What was once an amusing, horror-history mashup novel has become a film that is as dreadfully lifeless as the very creatures at its center. Although “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” starts out promising, it rapidly becomes a tiresome venture that lacks focus and a commanding lead performance.

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter": Those four words, strung together in that order, sound like a lot of fun, don't they?

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” is not to be confused with the new Steven Spielberg film staring Daniel Day-Lewis as the sixteenth president. That biopic won’t be coming out until later this year in December.

How could the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, be any cooler? The awkward, poor, self-educated man is largely responsible for abolishing slavery in America, preserving the Union after the Civil War and starting our country down the path to recovery after one the darkest periods in its history.

An offbeat almost-artifact tied to one of our nation’s most iconic figures is coming to Mesa.

Gilbert’s Canyon Valley School history teacher Larry Dexter was selected as the Horace Mann-Abraham Lincoln Fellowship award winner from Arizona for 2011. During the summer fellowship in Springfield, Ill., Dexter will join 49 other teachers as they study the life and legacy of America’s 16th president. All expenses are covered during the five-day event.

America’s sixteenth president is currently visiting the East Valley. Chandler Hamilton Library is featuring “Abraham Lincoln: A Man of His Time, A Man for All Times,” an exhibit on display through May 3 that celebrates the life and leadership of Lincoln. The exhibit was created by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

One hundred and forty four years ago, the log-cabin man lived in a manner humble before God but a warrior before men. Today, his memory is in marble.

Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln is a match made in heaven. It’s a logical casting decision for our greatest living actor to portray perhaps the most influential individual in American history, even if Day-Lewis is of British and Irish citizenship.

As the Mesa Martin Luther King Jr. Committee prepares for the annual 2013 Celebration of Dr. King’s life, Legacy and dreams this weekend, my thoughts are not only on Dr. King but also on President Abraham Lincoln.

‘Lincoln’

For anyone who cringed just a little while watching the trailer for “Lincoln” and worried that it might be a near-parody of a Steven Spielberg film, with its heartfelt proclamations, sentimental tones and inspiring John Williams score, fret not.

WASHINGTON - For nearly 150 years, a story has circulated about a hidden Civil War message engraved inside Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch. On Tuesday, museum curators confirmed it was true.

Tina Dupuy

Two weeks ahead of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, Valley actress Patty Stephens will bring the 16th president’s wife to life on a Chandler stage.

Given the war in Iraq and the way Americans have lately been going after each other, some no doubt consider this Thanksgiving a terrific excuse to retreat from worry but hardly a time to take the holiday's name seriously.

EVERETT, Wash. - After nearly 10 months at sea, the USS Abraham Lincoln returned to its homeport Tuesday morning, greeted by a delirious crowd of thousands waving signs of welcome, blowing kisses and carrying yellow ribbons and red, white and blue balloons.