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gflechas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The book is strongly influenced by Bram Stoker's Dracula, and is pretty transparent about it in the into. I walked away feeling like I listened to "Steven King does Dracula" which for me was a positive. King goes his own direction with the ideas and makes them his own. I had fun and would recommend it, though there is not the same hope to be found in Salem's Lot as was found for Mr. Harker and his band of heros.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
bookbelle5_17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Review of my Reread of Salem’s Lot
By: Stephen King
Ben Mears is a mildly successful author, who hasn’t been back to his child home, Jerusalem’s Lot, in years, but he is still haunted by sneaking into the Marsten House and seeing the ghost of Hubie Marsten. Now, Ben wants to exorcise his demons, but this time a new demon has arrived in the Lot intending to sink his teeth into this town and make the place his playground.
Stephen King knows how to weave a good tale as he gives his own take on the vampire story. He knows how to build the tension and make it seem like things might be fine for the characters until the horror starts happening. Just like in Needful Things, and IT, King establishes the town and residents slowly giving the reader all the gritty details about each of the characters. In this case, it helps hint at how the vampire will lure them, relying on their selfish desires. One character, Dud Rogers is a hunchback and is constantly mocked and ridiculed, and the vampire promises to take this away and make him more attractive. He seduces his victims by promising to fulfill those desires. A serpent hissing in their ear, so to speak. If you hated, or at least are tired of the craze of romanticizing vampires this probably more of your kind of vampire. Barlow lurks in the shadows, hypnotizing his victims, but not lusting after them like in a lot of YA vampire stories. He sees them more as puppets and you get to see him luring them in. That’s something I wished Dracula had more of, but Dracula in the end was a heroes’ story. All the vampires in this are scary. He also describes the victim’s humanity dying in detail that is sad for those who love them and haven’t been bitten yet. but I do wish in one scene, where our heroes must stake a vampire that is connected to one of them in a more personal way, I would like there to have been a little more to the scene. Like the vampire trying to convince person to join them as a vampire I normally enjoy exposition scenes when shit hasn’t hit the fan just yet, but there were a couple of times when the characters were talking and wasting time. There was a scene where our heroes seem to have forgotten they don’t know where Barlow is, and he already warned him what he would do next now they have pissed him off. It was hard to also read about the baby that was being abused by its mother. There is romance, but it didn’t really get me in feels, but it was cute. It sad with what happens with the couple. Ben Mears is likable and flawed main character that is deeply affected by trauma in his life already, but Mark Petrie is my favorite. His bravery and acceptance of the situation is admirable, and he has a confidence of having a better understanding of things without being cocky about it. Despite him being 12 and me being 33, I related to his personality more than the other characters, though Matt Burke is a close second. I also like Father Callahan, especially since he is a priest, who doesn’t act self-righteous and is a man with faults making a far more interesting character. This vampire story kept me turning them pages and wanting to what was going to happen next. BTW, I personally think this is one of his good endings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
sagetappe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
kelleykamanda's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I thought the town and the characters within the town were fascinating. With that said, the main character was bland… and this book was wayyyy too long. I loved Dracula so I had a bit of hope. This book isn’t terrible, but it definitely isn’t the bed vampire read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Grief
Minor: Vomit and War
Just assume this book has it all.alyssatuininga's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
stephanieluxton's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Usually I find Stephen king books a little slow to get into but the ending makes it all worth while. With Salem's Lot, I actually preferred the beginning. I loved reading about the characters and their small town lives in the 70's. I thought it was beautifully written and I would have been happy to read more about their day to day activities. Once shit started to hit the fan, I was interested but I never found myself feeling very afraid or surprised at any point which is why I didn't give it a higher rating.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and War
There's a dog deaty that some may find upsetting. A lot of people die but many are "off camera deaths" so overall this book isn't too explicit. There's a couple sex scenes but they aren't really graphic.shieldbearer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Excellent writing, and the slow pace is absolutely a plus- like building an intricate domino structure before knocking it all down. Found myself particularly attached to Mark. King has a knack for portraying humanity at its most grotesque that is more fascinating than his monsters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Vomit, Islamophobia, Medical content, and War
Minor: Addiction, Pedophilia, Rape, Excrement, and Abortion
lydiavsbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Wew this took me (what felt like) a while. My copy also had Jerusalem's Lot, the short story, in the back, which I didn't actually read. I think I'll appreciate it more if I read it as part of Night Shift.
I enjoyed this overall, it had the spooky small town vibes I was wanting and it was interesting to see King's take on vampires. I surprisingly enjoyed the priest character, and the exploration of faith and the concept of evil. The other characters were fine, although I wish Susan had a little more to her.
The pacing towards the end was a little odd, though admittedly probably partially because I didn't expect the last 150 pages to actually be a short story and deleted scenes. The build up to the 'big thing' at the end felt a little drawn out, with the end its self feeling almost rushed. But considering its length, it rarely if ever felt like a drag.
I enjoyed this overall, it had the spooky small town vibes I was wanting and it was interesting to see King's take on vampires. I surprisingly enjoyed the priest character, and the exploration of faith and the concept of evil. The other characters were fine, although I wish Susan had a little more to her.
The pacing towards the end was a little odd, though admittedly probably partially because I didn't expect the last 150 pages to actually be a short story and deleted scenes. The build up to the 'big thing' at the end felt a little drawn out, with the end its self feeling almost rushed. But considering its length, it rarely if ever felt like a drag.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, and Blood
jaedia's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Took much too long to get going though King's writing has a way of making nothing seem readable. There were pages that simply detailed what different families were having for dinner. While I can respect this was to effectively show the slow death of the town, some of it was just boring. Also would be remiss not to mention the sheer amount of homophobic slurs in the book. And this was clearly written when King had a very bleak outlook of the world.
That all said, I did enjoy reading it. The writing was enjoyable, the story compelling, and the dread creeping. A nice dark vampire horror story of a town's slow, sleepy, bloodcurdling death.
That all said, I did enjoy reading it. The writing was enjoyable, the story compelling, and the dread creeping. A nice dark vampire horror story of a town's slow, sleepy, bloodcurdling death.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Transphobia, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
zakcebulski's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I feel that I was always missing out on something regarding Kings work. I have read a handful of his books- the ones described to be "the classics" or highly acclaimed; 11/22/63The Shining, The Stand, IT, Misery, Pet Semetary and I thought some- The Shining, 11/22/63 and Misery were good! But, I did not at all care for The Stand, IT or Pet Semetary.
There is just something about the characters in those books that just makes me not want to continue reading them. I haven't the foggiest as to why. I hear a ton of praise for King's writing of believable dialogue- but, this is usually something that off-puts me from King's work.
But, not Salem's Lot. I absolutely loved this damn book.
Starting off, the plot is so simple- it is a man who returns to a town wherein he once lived, and had a traumatic experience with a house there and comes back to write about it. That is when things start to go bump in the night.
I have to immediately praise King's willpower to have the vampire threat show up in a slow trickle rather than BOOM vampires. Had I not known what the book was about, I would have thought that with the Glick boy's disappearances, that we were dealing with a child killer with Straker (as heinous as that would be!). But, it is the gradual introduction of the vampires that we see the true threat that is looming.
King does an exceptional job of showing the ripple effect that occurs as vampires start spreading and it helps immensely to build the tension in the reader.
I appreciated so much that King took the time to flesh out so many of the characters around town so that when they met their end they were less nameless red shirts.
I also appreciate King's willingness to kill off more or less every damn character he gave a name to. Like, toward the end of the book it is fucking everyone dying like good god, man. Though, I do think that killing characters for the sake of killing them is silly, and I don't like reading a book where there are fake stakes (haha). I think that this book called for the deaths of so many characters so that it was illustrated well how truly fucking dismal the situation had become.
I think that this is where the book truly scared me. I have said many times that I have never been scared by a book in a way that a horror movie scares. I have been grossed out, but that genuine tension I feel is lost when I read books- probably through my fault. But, King nailed it here.
He did this by making truly creepy imagery in regards to the early vampires coming and accosting their prey at windows. There is something in the imagery of an undead teenage tapping on the window with their grotesque nails on the window that truly unnerved me.
The other way which King amazingly crafts terror is by means of shows how out of control the vampire plague is. The rapidity of the deaths of the townspeople is so well done that it is truly scary when we realize that the main group is tasked with combating these insurmountable odds.
Speaking of the main groups- I liked all of the characters quite well. Ben, Jimmy, Susan, Matt, Mark and Father Callahan are all great characters.
I especially liked Mark, Father Callahan and Susan. I appreciated the resourcefulness of Mark, and how he is so knowledgeable at a young age. I loved the complexity of Father Callahan, wherein he is dealing with a doubt of faith and how that aids to lead to his undoing. And, Susan, I thought was a character that could have fallen in to the trap of being a typical poorly written female character- which King is notorious for doing. But, Susan, I thought, added a good amount of complexity with the mid-20s girl who is struggling to find herself with the looming oppressive force of her mother. And, she does! She rises to the occasion which very unfortunately leads to her death.
Susan's death is one that I truly did not see coming. I was anticipating King to have written this where everyone dies but Ben and Susan make it out together. Not only does that not happen, but, Susan is killed off so quickly and out of nowhere, that it truly shocked me.
I like that King wrote all of these characters to be people, and we grew to know them, just as quickly he starts chopping them all down.
I think that the big bad of Kurt Barlowe is a wonderful villain. I like that though he does have the extreme feats of strength at his disposal, he prefers to outwit his enemies by challenging them to fight their inner demons and cause them to doubt themselves.
I loved this book. Did this book turn me in to a Stephen King fan? No, it did not. Did I come out of this book interested in reading more King in the future, or re-reading books I did not like originally, yes, it did.
I thought that this was the perfect book for the Fall weather, a few weeks before Halloween!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder