What can you really say about "Salem's Lot" that hasn't already been said? I realize it's rather futile to review books that have been out for 30 years, but this is for my own satisfaction as much as potential readers. The book is arguably the breakthrough hit of Stephen King, the book that launched his career behind the success of "Carrie" and made him an icon in the Horror community.

Salem's Lot is two parts Brahm Stoker's Dracula, two parts Comic Book Vampire, and all Stephen King. Fans of King will know this means lots of characters, New England settings and a slow and steady build of tension and dread that will leave you wishing you could read faster before the sun goes down. Barlow and Straker make a perfect combination of Master and Apprentice of Evil. Ben Mears, Mark Petrie and Doc Cody make a great combination of completely unlikely heroes who do what they have to do, not at all because they have heroic ambitions, but because sometimes terrible things just happen.

The book is a great study in the forms or evil and good. Evil with a capital "E" in the form of Hubie Marsten or Barlow, and evil with a little "e" in the form of a mother that beats her child, the wife that cheats on her husband, or the cowardly town constable. All manner of "little e" evils creep into the characters of the book, giving Barlow plenty of opportunity to work his spell over the selfish and often petty and stupid townsfolk of Jerusalem's lot. The powers of Good struggle mightily to gain a foothold and fight back against the growing darkness in the town and often fails spectacularly. King has written in other works that the hallmark of a horror novel is good characters making bad decisions, and that is definitely the case here. By the end you'll be ready to sharpen some stakes and grab your cross and holy water to go help out these characters - or at the very least shout at them "NO! Don't go in there!"

The Good: Brilliant homage to Stoker's Dracula, tension build is great, villain that almost makes you sad he's gone at the end (or is he?), some great characters and dialog, wonderful prose in general and very easy to read.

The Bad: Not much. Minor complaints about a few unnecessary characters, there are a lot to keep track of but that's a staple of most King novels so I know what I'm in for. I also had a minor complaint about the use of the clock as a plot device. As a writer, I get why he does this to build tension; as a reader and a resident of a small town, it tears at the believability in places. If you set your story in a town of 2000 people and you're going to have it take an hour for the characters to get from one side of town to the other, you better have a darn good explanation - it's not NYC, you're talking 7 or 8 blocks tops. Last minor complaint is that King actual broke his own canon to advance the plot - SPOILER: Barlow breaks through the window in the Petrie house and enters the kitchen without being invited while Mark is there with Father Callahan - and I find that slightly annoying.

Summary: If you like King, Vampires, or horror in general this book is a must read in the genre. Being set in the seventies puts the novel a little out of date, but the story loses nothing with the test of time. Classic King and wonderfully chilling novel. No sparkly empathic vampires in this tale, hallelujah.