AL:VH opens with a short introduction. In this introduction, a fictionalized version of the author, Seth Grahame-Smith, tells us how he came to possess Abraham Lincoln's lost journals and just how much it has cost him to write Abe's true history. The book then progresses much like any other biography, using Abe's journal entries and historical sources to tell the story of his life.
The first part, entitled "Boy", describes Abe's childhood and the beginnings of his career as a vampire slayer. It turns out that much of the tragedy that he faced was caused by vampires, most especially the death of his mother. Once Abe discovers that his beloved mother was killed by a vampire, he makes a vow to kill all vampires. Naturally tall and strong, he trains diligently and studies what ever information he can find on vampires in order to accomplish this goal. He does manage to kill his mother's murderer, but when he attempts to kill a vampire that's been kidnapping and eating children, he's nearly killed.
Abe wakes up in a small room, saved by another vampire, Henry Sturges. Although Abe is at first horrified and furious at his savior, he slowly begins to trust Henry as Henry cares for his wounds and talks to him about vampires. Once Abe is healed, Henry trains him on how to really kill vampires. He becomes even stronger and faster than he was before. When he has to return home, Abe asks Henry why he was there to save him that first night they met. Henry replies, "Judge us [vampires] not equally, Abraham. We may all deserve hell, but some of us deserve it sooner than others" (page 90).
Upon returning home, Abe receives letters from Henry, each with a place and the name of someone who "deserves it sooner". During this time, Abe would discover a startling truth that would shape the rest of his life. After traveling down the Mississippi River to sell goods, he arrives in New Orleans. There he meets Edgar Allan Poe, who cannot understand why Abe would want to kill vampires, and witnesses a slave auction. At the auction, Abe notices a man buying slaves with no rhyme or reason. Suspecting that the man may be a vampire, he decides to follow him. They head to a plantation where the slaves are fed and then lined up. Nine white men come out of the main house, pay some money to the slave owner, and then line up behind the slaves. As Abe watches, horrified, the men, who are all vampires, devour the slaves. Disgusted at the vampires for what they have done and at himself for not being able to help the slaves, Abe goes back to New Orleans and writes one of the most important sentences he'll ever write: "So long as this country is cursed with slavery, so too will it be cursed with vampires" (page 114).
Discussion questions:
- Why do you think the author included the introduction? Does it merely set up the book's premise or does it make you more likely to "believe" it?
- Would you have opened the package after reading Henry's letter?
- Do you think that Abraham is overly critical of his father? The author thinks that Thomas just lacks ambition, but Abe thinks that he is directly responsible in the death of his mother. What do you think?
- Why, do you think, does Henry decide that Abe is "too interesting to kill" (page 74) when they first meet? It's easy to say now, knowing that Abe becomes President and the "Great Emancipator", but Henry wouldn't have known that at the time.
- What did you think of Henry's story of how he became a vampire and the true fate of the settlers on Roanoke Island?
- What do you think of the parallel that the author uses between vampirism and slavery?
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