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Stephen King

'Salem's Lot (Movie Tie-in) Paperback – August 2, 2022

by Stephen King (Author)

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#1 BESTSELLER • Soon to be a new major motion picture • Writer Ben Mears has returned to his childhood home of 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.

Writer Ben Mears has returned to his hometown of Jerusalem's Lot with the hope that moving into a delapidated mansion, long the subject of town lore, might help him get a handle on his life and provide inspiration for a new book. But when two young boys venture into the woods and only one comes out alive, Mears begins to realize that there may be something sinister at work.

In time, he comes to understand that his hometown is under siege from forces of darkness far beyond his wildest imagination. And only he, with a small group of allies, can hope to contain the evil that is tearing the town apart.

Print length

672 pages
Language

English
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Anchor
Publication date

August 2, 2022
Dimensions

5.2 x 1.22 x 8 inches
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0593470192
ISBN-13

978-0593470190
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Popular Highlights in this book

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That was the value in not crying. Crying was like pissing everything out on the ground.
Highlighted by 1,792 Kindle readers
“Mark Twain said a novel was a confession to everything by a man who had never done anything.”
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Storytelling is as natural as breathing; plotting is the literary version of artificial respiration.
Highlighted by 1,544 Kindle readers

From the Publisher

something sinister is coming...soon to be a major motion picture

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A master storyteller.” —The Los Angeles Times

“Stephen King has built a literary genre of putting ordinary people in the most terrifying situations. . . . He’s the author who can always make the improbable so scary you'll feel compelled to check the locks on the front door.” —The Boston Globe

“Peerless imagination.” —The Observer (London)

“An unabashed chiller.” —Austin American Statesman

“[The] most wonderfully gruesome man on the planet.” —USA Today

“[King is] the guy who probably knows more about scary goings-on in confined, isolated places than anybody since Edgar Allan Poe.” —Entertainment Weekly

“Spine-tingling fiction at its best." —Grand Rapids Press

“A super exorcism. . . . Tremendous.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A novel of chilling, unspeakable evil.” —Chattanooga Times

About the Author

STEPHEN KING is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and an AT&T Audience Network original television series). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, and Doctor Sleep are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One

Ben (I)

By the time he had passed Portland going north on the turnpike, Ben Mears had begun to feel a not unpleasurable tingle of excitement in his belly. It was September 5, 1975, and summer was enjoying her final grand fling. The trees were bursting with green, the sky was a high, soft blue, and just over the Falmouth town line he saw two boys walking a road parallel to the expressway with fishing rods settled on their shoulders like carbines.

He switched to the travel lane, slowed to the minimum turnpike speed, and began to look for anything that would jog his memory. There was nothing at first, and he tried to caution himself against almost sure disappointment. You were nine then. That's twenty-five years of water under the bridge. Places change. Like people.
In those days the four-lane 295 hadn't existed. If you wanted to go to Portland from the Lot, you went out Route 12 to Falmouth and then got on Number 1. Time had marched on.

Stop that shit.

But it was hard to stop. It was hard to stop when--

A big BSA cycle with jacked handlebars suddenly roared past him in the passing lane, a kid in a T-shirt driving, a girl in a red cloth jacket and huge mirror-lensed sunglasses riding pillion behind him. They cut in a little too quickly and he overreacted, jamming on his brakes and laying both hands on the horn. The BSA sped up, belching blue smoke from its exhaust, and the girl jabbed her middle finger back at him.

He resumed speed, wishing for a cigarette. His hands were trembling slightly. The BSA was almost out of sight now, moving fast. The kids. The goddamned kids. Memories tried to crowd in on him, memories of a more recent vintage. He pushed them away. He hadn't been on a motorcycle in two years. He planned never to ride on one again.

A flash of red caught his eye off to the left, and when he glanced that way, he felt a burst of pleasure and recognition. A large red barn stood on a hill far across a rising field of timothy and clover, a barn with a cupola painted white--even at this distance he could see the sun gleam on the weather vane atop that cupola. It had been there then and was still here now. It looked exactly the same. Maybe it was going to be all right after all. Then the trees blotted it out.

As the turnpike entered Cumberland, more and more things began to seem familiar. He passed over the Royal River, where they had fished for steelies and pickerel as boys. Past a brief, flickering view of Cumberland Village through the trees. In the distance the Cumberland water tower with its huge slogan painted across the side: "Keep Maine Green." Aunt Cindy had always said someone should print "Bring Money" underneath that.

His original sense of excitement grew and he began to speed up, watching for the sign. It came twinkling up out of the distance in reflectorized green five miles later:

ROUTE 12 JERUSALEM'S LOT
CUMBERLAND CUMBERLAND CTR

A sudden blackness came over him, dousing his good spirits like sand on fire. He had been subject to these since (his mind tried to speak Miranda's name and he would not let it) the bad time and was used to fending them off, but this one swept over him with a savage power that was dismaying.

What was he doing, coming back to a town where he had lived for four years as a boy, trying to recapture something that was irrevocably lost? What magic could he expect to recapture by walking roads that he had once walked as a boy and were probably asphalted and straightened and logged off and littered with tourist beer cans? The magic was gone, both white and black. It had all gone down the chutes on that night when the motorcycle had gone out of control and then there was the yellow moving van, growing and growing, his wife Miranda's scream, cut off with sudden finality when--

The exit came up on his right, and for a moment he considered driving right past it, continuing on to Chamberlain or Lewiston, stopping for lunch, and then turning around and going back. But back where? Home? That was a laugh. If there was a home, it had been here. Even if it had only been four years, it was his.

He signaled, slowed the Citroën, and went up the ramp. Toward the top, where the turnpike ramp joined Route 12 (which became Jointner Avenue closer to town), he glanced up toward the horizon. What he saw there made him jam the brakes on with both feet. The Citro‘n shuddered to a stop and stalled.

The trees, mostly pine and spruce, rose in gentle slopes toward the east, seeming to almost crowd against the sky at the limit of vision. From here the town was not visible. Only the trees, and in the distance, where those trees rose against the sky, the peaked, gabled roof of the Marsten House.

He gazed at it, fascinated. Warring emotions crossed his face with kaleidoscopic swiftness.

"Still here," he murmured aloud. "By God."

He looked down at his arms. They had broken out in goose flesh.

TWO

He deliberately skirted town, crossing into Cumberland and then coming back into 'salem's Lot from the west, taking the Burns Road. He was amazed by how little things had changed out here. There were a few new houses he didn't remember, there was a tavern called Dell's just over the town line, and a pair of fresh gravel quarries. A good deal of the hardwood had been pulped over. But the old tin sign pointing the way to the town dump was still there, and the road itself was still unpaved, full of chuckholes and washboards, and he could see Schoolyard Hill through the slash in the trees where the Central Maine Power pylons ran on a northwest to southeast line. The Griffen farm was still there, although the barn had been enlarged. He wondered if they still bottled and sold their own milk. The logo had been a smiling cow under the name brand: "Sunshine Milk from the Griffen Farms!" He smiled. He had splashed a lot of that milk on his corn flakes at Aunt Cindy's house.

He turned left onto the Brooks Road, passed the wrought-iron gates and the low fieldstone wall surrounding Harmony Hill Cemetery, and then went down the steep grade and started up the far side--the side known as Marsten's Hill.

At the top, the trees fell away on both sides of the road. On the right, you could look right down into the town proper--Ben's first view of it. On the left, the Marsten House. He pulled over and got out of the car.

It was just the same. There was no difference, not at all. He might have last seen it yesterday.

The witch grass grew wild and tall in the front yard, obscuring the old, frost-heaved flagstones that led to the porch. Chirring crickets sang in it, and he could see grasshoppers jumping in erratic parabolas.

The house itself looked toward town. It was huge and rambling and sagging, its windows haphazardly boarded shut, giving it that sinister look of all old houses that have been empty for a long time. The paint had been weathered away, giving the house a uniform gray look. Windstorms had ripped many of the shingles off, and a heavy snowfall had punched in the west corner of the main roof, giving it a slumped, hunched look. A tattered no-trespassing sign was nailed to the right-hand newel post.

He felt a strong urge to walk up that overgrown path, past the crickets and hoppers that would jump around his shoes, climb the porch, peek between the haphazard boards into the hallway or the front room. Perhaps try the front door. If it was unlocked, go in.

He swallowed and stared up at the house, almost hypnotized. It stared back at him with idiot indifference.

You walked down the hall, smelling wet plaster and rotting wallpaper, and mice would skitter in the walls. There would still be a lot of junk lying around, and you might pick something up, a paperweight maybe, and put it in your pocket. Then, at the end of the hall, instead of going through into the kitchen, you could turn left and go up the stairs, your feet gritting in the plaster dust which had sifted down from the ceiling over the years. There were fourteen steps, exactly fourteen. But the top one was smaller, out of proportion, as if it had been added to avoid the evil number. At the top of the stairs you stand on the landing, looking down the hall toward a closed door. And if you walk down the hall toward it, watching as if from outside yourself as the door gets closer and larger, you can reach out your hand and put it on the tarnished silver knob--

He turned away from the house, a straw-dry whistle of air slipping from his mouth. Not yet. Later, perhaps, but not yet. For now it was enough to know that all of that was still here. It had waited for him. He put his hands on the hood of his car and looked out over the town. He could find out down there who was handling the Marsten House, and perhaps lease it. The kitchen would make an adequate writing room and he could bunk down in the front parlor. But he wouldn't allow himself to go upstairs.

Not unless it had to be done.

He got in his car, started it, and drove down the hill to Jerusalem's Lot.

Chapter Two

Susan (I)

He was sitting on a bench in the park when he observed the girl watching him. She was a very pretty girl, and there was a silk scarf tied over her light blond hair. She was currently reading a book, but there was a sketch pad and what looked like a charcoal pencil beside her. It was Tuesday, September 16, the first day of school, and the park had magically emptied of the rowdier element. What was left was a scattering of mothers with infants, a few old men sitting by the war memorial, and this girl sitting in the dappled shade of a gnarled old elm.

She looked up and saw him. An expression of startlement crossed her face. She looked down at her book; looked up at him again and started to rise; almost thought better of it; did rise; sat down again.

He got up and walked over, holding his own book, which was a paperback Western. "Hello," he said agreeably. "Do we know each other?"

"No," she said. "That is . . . you're Benjaman Mears, right?"

"Right." He raised his eyebrows.
She laughed nervously, not looking in his eyes except in a quick flash, to try to read the barometer of his intentions. She was quite obviously a girl not accustomed to speaking to strange men in the park.

"I thought I was seeing a ghost." She held up the book in her lap. He saw fleetingly that "Jerusalem's Lot Public Library" was stamped on the thickness of pages between covers. The book was Air Dance, his second novel. She showed him the photograph of himself on the back jacket, a photo that was four years old now. The face looked boyish and frighteningly serious--the eyes were black diamonds.

"Of such inconsequential beginnings dynasties are begun," he said, and although it was a joking throwaway remark, it hung oddly in the air, like prophecy spoken in jest. Behind them, a number of toddlers were splashing happily in the wading pool and a mother was telling Roddy not to push his sister so high. The sister went soaring up on her swing regardless, dress flying, trying for the sky. It was a moment he remembered for years after, as though a special small slice had been cut from the cake of time. If nothing fires between two people, such an instant simply falls back into the general wrack of memory.

Then she laughed and offered him the book. "Will you autograph it?"

"A library book?"

"I'll buy it from them and replace it."

He found a mechanical pencil in his sweater pocket, opened the book to the flyleaf, and asked, "What's your name?"

"Susan Norton."

He wrote quickly, without thinking: For Susan Norton, the prettiest girl in the park. Warm regards, Ben Mears. He added the date below his signature in slashed notation.

"Now you'll have to steal it," he said, handing it back. "Air Dance is out of print, alas."

"I'll get a copy from one of those book finders in New York." She hesitated, and this time her glance at his eyes was a little longer. "It's an awfully good book."

"Thanks. When I take it down and look at it, I wonder how it ever got published."

"Do you take it down often?"

"Yeah, but I'm trying to quit."

She grinned at him and they both laughed and that made things more natural. Later he would have a chance to think how easily this had happened, how smoothly. The thought was never a comfortable one. It conjured up an image of fate, not blind at all but equipped with sentient 20/20 vision and intent on grinding helpless mortals between the great millstones of the universe to make some unknown bread.

"I read Conway's Daughter, too. I loved that. I suppose you hear that all the time."

"Remarkably little," he said honestly. Miranda had also loved Conway's Daughter, but most of his coffeehouse friends had been noncommittal and most of the critics had clobbered it. Well, that was critics for you. Plot was out, masturbation in.

"Well, I did."

"Have you read the new one?"

