The book begins much like Stoker’s classic tale, with a lawyer arranging the purchase of the town’s most notorious mansion by a mysterious man named Straker and his unseen partner, Barlow. ⭐‘Salem’s Lot is Stephen King’s reimagination of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, setting the story in a small 1970s New England town called Jerusalem’s (‘Salem’s) Lot. It was on my short list to read anyway, I just jumped on it sooner rather than later. So if you’re coming at it from that angle, you might be disappointed. The Father is definitely in the book, and there’s more detail surrounding his ordeal in The ‘Lot, but the Dark Tower does a pretty good job of explaining it. If you’re looking for a story about Father Callahan, or are trying to gleam some more information on the Dark Tower, I think you’ll be disappointed. I starting the Dark Tower series shortly thereafter, and found myself wanting to know more about Father Callahan, so I jumped to Salem’s Lot.Slight spoiler alert. That said, my first King book I read was The Stand, and I was hooked. ⭐I’ll start with a confession: I read this because of the Dark Tower series. In the afterword, King refers to Salem’s Lot as an American vampire tale… it was then I remembered thumbing through the pages one of my brother’s comic books with the same title and how King contributed to the writing of it. It definitely kept me engaged and I’m looking forward to reading a few more of King’s books. Parts if it made me laugh in bed while reading, others creeped me out… especially the image of these child vampires overcoming the town’s crotchety bus driver after baiting him onto the bus in the middle of the night. A group coming together to kill these creatures infesting the town. I liked this story, a writer staying in a boarding house to write a book about a haunted house from his childhood that continued to bother him even in his adulthood. Prior to this novel, I read Carrie which was my first by King. Read it and decide for yourself if this is a horror novel or a novel about the horrorz of man. And its the townspeople that drive the action and turn SL into an apocalypse.This is a rich story full of great themes about society, the power of faith, men vs boys (my favorite chapter is the inner monologue Mark Petrie has after a close call where he muses about how adult fears are nothing compared to what a child dels with under the bed at night) and even love and salvation. They arent invincible foes but they are formidable ones. They follow all the vampire rules – sunlight and crosses and of course the need for an invitation (in fact they were invited to the town by Marsten). In one seen where Straker does something awful, King takes the time to tell us about the look on his face which enlightens the reader about his motivation. Straker and Barlow may be the villans but they arent blood thirsty monsters either – they are true to their nature. Its the best kind of horror story – it follows the rules and tells classic tale. The genuis of starting the book with the tall man and boy in Mexico is you kind of know whats going to happen (much like a Columbo episode where you see the murder up front), but it raises so many questions you simply have to hang on.3. King will do this again in the Stand and in It, but once you read SL you realize hes sampling from his earlier works and no other book will make you laugh cry and turn on the lights like this one will. You feel for the Glicks, you root for the alcoholic priest trying to reclaim enough faith to battle the dark one and you are happy for Dud in his new life. It is King at his finest – the writing, the transitions and use of the third person narrative makes the story come alive – its a slow build I admit but by the time the bodies start dropping King makes you care in a way most horror novels dont bother to. This town is Anytown USA, more a charcter than a setting and you realize the evil man can do is more destructive to society than a thousand year old vampire.2. Yet its hard to pin them on a good vs bad board, there are shades of grey with everyone you meet. They beat their children, cheat on their husbands, drink and bully. Yes, its about vampires visiting a small town and good vs Evil (capital “E”), but Salems lot is a soap opra, with vivid characters only King can create and vignettes of life in a small town that will make you feel nostalgic and disgusted at the same time. If you arent a King fan or are, if horror is your thing or its not, here are 3 reasons why this is still a great bookk:1. I read it again recently as an adult and it was a different experience alltogether. ⭐I read this book as a kid and it scared the beejesus out of me. Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:
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