Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Summary

Abraham Lincoln Plot Summary

Covers the whole plot, including the ending.

1. A Mother's Demise and a Vow of Vengeance

   The story begins in Indiana, 1818. Nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln is at his mother Nancy Hanks Lincoln's bedside. She has 'Milk Sickness,' a common illness, but the book shows it is from a vampire attack by the cruel Jack Barts. After Nancy dies, Abe's father, Thomas Lincoln, dismisses his son's suspicions. Abe learns the truth years later and confronts Barts, but Barts overpowers him. Henry Sturgess, a mysterious vampire hunter, saves Abe and takes him in. This event starts Abe's mission: to avenge his mother's death and spend his life eliminating vampires.

2. Training and Early Hunts

   Henry Sturgess trains Abe in vampire hunting. Henry, a vampire who only feeds on animals, teaches Abe about the undead's weaknesses, history, and society. Abe's journal entries from this time show his physical and mental change as he learns axe combat, strategy, and stealth. He starts hunting, following Henry's list of targets, all vampires who committed terrible acts. These first hunts strengthen Abe's resolve and improve his fighting skills against the creatures.

3. Springfield and a Shift in Focus

   Abe moves to Springfield, Illinois, where he studies law and starts a political career. He continues hunting vampires, often using his legal work to find new targets. He meets Mary Todd, whom he later marries, and his friend, Joshua Speed. Henry Sturgess guides him but also encourages Abe to think about the broader effects of his fight. Abe starts to see that killing individual vampires is not enough; a more systematic approach is necessary. His focus shifts from personal revenge to understanding the larger threat vampires pose to the nation.

4. The Washington Conspiracy

   As Abe's political career grows, he finds evidence of a large vampire conspiracy in American society, especially in the South. He learns that many important people, including slave owners and politicians, are either vampires or their human helpers. This changes his understanding of the conflict; he realizes that the fight for human freedom and against slavery is connected to the war against the undead. The vampires, he discovers, use slavery to control human populations and ensure a steady food supply, while also keeping their existence secret and maintaining power.

5. The Underground Railroad and Vampire Havens

   Abe learns that the Underground Railroad, while helping slaves escape, also protects humans from vampires and helps find vampire strongholds. Harriet Tubman, a key figure in the Railroad, is a skilled vampire hunter, working independently but for a similar goal. This discovery further confirms Abe's understanding of the hidden war. Southern plantations, with their large, powerless human populations, are identified as main vampire havens, explaining the undead's interest in keeping slavery.

6. Presidency and the Civil War

   Abraham Lincoln is elected President, and the nation heads toward civil war. He uses his position to direct the Union effort, not just against the Confederacy, but also against the vampires in the South. He sees the war as a chance to expose and eliminate the undead threat under the guise of regular warfare. His military decisions, like the Emancipation Proclamation, are for human freedom and to disrupt the vampires' food supply and destabilize their power. The war becomes a grand, bloody game for humanity's survival.

7. The Gettysburg Address and Silver Bullets

   The Battle of Gettysburg is a turning point in both the Civil War and the secret vampire war. Union forces are secretly armed with silver weapons—bullets, bayonets, and even artillery shells. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is a call for national unity and a coded message to his allies, showing a growing commitment to remove the vampire threat. The Union victory at Gettysburg is largely due to silver's effectiveness against the vampire generals and soldiers fighting for the Confederacy, marking a significant shift in the hidden conflict and weakening the undead's control.

8. Mary Todd Lincoln's Secret

   During the war, Lincoln uncovers a secret about his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. Her odd behavior and sadness are because of a past encounter with a vampire. It is suggested she was attacked or turned, and Henry Sturgess intervened, saving her but leaving her with a lasting, painful connection to the undead world. This adds personal tragedy to Lincoln's already difficult life, making his fight against vampires more poignant and personal, as he battles to protect his family and nation from the same evil.

9. The Assassin's True Identity

   As the Civil War ends, Lincoln faces his final challenge. John Wilkes Booth, the actor and assassin, is not just a Confederate supporter, but a vampire. He acts as an agent for the remaining Southern vampires, trying to remove human leadership and cause chaos, allowing the undead to regain power. Booth’s assassination of Lincoln is a desperate, final act of revenge by the vampires, a strategic strike against the man who had nearly defeated them and exposed their existence.

10. Henry's Revelation and Lincoln's Legacy

    After Lincoln's assassination, Henry Sturgess visits Mary Todd Lincoln, revealing he is a vampire and explaining his centuries-long fight against his own kind. He takes Lincoln's journal, keeping its secrets and the truth of the President's hidden war. Henry continues his mission, inspired by Lincoln's sacrifice. The book ends with Seth Grahame-Smith finding the journal today, showing that Lincoln's extraordinary, secret life as a vampire hunter and his impact on the nation have remained hidden until now.

Principal Figures

Themes & Insights

Plot Devices & Literary Techniques

Quiz

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