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'Salem's Lot

3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 · rating details · 123,648 ratings · 2,739 reviews

Something strange is going on in Jerusalem's Lot ... but no one dares to talk about it. By day, 'Salem's Lot is a typical modest New England town; but when the sun goes down, evil roams the earth. The devilishly sweet insistent laughter of a child can be heard echoing through the fields, and the presence of silent looming spirits can be felt lurking right outside your wind...more

Paperback, 1st U.S. Paperback Edition, 427 pages

Published August 1st 1976 by Signet (first published October 17th 1975)

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Oct 31, 2012 Nataliya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: stephen-king

There was a time once when vampires were ruthless predators and not the misunderstood brooding and essentially harmless creatures. Ahhhh, good old scary times...

Vampire stories have been around for a long time - after all, people love a good scare, and what is more terrifying than a monster showing up at night and sucking the life essence out of you? But leave it to Stephen King to turn the terror up a notch, add a whole new layer to it. How? Simply - using the winning formula that he continues...more

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Dec 16, 2009 Kasia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, scared-shitless, audio, horror, lovely-covers

I find Stephen King repetitive, his characters not all that likable, his endings BAD. But I like silly potboilers featuring vampires. Don't judge me!! I'm an vampire fanatic, and Salem's Lot is one of the undead classics, I was bound to read it. Ok, I was bound to listen to the audiobook, if I were to be precise. Hiking on a trail in Carpathians (same Carpathians that count Dracula had his monstrous castle in), getting soaked to the bone* (oh how I hate the treacherous mountain weather!), with m...more I find Stephen King repetitive, his characters not all that likable, his endings BAD. But I like silly potboilers featuring vampires. Don't judge me!! I'm an vampire fanatic, and Salem's Lot is one of the undead classics, I was bound to read it. Ok, I was bound to listen to the audiobook, if I were to be precise. Hiking on a trail in Carpathians (same Carpathians that count Dracula had his monstrous castle in), getting soaked to the bone* (oh how I hate the treacherous mountain weather!), with my ankles notoriously sinking in deep mud (you'd be surprised how quickly that ground on that trail can turn into something with the consistence of butter) with 3 hours of marching left, and scared I would soon go crazy** with cold and exhaustion, as a means of distraction from it all, I pulled out my mp3 player and set it to Salem's Lot.

The story did its job splendidly. I was scared shitless and soon nearly forgot about my drenched socks, clingy, heavy with water jeans and the tortured groans of my taciturn travelling companion. I adore the guy but he has no stamina, easily falls into foul moods and makes a wretched conversationalist, so in this case snubbing him out with an audiobook made perfect sense.

The fact that as all King's stories, and this one too, are repetitive in their nature, worked in my favor, that day. Brown puddles of water and wet twines leaping at my face would require my full attention now and again. The reader would continue on with the story while I dealt with the crisis at hand, and once the unpleasantries were over, jump back into the narrative created no problems. The fact that the mp3 player insisted on playing chapters in random order (must have been all the moisture), seemed to be of little consequence as well. It required some awareness and mental straining as the end of one chapter was reached, and an arbitrary other was selected. But in all honesty, not all that much awareness and not that much straining was necessary. Conclusion: sometimes repetition is not that bad.

Funny how despite the wretched weather, or maybe because of it, and because of randomization of Salem's Lot's chapters that hike turned out to be a memorable experience. The drenched socks and wet itchy hair, were making me groan with displeasure. While the beautiful views around me and the evil tirades of bloodthirsty vampires, were wrinkling my brain in a good way. Such a mind-body dissonance is going to be hard to repeat. Shame, because it sure was fun!

_____________________________________________________________
*I did not pack my rainproof coat that morning, BIG mistake.

**There's no documented history of mental disorders in my family, but you never know, especially when you're dealing the constant cold showers intercepted confusingly with brief moments of sunshine.(less)

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Oct 30, 2010 Kat Kennedy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Salem’s Lot is the first and only Stephen King novel I’ve ever read.

To be honest, this is a short review because I didn’t finish it. The problem wasn’t that King wasn’t a compelling writer who has obviously honed his craft. Every single chapter was interesting and immersive. I found myself drawn into the world he was spinning and deeply intrigued by the mystery of it all.

However, I suppose I couldn’t read it because this book is what I imagine it would be like to live with ADHD. It bounced aroun...more

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Oct 30, 2007 Mary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: horror

I hate vampires. I hate them and I hate books about them. I hate the way they're romanticized and sexualized and just generally presented in modern fiction. That's why I loved this book. King doesn't shy away from the fact that vampires are creatures of horror and he presents them as such. They are vile, violent, and everywhere, and that's the way I like them.

The characters pitted against them, particularly the priest, are compelling and almost too human to face the vampires. And, in the end, th...more

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May 13, 2013 Jonathan Peto rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: parasupernatural, novels

It did not affect Stephen King's bottom line at all, but it took me a long time to get around to reading one of his books, mainly because I never really enjoyed horror movies, especially the slasher/splatter variety, which, for some reason, is the kind of story I thought King told. One reason King's finances should remain secure despite whatever happens to publishers is the fact that large numbers of readers who ignored him for years eventually discover him and pick up a few of his books. I know...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Jesus Saldivia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, gothic, favorite-authors, series, horror-mistery, vampires, books-made-into-movies, owned, read-on-english

First Sentence: Almost everyone thought the man and the boy were father and son.
This book is like new year's eve. It's 11:59 and you're counting the seconds for the new year to arrive and when you close your eyes when there are only 3 seconds left, all the people start to scream and cry and make out and throw up on the carpet. And it hits you: "Oh! It's January!".

Why? Because as i was reading i found myself at the end of every chapter saying "what the... that was kind of scary". Not through the...more

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Jun 26, 2010 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Jade, Bri

Shelves: 2010, own

While not quite as insanely good as Needful Things or The Stand, this is still an excellent, deliciously menacing tale of vampirism come to a small New England town.

Evil does reside in 'Salem's Lot before the arrival of Straker and Barlow, but it's of the more commonplace, human variety; the mother who beats her baby, the husband who beats and rapes his cheating wife, spiteful small-minded gossips and the grasping real estate agent whose greed and willingness to turn a blind eye allows the vampi...more

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Sep 14, 2010 Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Required reading for all vampire fiction lovers

Shelves: horror, started-but-put-down, spell-out-september, vampire, favorites, dont-read-after-dark, reluctant-or-unlikely-hero, small-town-slice-of-life, favorite-or-autobuy-author

City folk have a distinct misconception about small towns. We tend to believe that they are tranquil and innocent. That the denizens are wholesome and full of family values. But, we don't see the hidden rot that lurks beneath the sleepy facade.

Stephen King does a lot to shatter that myth with 'Salem's Lot. This a horror novel about a vampire who destroys a town from the inside out. This is a horror story about the darkness that we don't see clearly (or maybe we ignore) about our friends, familie...more City folk have a distinct misconception about small towns. We tend to believe that they are tranquil and innocent. That the denizens are wholesome and full of family values. But, we don't see the hidden rot that lurks beneath the sleepy facade.

Stephen King does a lot to shatter that myth with 'Salem's Lot. This a horror novel about a vampire who destroys a town from the inside out. This is a horror story about the darkness that we don't see clearly (or maybe we ignore) about our friends, families, and neighbors.

What was the most horrific part of this book for me? You're going to guess wrong. It wasn't the horror of the vampires. It was seeing a woman punch her ten month old baby in the face because he was crying. Yes, that bothered me more than any of the actual supernatural horror. I say to Mr. King that you know what fears lurk in our hearts. The dark is full of potential evil that can possess us, take over our bodies, and turn us into monsters. But, the truest monsters are the human ones. With this novel, Mr. King showed me both kinds of monsters.

Do you believe that there are no true secrets in a small town? You'd be right if you said yes. You'd be equally right if you said no. The townspeople of 'Salem's Lot know a lot more than they want to know about their neighbors, but they overlook it, ignore it, sweep the sins under the rug until the rug starts to bulge in the middle, and it won't hold those secrets back.

For example, 'Salem's Lot harbored an ex-mobster who had a penchant for devil worship. He lived in a scary house on the top of a hill, the Marsten House. It was a house that haunted Ben Mears after he went there as a nine year old on a dare. He went there, and saw something that was from his worst nightmares, but he believed even in his adulthood to be true. The evil that Hubie Marsten brought into existence never died. The house held it as a battery holds a charge. It was the perfect place for a vampire and his evil minion to set up shop in this little town.

I read the introduction to this story with interest. I love knowing how an author came to craft his or her story. Mr. King was a fan of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and he wrote 'Salem's Lot as an unofficial homage to that classic vampire novel. In my inexpert opinion, I think he did a great job. I feel that Mr. Stoker would probably nod in approval, even if he didn't get all the modern references. Mr. King wrote his idea of a vampire story, and it holds his individual stamp on it. Yet, the aspects that make Dracula such an excellent vampire novel, at least to this vampire aficionado, are clearly represented. Mr. Barlow could give Count Dracula a real run for his money as far as being a completely evil, despicable, and formidable being. His minion, Straker, could give Renfield some lessons in evil. And Matt, Ben, Jimmy, Susan, Father Callahan, and Mark could compare notes with Van Helsing, Harker, Mina, Holmwood, and Quincy. But, if Mr. Stoker would forgive me, I think that Mr. King ramped up the fear level significantly, because his world is not sentimental and endowed with as many basically 'good' people. His world is full of flawed humanity who have really nasty proclivities, although I still feared for their safety and didn't want them to succumb to the evil of the vampire that infected this town.

In this story, we learn about the heights and depths of the human condition. How a person can bounce back from despair, face his/her worst fears, and quite possibly wrap his mind around events that cannot be real to an empirical mind. We learn about what a person's limits are. Can you go into that house and do what needs to be done? Do you have the nerve? Or will you turn away and pretend it's not happening, as some members of this town do, for their own sanity? Can a thirteen- year-old boy show the bravery that a seventy-year-old man in the twilight of his life lacks? Can a non-believer trust in the symbols of a faith that held no relevance to him, in the face of an evil that defies scientific explanation? All these questions are explored in this story, with answers that might surprise you.

I deliberately read 'Salem's Lot during the day, because it is quite, quite scary. Even still, I thought about a pair of red eyes haunting me in the night. Feared for the scratching of a lost loved one against my window pane as I tried to sleep at night. Some part of me hoped that I had not inadvertently invited the wrong person into my home. If that is what makes a successful vampire novel, I'd say Stephen King has succeeded in a big way.(less)

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Dec 03, 2008 Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Something's amiss in the town of Salem's Lot. The body count is piling up. What could be at the root of this trouble? It takes a few hundred pages for it to become clear in the text, but I can't help but think this picture of a person with two puncture wounds in her neck on the cover of my edition might be a clue . . . . Probably werewolves. Or mummies?

As close observers of my profile will know, I'm quite the Stephen King fan. This is one of his earlier novels, and I think it shows. The writing'...more Something's amiss in the town of Salem's Lot. The body count is piling up. What could be at the root of this trouble? It takes a few hundred pages for it to become clear in the text, but I can't help but think this picture of a person with two puncture wounds in her neck on the cover of my edition might be a clue . . . . Probably werewolves. Or mummies?

As close observers of my profile will know, I'm quite the Stephen King fan. This is one of his earlier novels, and I think it shows. The writing's a bit clunky in places--sometimes the dialogue feels stilted or forced, sometimes the descriptions of the town seem overwrought. That being said, I think this book has many features that make it an excellent (spoiler!) vampire story. I liked that King stays very conventional in terms of the "rules" of the vampire world--there's no attempt to cleverly invent a new spin on the vampire. He just uses the conventional forms and themes and makes the most of them. The familiarity of these rules lends, oddly enough, a sense of realism to the story--we get a good feeling of what it would "really" be like to be confronted with monsters who, on the one hand, can't be out in the day, don't like crucifixes, can't come into your house uninvited, etc., but, on the other hand, are very hard to kill and multiply rapidly. Because these rules about vampires are so conventional, they don't seem arbitrary to the reader, and there's a certain strange believability to it all.

The sense of "realism" is aided by another feature of the story that I liked, which was that the protagonists are also familiar with the basic rules about vampires. They're just like you and me, if we had good reason to believe there really might be vampires abroad: we'd know to stock up on holy water and stakes, we'd get home by dusk, we'd get a copy of "Dracula" out of the library to brush up on all the more obscure stuff we've forgotten, and so on. I liked that after the initial disbelief, there was a real sense of "okay, vampires, we know what we're dealing with here. Let's roll."

The writing is still a bit off. But the story and some of the imagery has stuck with me, now about three weeks after reading it, so I have a fondness for the book in spite of some of its flaws.(less)

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Jim Hi Krissy. I do like "Salem's Lot" despite the less-than-polished writing, but yes, I'd say his writing does get better in many respects. Some of my f...more
May 18, 2013 10:13am

Susan we're not crazy, but some of use just DO NOT like Gerald's Game and while I do greatly enjoy the part of IT (Ben Hapscomp RULES) that you liked, most...more
May 18, 2013 10:37pm

Aug 26, 2007 Robotribble rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who likes a good vampire novel.

This is the fifth Stephen King book I've read so far, and each time I read one, I feel like I'm practically a part of the story. Unlike certain books, you don't have to torture yourself into getting past the first few excruciatingly slow chapters to find something interesting.

I love the fact that King's characters all seem like people you'd meet off the street; real, not too righteous. Even the bad guys have a streak of good, usually. 'salem's Lot is an incredible book due mostly to the depth Ki...more

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Jan 09, 2012 mark monday rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horrortime

read during my High School Years

I Remember: being distinctly unimpressed, but still enjoying it overall... efficient but unremarkable... the narrative seemed too thin, it lacked richness or resonance... a pair of wonderful villains, armed with some good lines... a kid vampire floating outside of another kid's window, asking to be let in - scary!... i wanted so much more, but far from a bad book... the book felt pretty equal to the miniseries.

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Jan 08, 2009 Adam rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1970-present, prose

It's really good. It's the sort of genre book that would work even if there was no supernatural content or even horror-based suspense, just because the setting and characters are so well-drawn.

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Aug 10, 2012 Chad Sayban rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: recommended

“That above all else. They did not look out their windows. No matter what noises or dreadful possibilities, no matter how awful the unknown, there was an even worse thing: to look the Gorgon in the face.”

When novelist Ben Mears returned to the rural Maine town of Jerusalem’s Lot – a town of church steeples, tree-lined sidewalks and quaint homes – he was hoping to put the demons of his childhood experiences in The Lot behind him once and for all. All goes well as he makes progress on his new book...more “That above all else. They did not look out their windows. No matter what noises or dreadful possibilities, no matter how awful the unknown, there was an even worse thing: to look the Gorgon in the face.”

When novelist Ben Mears returned to the rural Maine town of Jerusalem’s Lot – a town of church steeples, tree-lined sidewalks and quaint homes – he was hoping to put the demons of his childhood experiences in The Lot behind him once and for all. All goes well as he makes progress on his new book and falls in love with the beautiful Susan Norton. But unbeknownst to Ben and the rest of the residents, a stranger has moved into the abandoned Marsten House that looms over the town. An unspeakable secret evil quietly descends on the town and threatens to consume Ben, Susan and all of the residents of ‘Salem’s Lot.

According to Stephen King, vampires never glitter. And according to Stephen King’s sinister novel ‘Salem’s Lot, vampires are dark, evil, single-minded, relentless monsters. This is no fast paced, scare-a-thon story of fighting monsters toe-to-toe until someone wins. ‘Salem’s Lot is much more sophisticated than that. King carefully and methodically brings the tension up over the course of the story in an achingly slow burn that frankly makes reading it truly frightening – put the book down, turn on all the lights and check the locks on your windows frightening. From the very beginning, King makes it clear that there will be little left of The Lot, but the fate of every character is always in doubt until the very end.

The main characters, however, are very well crafted. Ben Mears makes an engaging protagonist. The priest Father Callahan and the young boy Mark are perfect counterpoints to Ben. But it is the foreboding duo of Straker and Barlow that truly makes ‘Salem’s Lot a cut above all of the cliché vampire novels that permeate the literary landscape these days. Barlow is always two steps ahead of his victims and his menacing otherworldliness is what the dark, suspenseful creep-fest of a novel that will keep you up at night.

‘Salem’s Lot isn’t a perfect novel. There are points where the story seems to lose its train of thought and follows a few characters that aren’t developed particularly well. The writing in ‘Salem’s Lot is not as polished as in King’s later works. Also, the ending seemed a bit haphazard, although not unsatisfying. I actually liked the unfinished nature of it, but some readers may not enjoy the loose ends. However, ‘Salem’s Lot received a recommendation because it does what most supposed vampire horror novels fail to do…it scared the crap out of me. This isn’t a thriller – this is horror. And Stephen King is that master. Well done Mr. King. Well done.
(less)

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Oct 14, 2012 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, own-book-form

4.5
I was always excited to read this one, so usually this means it's not as good as I planned. Wrong here!

This was a great vampire book. I didn't know until I was reading it that it was King's second. I can tell as I like his early writing a lot; to me he got too long winded later on. Here he takes his time to build the story and you get to know and care about the characters well, there is a lot of ominous foreshadowing and build-up that will clash together later, and everything unwinds at a en...more 4.5
I was always excited to read this one, so usually this means it's not as good as I planned. Wrong here!

This was a great vampire book. I didn't know until I was reading it that it was King's second. I can tell as I like his early writing a lot; to me he got too long winded later on. Here he takes his time to build the story and you get to know and care about the characters well, there is a lot of ominous foreshadowing and build-up that will clash together later, and everything unwinds at a enough slower pace to get under your skin more effectively. In short the story was filled with plot and only the relevant details about the characters that we, the reader, need to see and know.

Apparently King was a big fan of Dracula the book growing up, and also reread it as an adult, and at first meant for this to be a sequel of sorts before it started taking on a life of it's own. This is a traditional vampire tale all the way, no romance and sparkling here. Beyond just a take on the lore, though, it is about the hidden secrets of a small town and the private lives they lead that the rest of the townsfolk either don't know about or choose to ignore. Familial violence, past affairs, festering alcoholism and dashed dreams. Most have hidden faces, not just the vampires.

Considering the type of work it is, the violence isn't that heavy really. Gore isn't strong either. It wouldn't need to be with how the story went, and is more effective for producing fear with the idea of the horrors in the town. The scene where little Danny comes to the window to try and see Mark is especially creepy and unsettling. There is strong suspense in several situations, and a continuous feeling of dread once things get started no matter the time of day or location.

The most unsettling thing about the book was the abusive mother! Punching her baby in the face was hard to stomach. I know King was trying to showcase realistic characters in the town. It's hard to imagine people like this, but we know they exist in abundance (sadly.) King is not known for shying away from children's deaths and violence with his works - we see many children die in IT, Cujo, here, Pet Semetery with the infamous Gage, etc. He's also not a stranger to child abuse in his works (IT, Carrie, and others)

'Salem's Lot probably had one of the saddest funeral scenes I've seen or imagined. Absolutely heartbreaking. I literally sobbed. I couldn't imagine burying my son so young, and the father's reaction, while understandable considering the profound grief, was tragic and terrible to behold.

Characterization rocked. As with most of King's stuff you never knew who was safe and who would survive. Mark was an admirable child with strong willpower and realistic strength. Father Callahan was an interesting priest to follow around. I remember becoming even more interested in searching for this book when reading the Dark Tower series and meeting the Fathers character for the first time there. Susan was a good heroine, down to earth and sensible but also fun and charismatic. Her parents even were interesting to read about, minor paper people that they were. The main hero, Ben Mears, is a likeable sort as well, an author without a large ego who only creates mediocre sales, driven back to the town from a childhood memory.The villain was delicious. Besides being an evil sort that befits a true vampire story, he also had an old-world charm, strong intellect, and suave manner.

If you're in the mood for a weighty vampire tale that dishes it out big time but not in a cheesy manner, this is your book. The ending leaves it to where you cannot imagine if they won or not, it can depend on perspective. It's an open-ended theme that stays with you as much as this piece of fiction will. Unforgettable chilling scenes, well-rounded characterization, small-town commentary in abundance, King didn't disappoint with this one.(less)

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Jan 27, 2010 Rauf rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: 2009-list, fromthepit, fiction, fantasy-and-sf, king_leers, dark-and-haunting

What Ben Mears did on the very last page of 'Salem's Lot, it was as if he flicked that first domino, the one that would send the other dominos to tumble and fall, forming pretty patterns.
This novel, King's second, was far more ambitious and far better, than his debut, Carrie. The premise was simple: vampires are a-coming to a small town in Maine. Their agenda was also simple: they need blood to stay alive.
The haters would say this book is slow-paced, boring. Not enough action. A total waste of o...more

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May 29, 2008 Al rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Unbelievable as it may be, I'm a newcomer to Stephen King. I decided to start with this one, since it appeared shorter than most and I'm sick to death of 800 page books. I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I got seemed to be a pretty garden-variety vampire tale. Yes, there are flights of discourse on the state of evil in today's world, and yes, there are vibrant descriptions of various typical small-town characters and their tawdry doings, and yes, some of the action scenes are really horrif...more

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Jul 04, 2009 R. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1974-2002

Christ - everybody: back in the car. NOW.

Yesterday, I took a stretch break in Ritzville, Washington. I couldn't help myself: I put my hands on my hips, looked up and down the empty avenue and said, out loud, "Things just aren't the same in Salem's Lot these days."

It's not a quotation from the book, mind you. Rather, a nod to the power of this tale to color one's opinion of the small, sleepy town just off the road.

I even stepped into an antique store that could have been the Barlow and Straker -...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Jeanette rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: creepy-spooky-scary, all-fiction, five-star-fiction

March 10, 2012 Huh, well. Just ran across this old review, which now calls for modification. I stated here that this was my favorite King novel, but that distinction now belongs to 11/22/63. Just keep 'em coming, Stevie.

I read this in high school, and re-read it in the '90s. It remains my all-time favorite Stephen King book. A lot of people say The Stand is the best King novel, but I like this one better. It also happens to be the only vampire story I've EVER really liked. I couldn't even get th...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Jane Stewart rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-suspense

Interesting way to do a story about vampires. Very good suspense. The ending was barely happy enough for me.

This is not a fun and entertaining read. It’s suspense. We get to know many people in the town of Jerusalem’s Lot, which is well done and interesting. Good dialogue and events. I needed to take notes to remember them all, which I didn’t mind. The vampire Barlow and his human servant Straker are bad. But the thing that upset me the most was the mother who beat her ten-month-old baby. Other...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Edward Fajardo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am a novice to Stephen King's works and am just now reading his novels in chronological order. After reading Salem's Lot, already I can see why he has the reputation of master storyteller. The vampire story has never been much of an interest of mine, but his depiction of the vampire's seductive power certainly stimulated my interest. This book was hard to put down because it had momentum and continued to have momentum from start to end.

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Nov 25, 2008 Jean rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When it comes to scary, I'm a total wimp. No horror films for this girl. For years, I was too scared to pick up a Stephen King novel. Fortunately, I could cover for my cowardice with the Lit. major's excuse: intellectual snobbery--King is for the masses. But then I read The Dark Tower series and had to eat my words. I loved The Dark Tower and decided to read some more King. So I dove into Salem's Lot. Not as scary as I thought (although there were a couple late night moments when I didn't dare l...more

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Feb 22, 2009 Dylan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-bookshelf, favorites

This is the first book I've read of the amazing author, Stephen King. It was the scariest vampire story I've ever read. The characters were well developed and the Marsten House is like a modern version of Dracula's Castle. This is classic vampire fiction. I'm definately going to read more books by Stephen King.

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May 02, 2013 Mary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Salem's Lot was first published in October 1975 and was only Stephen King's second published novel. 1975 - that is over 37 years. Think about that for a second.

What astounds me is that the story still feels fresh even given the time that has passed since it was published and the glut of vampire novels that have been written in the last 35 years. And, yes, it will still scare the pants off of you.

From stephenking.com: "Author Ben Mears returns to ‘Salem's Lot to write a book about a house that h...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Chrissi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review may contain spoilers!! It's also published on my Blog

Now before I tell you anything about the well-thought-out plot or the genuis writing in this book, let me give you this advice: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IN THE DARK. I mean it. Stephen King's always had the talent to scare me shitless with his books (except of Dreamcatcher, that bored the hell out of me) but this one is really one of the scary ones.... If you expect gloomy and brooding vampires you're cleary one the wrong path - it's...more This review may contain spoilers!! It's also published on my Blog

Now before I tell you anything about the well-thought-out plot or the genuis writing in this book, let me give you this advice: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IN THE DARK. I mean it. Stephen King's always had the talent to scare me shitless with his books (except of Dreamcatcher, that bored the hell out of me) but this one is really one of the scary ones.... If you expect gloomy and brooding vampires you're cleary one the wrong path - it's predators we deal with in this book and that's the way it's supposed to be. Don't get me wrong, I love Anne Rice novels and (most of) her characters, but it's good to know there are some people out there who can grasp the animalistic concept of vampires, too.

One of the charms of this book is exactly that. You can discern the dark side from the light in a flash and it makes you want to hunt these vampire bast**** with the good guys and avenge all your fallen neighbours and friends. And that's another thing - You really grow fond of all of these people, not only the good guys but even the ones you wouldn't want as an idol for your child. This is thanks to Kings writing. He starts concentrating on the two main characters but after a while he describes the whole town - their everyday life from 4.00 to 11.59 and you even get a feeling he even describes the town as an indipendent character. Because you get to know all these characters and their way of life and relationships among each other it's easier to understand what's happening later in the book, how they get turned, who turns them and why they want to turn who they turn (and that's a lot of turns there....). As one after another changes sides I definitely sensed the despair in the main characters and understood their acting perfectly.

Another reason why you've got to love the characters is because King writes them pretty authentic. There's no character in this book who hasn't got a little episode with something of his past haunting him or just a simple anectode of better times, they all stick to their rights and wrongs and you get to understand them as the book progresses and you learn more and more about their life in Jerusalem's Lot (some things pretty disturbing).

While the book is fairly good until page 200 you CAN NOT put it down after that. I started it sometime around noon yesterday and had to put it down because I was meeting a friend, but after that there was no stopping me - I finished it at 1.30 a.m. tonight. And was afraid to turn off the lights and see a white face of someone I know starting at me from the window. The pace of this book speeds up around page 200 and it gets far more intense than the previous chapters. You can also sense a change in the characters and their behaviour, especially in Matt as the story advances it's climax but it happens slowly and so credibly you wouldn't believe it otherwise. Sometimes I get the feeling it's too piled on, though, but that's only when I think Matt's talking more like a priest than the priest himself.

Speaking (or writing) of priests: Another thing I've really enjoyed is the old-fashioned way the vampires are seen and can perish - any objections to a good old stake-in-the-heart chopped-off-head and garlic-filled-mouth way of killing a vampire? Well, you've got to know that this book was written in 1975... so there are no light-resistent wannabe vamps (sorry, but I really despise that twilight-crap) and a cross and some holy water is enough to keep you safe for the night. I missed these kinds of vampire-fiction and was glad to find one again.

Allthough their leader could have been a better one. He was old, allright, but he was a little bit too old-fashioned for my taste - his meetings with the townspeople seemed a little bit too unreal for me even though the hypnosis was a good thing, but his speech just wouldn't fit to the rest of the story. It's not so bad in the second half of the book, but it really annoyed me in the first one. Also I think it sometimes gets a little bit too melodramatic, especially towards the end.

The one thing I loved the most in this book is that King linked the fear of vampires and death to the irrational fear of children in the dark. He really did this quite well: He had enough flashbacks to haunted child memories, enough mentioning of monsters in the wardrobe (even by name) and I would like to share a passage of the book that really got me thinking about this:

"Before drifting away entirely, he found himself reflecting - not for the first time - on the peculiarity of adults. They took laxatives, liquor or sleeping pills to drive away their terrors so that sleep would come, and their terrors were so tame and domestic; the job, the money, what the teacher will think if I can't get Jenny nicer clothes, does my wife still love me, who are my friends. They are pallid compared to the fears every child lies cheek and jowl with in his dark bed, with no one to confess to in hope of perfect understanding but another child. There is no group therapy or psychiatry or community social services for the child who must cope with the thing under the bed or in the cellar every night, the thing which leers and capers and threatens just beyond the point where vision will reach. The same lonely battle must be fought night after night and the only cure is the eventual ossification of the imaginary faculties, and that is called adulthood. [...] Such is the difference between man and boys." (Stephen King, Salem's Lot, page 372/373)

This is the passage that got me falling for Mark Petrie, the only child in our little group of survivors, and even though he's not on the first place (that's Jimmy) in my ranking he's definitly one of my favortive characters in this book. I loved the Houdini-Stunt he pulled....

Summing up I can really recommend this book either if you have never read Stephen King before or are a huge fan (although you probably read it anyway if you are) and do yourself a favour and switch on the light. (less)

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Nov 24, 2011 jzhunagev rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Stephen King / Horror / Vampire Mythology fans!

Recommended to jzhunagev by: the "Voice"

Shelves: award-winning-best-seller, classics, dark-chest-of-wonders, fiction-contemporary, from-book-to-film, horror, supernatural, 2011-reads, suspense

The Town Knew Darkness
(A Book Review of Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot)

Far more complex than his debut Carrie , Stephen King ups the ante in his sophomore hit ‘Salem’s Lot, published in 1975. Raising the bar of horror from a quaint character study of a girl coming to terms with her powers and her eventual maturity, King opts to a much larger grasp of the terrors that haunts us (or more specifically the American way of life) by digging into the darkness hidden in the human heart and focusing on the...more

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Nov 22, 2011 Myvampfiction rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

review by Meesh

*Warning: possible spoilers ahead.*

So, today I was scheduled to do a review of Dacre Stoker's book, Dracula - The Un-dead, the sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Why am I reviewing 'Salem's Lot instead? Because I haven't been able to read the other book, not in the three weeks I've had the book and have tried and tried to read it. Many times. Considering I was once a professional editor, it kind of astounds me that I can't finish the book. Hell, I can't even start it really. So I'll...more review by Meesh

*Warning: possible spoilers ahead.*

So, today I was scheduled to do a review of Dacre Stoker's book, Dracula - The Un-dead, the sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Why am I reviewing 'Salem's Lot instead? Because I haven't been able to read the other book, not in the three weeks I've had the book and have tried and tried to read it. Many times. Considering I was once a professional editor, it kind of astounds me that I can't finish the book. Hell, I can't even start it really. So I'll be reviewing it at a later date, hopefully after I've actually been able to read it, but if not, then I'll try to figure out why I couldn't get through it.

Why 'Salem's Lot? It was the first vampire movie I ever watched. I was 11 or 12, and I had nightmares for EIGHT years because of it. Seriously bad nightmares about pale children with hungry eyes scratching at my window would wake me in the middle of the night, long after I was past the age of being afraid of things that go bump in the night. For me, it is a masterpiece of horror, scaring me beyond what is normal for any scary movie. I was in my 30s when I finally read the book. My husband got it for me for Christmas, knowing how I love Stephen King and knowing it's the one book of his I'd wanted to read but never had the guts to do so. Thank you, darling, for almost making me pee my pants all over again.

Quick rundown of the plot. Jerusalem's Lot was home to Ben Mears, a writer who came back to the Lot after his wife died, to write a book about the Marsten House. The Marsten House that was the stuff of legends in the town due to the crimes of the owner, mobster Hubert "Hubie" Marsten, who not only was a hitman, but was also found to be a murderer of children after he had committed suicide. A pair of strangers, Barlow and Straker, buy the Marsten house under the guise of opening an antiques store, but shortly after they arrive, a young boy disappears and his brother dies of pernicious anemia, and day by day, more people die. Mears and a few other people in town know something wrong is going on, but he can't believe it is what it is. He and a young boy are the only two to escape the evil after they kill Barlow (the master vampire), and set some of the town on fire to try to destroy the vampires. They leave the town to the vampires, hoping to return later to fight.

It seems like a pretty typical vampire story. I'm an adult, reading what seems like a pretty typical vampire story, knowing vampires don't exist, and feeling confident that there won't be repercussions from my childhood terror caused by this story. Then in the middle of the book, Stephen King does the most brilliant thing. In the midst of the scariest part of the book, the adults in the story discuss how it can't possibly be vampires because everyone knows vampires don't exist. I almost cried. It was dark. I had to walk to my bedroom knowing that these people knew in their souls that vampires didn't exist, except they did and they were infiltrating the town. Stephen King is the only author who has ever written books that made me have to turn on lights the entire way to my bed. I literally walked through a room to turn on a light in the next room, then returned to turn off the light in the room I had just left, all the way to my bedroom. When I had to turn off the light and walk to my bed, I took a dive under the covers and stayed there until my heart rate returned to normal. The story freaked me out.

If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it if you like to have nightmares. It's an awesome horror story. If you have a chance, watch both the 1979 original and the 2004 remake of the mini-series and see which one you think is creepier. For me, it's definitely the 1979 version, but of course, I was 11 and much easier to frighten then, or so I thought. If you'd like to discuss this book, or any other Stephen King book, visit me at the Lair.(less)

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Nov 17, 2012 Annabelle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think most people have heard of Stephen King, even more so of Salem's Lot the horrifying vampire novel. I've had this book on my shelf for a while but never found the correct time to read it until the evening of 31st October. I wanted a spooky book to read for Halloween and this was the perfect choice. I knew the reputation this book had, King is the King of horror after all, so I was fully prepared for the frights it held inside. What I wasn't expecting was to love the book as much as I did....more I think most people have heard of Stephen King, even more so of Salem's Lot the horrifying vampire novel. I've had this book on my shelf for a while but never found the correct time to read it until the evening of 31st October. I wanted a spooky book to read for Halloween and this was the perfect choice. I knew the reputation this book had, King is the King of horror after all, so I was fully prepared for the frights it held inside. What I wasn't expecting was to love the book as much as I did. I found the characters were all really strong and realistic, I was rooting for them all the way. The antagonists were cold, dark and cruel, there was no good left in them. They were followers of the devil and the darkness practically flowed from them. King has created his own sort of vampires which are incredibly freaky. They were devils with an alluring charm, a facade of kindness that would crumble with your refusal. They were true vampires and ones I would never like to meet. 'Salem's Lot is a classic horror novel that will make you question the supernatural and yourself, if faced with the true existence of vampires would you believe or just turn a blind eye, even though the evidence is right in front of you? King raises lots of questions that will make the reader thing about the unknown. It will change your views on things and make you never want to go outside after dark.

'Salem's Lot joins Ben Mears, a writer who returns back to the town he grew up in, where he needs to confront his past fears. One terrifying memory from his childhood still haunts him now and he believes the only way to make it go away is to return to Salem's Lot and confront it. But Salem's Lot is very different. The previously vacant Marsten House has new residents, and with them comes strange happenings. The Marsten House has always scared Ben but now that someone has moved into that horrifying house, it has set him on edge. While doing research for his new novel things start to go wrong in the Lot. A dog is found brutally murdered hanging upside down on the cemetery gates, then a child disappears and the body is never found. These are just the first of a few strange happenings and Ben believes it's all connected to the new residents. While getting to know the town people, things get worse and it isn't long until Ben is forced to face his fears.

Ben Mears is the main character, he's a decent fellow with a career choice that the town people look down upon. He doesn't care what they think he just wants to get his work done while battling his personal demons. I really got to like Ben as the main character, at first I was a bit weary but in the end we saw his strength. He pushed through even when his fears were right in front of him. He confronted these fears while saving his town. He was very realistic, he had his flaws just like anyone else. Susan was his love interest from the very start, I really didn't like her, it was just too convenient that she was always there to listen to Ben spill his secrets. The only time I liked her was when something happened to her but I shall leave it at that. We also had Matt the Scholar of the group, he was the leader even though he was mostly bed bound, he found all the information and formatted the plans. Jimmy was the doctor, he and Ben had a great brotherly relationship going on. Then we come to Mark, the little boy who is wise beyond his years, I loved him. He was only a child and he had to face things that even the adults couldn't stand. He was a strong being.

The enemies were the baldly elegant Straker the side kick to devil's Prince Barlow. Straker was very creepy even though he wasn't a vampire. He had the piercing eyes, The cold voice and a hysterical laugh. He himself would have made a scary villain but King went even darker with Barlow. Barlow is the main villain, he is the vampire, the king of mind games and everything evil. He has the elegant black flowing hair and the piercing red eyes and pale skin. He was a horrifying villain, one who would play with your mind and body until you submitted to his whims.

'Salem's Lot is a very wide read novel and therefore has varying reviews across the Internet. I think people need to go into reading this with a clear mind, instead of comparing it to all over novels and reviews. This is a classic in its own right. It's a chilling horror novel that will be read for generations. I really recommend it. I'm not normally one for horror novels but I've already purchased more of King's novels because I loved Salem's lot that much. If you're looking for a read full of suspense and terror then read this. Be prepared when you start the book, lock all the doors and windows and do not let any strange person in. Oh and don't venture out after dark, I'm afraid you may meet your end.
(less)

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Apr 26, 2012 Checkman rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Vampire buffs and SK fans

Shelves: horror, thriller, beach-read, seventies-classics

It's hard reading a thirty-five year old novel about vampires in the 21st century considering what has happened to the genre in the past fifteen years. It's very easy to think of this book as just "another damn vampire story". Then you look at the date of publication and you're tempted to put it back on the shelf and move on. But wait. Consider these couple points before you do that and then make your decision.

"Salem's Lot" was one of the first novels to put vampires in "contemporary times". Of...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Miss Kim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: king-stephen, horror-or-mystery, 2011, ubs, she-is-tstl

This book takes about 300 pages to actually heat up. It wasn’t so dull that I wanted to put it down, but I was still thinking “Come on Mr. King, entertain me.” There are many other reviews on this one, so I will keep it short. I will mention a few scenes that had my heart beating fast:

*The girl, who shall now have a place on my ‘She is Too Stupid to Live” shelf, decides she’s going to tromping through the woods to sneak up on the King Vampire’s house and kill him--alone. At least she acknowledge...more

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Jun 03, 2010 Misha marked it as will-come-back-to-later-no-really · review of another edition

I stayed up far too late last night watching the Rob Lowe miniseries adaptation and now I'm jonesing to read the book, despite chortling a bit over Rutger Hauer and Donald Sutherland's performances as an elderly ~~gay~~ vampire and his elderly human ~~lover~~ watchdog. What captured me were the voice overs about the nature of small town evil, and I'm hoping that's what I'll get in the book. I would enjoy some good creeping horror as Halloween approaches.

I also have the David Soul 1970s TV miniseries on...more

1 like · like · see review

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About Stephen King

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family...more Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.(less)

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Quotes from 'Salem's Lot

“God grant me to SERENITY to accept what I cannot change the TENACITY to change what I may and the GOOD LUCK not to f*** up too often” — 256 people liked it

“But then fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since last he saw you.” — 96 people liked it

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