Salem’s Lot by Stephen King Review

The year was 1975 and I was not even a zygote yet. I wasn’t a fathomable idea in the human mind, and therefore this book came out far before I was born. That’s not a bad thing, as I would learn about this book in 1988, when I was merely a child (5 years old). I didn’t read the book then, instead opting for other reading materials, mainly paperback books from the local library about ghouls and ghosts and goblins. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I read this one, and as far as a fantasy horror novel, it most certainly is an interesting one, especially since the characters have a little bit of a resemblance to the author himself, and notably so. Salem’s Lot by Stephen King is a different kind of vampire tale, one that teenage girls wouldn’t really scream about, and that’s probably why this best seller continues to gain sales and republishing time and time again.

The story is essentially a look at community and the relationship it has when outsiders come into a close knit area. Centering in Maine (of course), we meet an author that is going to be writing about a haunting, but ends up having to deal with more than meets the eye when he has to battle vampires that are taking over the area. The course of the novel finds Ben Mears and his wife fighting off the villains, and eventually taking out the head vampire in this modern Dracula inspired work.

Synopsis aside, Stephen King has stated many times that this was and is his favorite book. In fact, one Playboy article mentioned that he wanted to move forward with a sequel, and of course the movie rights were sold and we have two of those these days. Salem’s Lot is not too long, it has some filler, but overall has a great amount of action, and some terror laden moments leading up to a climax that you’d expect from vampire horror film today. Even though this is literature, you find yourself watching it all play out in your head, and that’s something that I’ve always admired about King’s story telling.

Sure, it’s not the most scholarly of books, but it has enough gusto to make me enjoy it and recommend it. You owe it to yourself to pick up this one, it’s well worth your time. Even if you just get the audio version of it, it’s far better than you probably remember. Pick it up by clicking below: