54. Salem's Lot

by Stephen King (656 pgs)

Rating: 4

A writer returns to a brief home of his youth in rural Maine to confront a fear that wakes him up in the night even as an adult. Yet he finds that there's more to fear than old houses and ghosts as an ancient evil moves into 'Salem's Lot and slowly takes over the town.

'Salem's Lot is a vampire story in the classic sense. No vague sensuality. No barely veiled trashy romance novel thriller. Salem's Lot is a spooky chilling story reminiscent of Dracula, the Countess Bathory, and good 'ole Vlad Teppes. It is, however, a six hundred and fifty six page spooky chilling story. A daunting size by any measure. Is that length truly needed, yes to a certain extent. While the novel has only three or four main characters, it is truly horrible because of 'the town' as a unit. The space is used to flesh out the town's character and characters as much as follow the plot.

It is slow going most of the way through but it is also a contemplative book about concepts of Evil and evil. I recommend this to people who enjoyed reading Dracula and to Anne Rice fans to get them back to the origins of the genre.