'Salem's Lot by Stephen King (1975)

[AE35Unit]

Yes another King book under my belt... I need to catch up you see, and I really do like a good horror story..this one doesn't dissapoint.

Now most people's memory of 'Salem's Lot will be flavoured by the 70s TV series featuring David Soul as Ben Mears. Well I don't remember the series that well but having read the book I don't think Soul did the protagonist justice, apart from the fact that Soul is a blonde and the 'real' Ben Mears is raven headed. Yes, raven-headed, a nod to Poe there...well it is a horror story after all... Anyway for those not familiar, the story concerns a vampire setting up shop in an old run down house in a town called Jerusalem's Lot in Maine. Now I've never been to America and I've yet to read Dracula (shocking I know...but watch this space) but after reading King's afterword about the genesis of the book I too believe that transplanting a modern day Dracula into a small dusty old town makes more sense than dropping him into a big bustling city-the Lot just works as that setting. An old monster watching over a few minions in a quiet town that has proper autumn weather-where you feel October as well as see it. And the smell of death and age mix in with the dust...a keeper.






Open the pod-bay doors...: 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

 

[Danny McG]

The first SK book I ever bought, before the David Soul series was aired. An impulse buy in a Manchester book store, been a King fan ever since

 

[Toby Frost]

I think this is one of King's best. I really enjoyed it and thought the subtext about the collapse of small-town life was interesting. I wrote a small review here:

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

 

[AE35Unit]

So far its way more interesting than the book that it updates-Dracula