A review by loverofbooks123
'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

dark sad tense 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

3.25

First of all, I'm not a big fan of horror. I just happened to stumble across this book and honestly I don't know if I enjoyed it or disliked it. I just knew that I had to reach the ending. Out of all the characters, Mark was the most impressive. For a boy of twelve, his bravery is unbeatable. The whole setting of the town, the way in which we get an insight of almost every resident's life was good.
Now onto the negative parts...
The ending gave a non-satisfactory closure - at least to me.
1. I know you would want to leave a town full of vampires as soon as possible but when you are the main character of the book, you don't leave the town and come back after months when the strange events increase and decide to burn it down. The reason these occurred in the first place is because you left the town in that state. So, holding you as the culprit won't be entirely wrong.
2. Next - how didn't Jimmy become a vampire? As far as I know he was bitten by one and I don't think cleaning the wound with antiseptic will prevent the transformation. Moreover, he admitted he had a feeling to kill Ben. How does that not count as a vampire tendency?
3. Okay, even if Jimmy didn't become a vampire, what about Father Callahan? Barlow made him drink his blood! He boarded a bus to New York! Isn't that supposed to be a new threat? I was bummed when the fate of the priest was not clarified. Is he a vampire or not?
Overall, it was an okay read.

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