Salem's Lot

by Stephen King

Published a year after his stunning debut novel, "Carrie, 'Salem's Lot" firmly cemented Stephen King's name in the literary lexicon of great American storytellers. His rich and finely crafted tale of a mundane New England town under siege by the forces of darkness is both a homage to Bram Stoker's classic "Dracula" and an allegory of our post-Vietnam society. Considered one of the most terrifying vampire novels ever written, it cunningly probes the shadows of the human heart -- and the insular evils of small-town America.

• ISBN10: 067103975X
• ISBN13: 9780671039752
• Publish Date: 2 December 2005 (first published 1 August 1976)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 20 April 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[readingwithbecs]

Finally it's over! This was soo drawn out. If this read hadn't been for The Book Junkie Trials, I would not have finished this!
2 stars is actually quite generous.
This is not to say, that it's a bad book. It just didn't do anything good for me.

[leahrosereads]

I really don't like using the B word anymore when talking about books, because it can come off as lazy opinions. So, I'll use the D word instead.

I found this story relatively dull. There were too many half-assed characters in a very creepy setting with incredible villains. I wish most of the town was cut out, and the story just focused on a select few. I think the entire story would have been much more compelling and genuinely scarier if the reader didn't see everything happening in the background.

And, I might be reading King at the wrong time in my life, so I'll definitely continue to give his works a try and maybe as I get older, I'll find more in his stories that I love.

[inlibrisveritas]

My first King novel! Full review to come!

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

In my opinion, this is not one of his strongest works. The beginning is very long and draggy with little or no necessity to the plot. I appreciate that he uses some original mythology to substantiate his vampires but generally speaking a lot more could have been done with this story.

[angelarenea9]

This review is posted on Reading with AngelaRenea

I read this book as part of my Stephen King project (AKA I am reading Stephen King). Before I started it I read Dracula because King says that it heavily influenced this book's writing. I'm really glad I did that, and I recommend that everyone read Dracula before they read this because the comparisons are amazing. This was the story that Dracula is hyped up to be! Where Dracula failed, King has managed to succeed spectacularly!

I love the way that the town it's self is a major character in this book. King spends a lot of time, arguably even too much time, setting the tone of the book by taking you through the town, but I thought it was just right. I enjoyed the other characters as well, particularly Matt, although somehow I missed that he was older initially! Once I realized that he was, I loved him more because, well, I love old people that's why.

I was told that this was one of Stephen King's scariest books, and I'm not sure where I stand on this. While I don't think that the actual plot scared me at all, King did a great job of setting a tone. The descriptions of how the characters themselves were feeling was so well written that it actually made me a little jumpy (...scared...) particularly walking in to work. In the dark. At night. At the full moon.

I will say that one of the big reasons that I did not give this book a 5 star is that it stuck a little too close to the Dracula story. It was better written, more readable, more enjoyable, with a better pace and written in a more believable way, but it was essentially Dracula. Where it did stray was the parts about the house, and the fires.

I think that the ending leaves it open for a sequel, or mentioning in another book (I'm told King likes to do that) so here's hoping! Basically if you're thinking about reading 'Salem's Lot do it and just skip Dracula!

What book do you think is just a better version of something else? Happy reading!

[clq]

I approached 'Salem's Lot with some scepticism. I'm generally not into the vampire genre, and surely there must be at least one dud among these early Stephen King books. Perhaps this would be it.
The book did start out a little slow for me, and at times it seems a little aimless as it builds up to the start of the climax. It didn't get downright boring, but I felt that I cared enough about the characters and the relationships between them for bad things to just start happening to them already. It would be unfair to hold this against the book though, because once things start happening… they happen. Mercilessly. And it probably wouldn't have felt as merciless without the build-up. The story doesn't really start moving that much quicker, but bulldozes slowly but surely towards the conclusion. As with other Stephen King books I've read, this one doesn't shy away from making the "that won't possibly happen"-things happen. This makes the book unpredictable and wonderfully thrilling. Despite being very enjoyable, it never quite crossed from being very good to being great, but I'm impressed that Stephen King managed to make me enjoy a vampire story this much.

[littleread1]

Not much to say but a good classic. Though I hate how he writes female characters.

[Eve1972]

My favorite Stephen King book, scared the heck out of me!!