Salem's Lot

by: Stephen King
Ben Mars had returned to Jerusalem's Lot in hopes that exploring the history of the Marsten House, an old mansion long the subject of rumor and speculation, will help him cast out his personal devils and provide inspiration for his new book. But when two young boys venture into the woods, and only one returns alive, Mears begins to realize that something sinister is at work--in fact, his hometown is under siege form the forces of darkness. And only he, with a small group of allies, can hope to contain the evil that is growing within the borders of this small New England town. {cover copy}
This book was not at all what I was expecting it to be, but to be fair, I wasn't really expecting anything of it. Other than what I imagined I gleaned from the title, which I was wrong about.  It was not, you may be surprised to know, about a parking lot in Salem. 
Clearly, I didn't read the cover copy. i planned to read through King's entire collected works, so there wasn't any reason to be choosy about what the plots were. This was on my friend Alison's top three list when I asked what King books to start with, so it was one of the first ones I started with! I will say, that on many levels, I actually didn't find this one that scary. But on another, it's actually quite quite scary. I know that's super vague. So let me try this again without being too spoilery: I could sense the danger throughout the novel, and there were some parts that were be great for building tension and being creepy as hell, but it wasn't really until the book ended and everyone ends up how they do that you realize how creepy the book is. At least, that is my take on it. It was a great read. I definitely enjoyed it! It also is home to some of my personal favorite quotes from King. The one about being alone happened to be the inspiration for an art IG account I had before I turned it into Madeline's IG. It was called "Apoorsynonym" and I really loved that account. It was the only place where I had a pseudonym, where I wasn't me and all that went with that at the time. The pictures are still there if you're ever bored enough to scroll through all 3k of my photos of Madeline! haha

Almost everyone thought the man and the boy were father and son {first line}
"God grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the tenacity to change what I may, and the good luck not to fuck up too often."

"Alone. Yes, that's the key word, the most awful word in the English tongue. Murder doesn't hold a candle to it and hell is only a poor synonym."

"The basis of all human fears, he thought. A closed door, slightly ajar."

"For the moment, in the dark, she believed. She believed it all."

"But it all seems more real after dark..."

"There are no words for childhood's dark turns and exhalations. A wise child recognizes it and submits to the necessary consequences. A child who counts the cost is a child no longer."

"They are gaunt, mean shadows that bite the ground like teeth."

• west • {last word}