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We’re reaching: “Seth Grahame-Smith will appear at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum (ALPLM) in Springfield, Illinois as one of the first stops on the release tour for his new book, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.…The result is an entertaining and educational blend of history and fantasy that should bring the Lincoln story to an entirely new audience.”
And we’re reeeeeeaaaaaaching: “A small exhibit will be on display in the Museum showing the influence of the Gothic horror novel upon Lincoln and his era.”
As inappropriate as I think the ALPLM’s attempts to cash in on this are, the book itself looks like it’ll be a riot. Plus, I’ve got to admire this guy’s honesty: “It seemed like every popular hardcover book was either a vampire novel or a Lincoln biography, so I thought I might as well combine the two.” An author who flat-out admits that he wrote a Lincoln book just to cash in on a trend—now that’s refreshing!
Somehow I imagine that exhibit will be mighty small indeed. Lincoln doesn’t strike me as a man who would be too intimidated by “haints.”
I’ll give the guy credit for a unique look at Lincoln being a vampire hunter, but I’m so tired of vampires in the news, and what’s this about him stopping at the ALPLM in Springfield?! All I can do is roll my eyes…
As amusing as the concept is, it doesn’t really seem like the kind of thing the ALPLM should be spending its money on, does it?
–ML
Wanna take a stab at this one? I think it’s a bit of a reach to suggest this: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2012/02/abraham-lincoln-vampire-hunter-.html
“Obviously, it’s not authentic Abraham Lincoln,” Blanchette said. “But this is going to attract a new segment of the population to the Abraham Lincoln story that might not otherwise be attracted to it.”
He added: “If this movie opens the door to further research, to people who want to learn about the real Lincoln, we are very supportive of the film.”
Yeah, I ran across that article last night and thought that was a weird quote. If it takes vampires to get that “new segment of the population” interested, then maybe that’s not the sort of segment of the population that we need to be going after.
–ML