Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter
Samantha Luu
Professor Granillo
English 103
April 8, 2019
“History prefers legends to men. It prefers nobility to brutality, soaring speeches to quiet
deeds. History remembers the battle and forgets the blood. Whatever history remembers of me, if
it remembers anything at all, shall only be the fraction of the truth.” This quote, taken from
Abraham Lincoln’s diary, has held true to many accounts in what is taught about history. This
abject disregard of complex events, first person memoirs, and a variety of motives unaccounted
for has left the public remembering little to nothing about Abraham Lincoln and other historical
figures, but new historicism seeks to uncover those truths. When applying the lens of new
historicism, with an attempt to understand history through literature through its cultural context,
allows historians to hypothesize details of the past that may have never been considered before.
No film could be a better example of that than Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. By analyzing
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter with the tools supplied through semiotics and through the
lens of new historicism, audiences may not specifically be persuaded that Abraham Lincoln
could have slayed vampires along with abolishing slavery, but teach the audience to understand
and appreciate a past American president with a perspective different than what was given to
them by textbooks.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a American dark fantasy action horror film made in
2012, using the research and narrative written in a book by the same name. Unlike a typical
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documentary, the movie takes unexpected and whimsical turns: rather than proposing that
Lincoln’s mother had spontaneously died from an unknown illness like most accounts, Abraham
Lincoln: Vampire Hunter shows how the cause of death could have been murder -- killed by a
vampire. This would ultimately lead to the motive of Lincoln’s secret pastime, seeking revenge
from the vampires that had taken away someone who had instilled the valuable characteristics
that also made him fit to be the leader of America. Surprisingly, all of the plot points of the
vampire hunting story fit into Lincoln’s personal, professional, and presidential life like a glove.
Throughout Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, several quotes are recited from the
primary account of Lincoln’s life, his personal diary. Through semiotics, historians find a deeper
understanding in his words, and the many signs he may have alluded to that may have been
passed off when previously read. “In semiotics, the main idea is that everything is a “sign”...our
culture has come to a common understanding that a number of random signs and symbols”
(Silverman, 13). This can be shown even through the opening quote, first stated in the movie:
“Whatever history remembers of me, if it remembers anything at all, shall only be the fraction of
the truth...a husband, a lawyer, a president...I shall always think of myself as a man who
struggled against darkness.” Upon first glance, this darkness could refer to any type of struggle
he could have had throughout his life, whether it be one or all -- areas of personal growth, the
confederates of the Civil War, or, as the director suggests, his goal to wipe out the vampires that
have caused bloodshed to many victims like his mother. What may seem as a far stretch at first
can be analyzed deeper by considering the signified connotations of the signifier, vampire. It
would have made sense to almost replace the word “darkness” with “vampires,” as his literal
Applying these findings with the lens of new historicism allows the audience to connect
the reasoning and analysis the director wishes to show through this film. Uncovering Lincoln’s
true “struggle against darkness” is essential to understanding the impact of such a profound
theory presented as merely a sci-fi film. As Tyson describes when talking about new historical
and cultural criticism, “any given event is a product of its culture, but it also affects that culture
in return” (Tyson, 269). In this mid 19th century era, the culture of mysticism and supernatural
events fit perfectly into the theme of vampirism that is shown throughout the movie Abraham
Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Vampires are often shown throughout culture as a being of the night.
This supposedly mythical creature can only exist where the sun doesn’t shine -- the vampire is a
being of the dark. Understanding that this monster is almost defined as darkness, when
correlating evidence throughout the film of how other aspects of his life could have included
vampire hunting, his “struggle against darkness” suddenly doesn’t seem as irrational as initially
proposed.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is an exciting, action packed adventure that analyzes
semiotics written in multiple historical accounts detailing President Lincoln’s life and uses new
historicism to postulate an entirely new perspective on hidden details that were previously
missed by other historians. Although this speculation might be far from true, it is meant to open
the audience to thinking beyond the literal meaning of the literature they may have read, and