?

His meetings with Edgar Allen Poe were a delightful element.

Have you listened to any of Scott Holst???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I am not overly familiar with the narrator.

If you could take any character from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Edgar Allen Poe. I just imagine that, as long as you could pay the bar tab, that man would tell some durn cool stories.

Any additional comments?

Listen/read the book before the movie spoils it for you!

Liked it, but it was tedious at times

The author's weaving of so much real history with the fictional story of vampires in early America is truly fantastic. Abe Lincoln as a vampire hunter turns out to be surprisingly easy to believe once the premise is laid out in the first part of the book. I got caught up in the story early on and didn't want to stop listening.

But by the second part of the book I grew bored as the story dragged. I wasn't excited to listen, but I really hate giving up on a book that I've invested so much time in so I slogged through it. Since we all know how Lincoln's life ends in reality, I wanted to hear the author's version of events, and it was entertaining and made it worthwhile to have made it to the end.

The narrator did a good job, at no point was I distracted by him or irritated like I have been in some other books.

One History Cocktail With A Horror Chaser, Please!

OK, this is all about FUN. Pure and simple. Almost everyone has seen the movie tie-in trailers. Honest Abe fights off the vampire nation, with a little help from a "friend."

This is basically an historic backdrop for a horror story, and it works well. Keep in mind that this is MUCH better than the dismal failure of the movie. This begins modern day, and quickly thrusts us into dark chaos. This writing is almost classic in style, and feels like an honest attempt to bring the reader/listener into this world fully. The effort works well, and the author's take on vampires is strong and well thought out. These vampires are NOT Twilight vampires full of angst and depression. These vampires have an black agenda, broad is scope and drenched in blood. Lincoln's early "life" and circumstances mold him to become the one person who can make a difference in this hidden nightmarish war of blood, as well as the horrific Civil War, also awash in the blood of men. His decisions and actions will dramatically affect both. An interesting plot and worthy writing.

As to narration, the writing feels classic in tone, and Holst does that tone justice. It works.

If you're yearning for an historic Lincoln, go see Spielberg's epic of the same name. You can stand up in the theatre, beat your chest, and have long diatribes and stirring debates over coffee at the nearest Starbucks.

However, if you want an intriguing horror story wrapped within engaging writing, belly up to the bar, and order one history cocktail with a horror chaser!

Bottoms up!