"Billy Said Keep Going? Not yet. Miss Coogan at the drugstore says it's pretty racy."

"Hell, it's almost puritanical," Ben said. "The language is rough, but when you're writing about uneducated country boys, you can't . . . look, can I buy you an ice-cream soda or something? I was just getting a hanker on for one."

She checked his eyes a third time. Then smiled, warmly. "Sure. I'd love one. They're great in Spencer's."

That was the beginning of it.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Anchor; Media tie-in edition (August 2, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 672 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593470192
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593470190
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.04 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 1.22 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #17,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #298 in Psychological Fiction (Books)
- #680 in Psychological Thrillers (Books)
- #1,227 in Suspense Thrillers

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4.6 19,977 ratings

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Stephen King

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Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His first crime thriller featuring Bill Hodges, MR MERCEDES, won the Edgar Award for best novel and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Both MR MERCEDES and END OF WATCH received the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Mystery and Thriller of 2014 and 2016 respectively.

King co-wrote the bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties with his son Owen King, and many of King's books have been turned into celebrated films and television series including The Shawshank Redemption, Gerald's Game and It.

King was the recipient of America's prestigious 2014 National Medal of Arts and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for distinguished contribution to American Letters. In 2007 he also won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his wife Tabitha King in Maine.

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Derek B.

A Solid Vampire Story

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2022

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A gripping sense of atmosphere, characters that felt alarmingly real, and a spooky story that escalates slowly to a chaotic climax all made this an enjoyable read. There were some stylistic things about King's prose (or perhaps just the audio narration) that threw me off a tiny bit, but overall, I really liked SALEM'S LOT and am glad to have finally read something by this famous author.

CHARACTERS
One aspect of King's writing that I did not expect to live up to the hype was how he handles his characters. I have heard time and time again how real his characters feel, almost to a point where I've wanted to roll my eyes. So, imagine my surprise at how King makes creating authentic-feeling characters in a short amount of time look so effortless. I don't know if all of King's stories feature large casts, but this one definitely did, so I was especially blown away that even the most insignificant of side characters felt so life-like. It was interesting that even some of the main characters like Ben, Mark, Jimmy, and Father Callahan were so deeply flawed in many ways. For some reason though, I will say that I didn't feel especially attached to anyone regardless of whether their role was big or small. They all interested me, but they didn't necessarily make me feel anything and I think that made some of the more dramatic deaths and/or perilous situations feel a little flat for me. Again, I can't really pinpoint what it was, maybe I just prefer characters that are larger than life than those that are especially life-like.

SETTING/WORLD
Another thing I hear repeatedly is how iconic some of the settings are in King's books. Again, I must agree, that the fictional town of Jerusalem's Lot (referred to as Salem's Lot), Maine, is a fully realized and deeply memorable place. Partly because of all the townspeople we get to meet, but also because of the strategically minimal descriptions of the town itself, there is is a living and breathing feeling to this town. The spooky atmosphere and distinctly New England vibe were two things I really connected with and this really did seem like the type of place that an ancient vampire might pick to settle down in.

Due to the era in which the story is set, I felt like this had a distinctly old-timey feel to it. I could never quite figure out if I liked or disliked this aspect of the book, but I don't think a story like this would have worked in the age of cell phones and social media, so I think it was a fitting choice overall. There are definitely a couple choice words used that some might not appreciate, but I felt like they were accurately employed for this decade.

PLOT/TONE
For some reason, I went in thinking that things would get weird and gruesome a lot faster than they did. Even though I'd never read King before, I'd somehow come to associate him with faster-paced and more gruesome fiction. While there are definitely some pretty gnarly moments in SALEM'S LOT, I found this to be much more of a suspenseful story that slowly builds up over time. I didn't feel fear in the same way that I might in a scary movie or game, it was more about an ever-present sense of dread and a tension over the unknown. That said, some of the vampiric elements to the story were a lot more typical and predictable than I thought they were going to be. While King is very open about how heavily he was inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula as well as some other vampire stories, I'd expected him to do a little more to distinguish his vampire from those that came before. That's not to say that King's vampire is entirely unoriginal or anything, I was just expecting to be more surprised than I was.

