You know, some people are already yakking about how 'mash up' fiction is just a passing fad and already on it's way out the door. For those of you unfamiliar with that type of fiction...where have you been the last year? Basically, it's when authors take an established work of fiction and turn it into a new genre. And it may very well be on it's way out, but personally, I'm going to enjoy it as long as it's here.
I have not yet read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the bestseller that started this whole 'fad' (my cousin informs me that I have to read the original first, and no offence to Austen fans out there, but that's just not going to happen). But one of the many titles that have since come out of the woodwork caught my attention; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Me being as big a vampire fan as I am, it was perhaps inevitable that this would cross my path. Written by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the concept of the story, which tells the 'real' history of Lincoln's life and presidency, really hooked me. Apparently, as if the 16th President of the United States hadn't accomplished enough with ending slavery and the Civil War, he was also hunting vampires on the side. 'Cause you know, those overachievers have to be involved with everything.
Before you go thinking what a silly gimmick that is, let me assure you that it works surprisingly well here. Written in the epistolary-style, the reader does get the sense that this is an autobiography, pieced together by documents both historically verified and 'lost'. From the first chapter, in which the author describes how he came to be in possession of the 'secret diaries' and letters of Lincoln, you are treated to an alternate history, in which so many facets of both Lincoln's life and American history are given a new spin. And in the context of vampire fiction, it all comes together nicely. Grahame-Smith obviously researched Lincoln in quite a bit of detail, and paints a very vivid picture of a brilliant yet haunted man who grows and learns through life experiences and, to paraphrase Shakespeare, is born great, achieves greatness, and most assuredly has greatness thrust upon him. And as you're reading you can buy into every word.
From Lincoln's earliest days, to his first steps into hunting, to his unlikely yet pivotal life-long alliance with a man named Henry Sturges, to his days as a lawyer, a politician and a president, right up to his assassination, the plot that unfolds is informative, dramatic, gory, funny, heartbreaking and surprisingly resonant. This was no small feat that Grahame-Smith has pulled off, making all these disparate pieces fit together, but by gosh, I'm liking it. A lot.
Along with P&P&Z, Vampire Hunter is in talks to be adapted to the big screen. Tim Burton is looking to direct. I wonder who could star as Lincoln? Not many actors could play him, the man was so distinctive looking. Still, I'm excited. I'm thinking Johnny Depp could be Henry Sturges.
My Verdict: Despite some initial scepticism, I think most readers will be pleasantly surprised by how this 'real' history is brought to light. I know I was.
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