NARA - National Archives and Records Administration
10/01/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/01/2024 09:17
Things that go bump in the night
By Thomas F. Schwartz
October ends with Halloween, a time of witches, ghosts, goblins, and all things scary and frightening. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum will host three film events during October that features Presidents threatened by zombies, vampires, and a small Iowa town [filmed in West Branch, Iowa] attacked by the living dead. Collapse of the Living Dead, Friday October 11 at 6 pm, Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies, Friday October 18, 6 pm, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Friday October 25 at 6 pm will be free admission and shown in the Figge Auditorium at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum. Because of the graphic nature of the films, these are not children-friendly but more adult entertainment.
The last movie, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, is based on a mashup novel by Seth Grahame-Smith. He first gained national attention with his mashup, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Visiting a national bookstore chain, Grahame-Smith noticed two tables: one featuring the novels of Jane Austin and the other featuring zombie novels. Why not combine the two trends in popular culture where Jane Austin meets the living dead? The book became a cult classic with the only criticism being it needed more zombies. In the second reprinting, Grahame-Smith updated it to include 33% more zombies. Based on the success of his first mashup, Grahame-Smith noticed a proliferation of books coming out for the Lincoln bicentennial and Anne Rice's horror novels about vampires. Hence the inspiration for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The premise is that Lincoln's mother was killed by a vampire when he was young. Lincoln learned to wield an axe not only to split rails but to slay vampires. The Civil War becomes a war against vampire slave masters.
I served as a consultant on both the Tim Burton/Timur Bekmambetov Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and the Stephen Spielberg Lincoln. The latter a serious treatment of the 16th President and the former a kitsch approach. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter hosted a premiere party at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Tim Burton sent a video welcome that was typically Tim Burton. I received an inkwell used in the movie which sits next to my inscribed copy of Seth Grahame-Smith's book. I asked him to inscribe it "Fangs for the Memories," which he did. None of these films were noticed by the Academy but they will put you into the spirit of the Halloween season.