THE AUDIOBOOK
Reading this on Audiobook was a pretty good experience. The narrator was good and provided some nice dramatization for the different characters, but I felt like he also may have been part of the reason that I felt like the book was a little bit on the slower side. Had I read this physically or on eBook, I do wonder if I would have felt a greater sense of urgency and intensity, but reading it on audio did allow me to squeeze this into my current reading plans when I might not have had time for it otherwise. I thought King reading out the Forward himself was also a nice touch.

CONCLUSION
If you are like me and enjoy a good, spooky vampire story, then I think SALEM'S LOT will satisfy that, especially as a fall read. While there's nothing crazy here in terms of evolving vampire lore, I feel like King saw something that wasn't broken and decided he didn't need to fix it, so I respect that. This book isn't among my all time favorites and it didn't do anything to make we want to rip through King's entire catalog, but I did have a really good time with it and will likely give something else by him a try at some point in the future.

(+) Amazing setting and atmosphere
(+) Life-like characters
(+) Vampire elements were well done
(+) More suspenseful than horrifying/grotesque
(-) I didn't feel as invested in the characters as I wanted to for some reason
(-) Some of the twists and turns related to the vampires were somewhat expected

12 people found this helpful

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Ali b

Great dimensions

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2023

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I'm sure most of the reviews are going to be about the actual story and I wanted to comment on the physical book. I owned another edition of "The Stand", which was more short and fat, which makes it difficult to read since it is such a long novel. The print is super tiny and just cumbersome to hold comfortably while reading. So, I bought this edition, which is the same publisher who did the editions of "'Salem's Lot", "Carrie", and "Night Shift" that I own. They are all taller and skinner and I like the artwork better than other editions. Anyway, very happy with the proportions of this edition of the book. Would highly recommend getting this if you love this novel.

One person found this helpful

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elhector76

a well written and creepy book

Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2023

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this was such a great read. it was creepy and kept surprising. i enjoyed the characters and especially loved how much the town of Jerusalem’s Lot became a character in its own right. it’s been a while since i’ve enjoyed a great vampire book. this was fantastic.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Great Read!

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2023

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I send my little brother books as he is incarcerated, not only did he request this one and loved it, his fellow inmates loved it also! He received it before the allotted tracking time also! That's a BIG bonus!

4 people found this helpful

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Caitlin

Happy V. Day

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2023

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I didn’t mean to finish this book on Valentines Day. I had planned not to listen to it or read it at all, and to give my undivided attention to my husband. But our children kidnapped him for a couple hours and gave me an opportunity to finish.

The first time I read this book I was numb to fear, and of too innocent a mind to believe evils of such reproach existed in the everyday real world. I’ve grown a lot since then, and though I’m still numb to fear I am much more aware of the evils of mankind. I made a point of going through and highlighting the descriptions, bits of wisdom, phrases I liked, as well as pieces which reminded me of his other works. It may also be that I’ve grown fond of certain characters. But my mind has changed where ‘Salem’s Lot is concerned. Some of the descriptions were as vivid as comic book pictures, and twice as bright.

I’m glad I got to finish this book today. Our family is moving, and in the chaos it’s going to be difficult to keep myself on schedule in finishing all of Stephen Kings books this year. Google couldn’t give me an exact number for how many books he’s written, but I’ve estimated it at around 300 including his shorts. Though that might fall short. After we move it will likely take months to get book orders in. So I’m making a desperate attempt to find them all before we move, and as we can’t go overweight with the movers we’ve decided to let go of our couch and get a new one upon arrival. Just further proof I’ve married an amazingly supportive man who is just as addicted to books as I am.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

8 people found this helpful

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PJ

A good read

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2023

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A very well done story, but on the darker side of vampires, a must read for the genre

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Chrissi

Scary!

Reviewed in Germany on July 18, 2012

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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 ideal 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 who they want to turn. 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.

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2 people found this helpful

Vibs

Can you ever go wrong with Stephen King?

Reviewed in India on September 16, 2023

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I have read more than half and hence the condition might look a bit off but it came in a brilliant condition and the story is just ❤️

Gillian Wilkes

Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2023

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Enjoyed this book a good read

Rodrigo Rego

Such a Classic and complete Experience

Reviewed in Spain on August 14, 2023

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Loved it

Alice

Excellent story but VERY POOR quality printing.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2023

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I am really enjoying the book, however pages are falling out at first reading, I have been really disappointed with the quality of the print, I would be inclined to rate lower but I don't think that it would be a fair reflection of the author.

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