A review by zenzi2read
'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

King made a few decisions that undercut the tension and destroyed the pacing of this vampire novel. The novel starts with a pre-log that explains that Salems lot is now a Ghost Town. Less than 10 of the towns inhabitants, which numbered more than 1000 are alive in accounted for. Then we flashback. our protagonist arriving, this would be an fine device if we moved into the main plot at that point instead the first half of the book introduces us to more than 20 town people with their own subplots and back stories. Not only is this a lot of material to keep track of, but it’s all for naught. When the action starts in the second half their lives and backstory serve no purpose that moves the plot or makes you mourn their loss. And despite the amount of time spent with our characters before the horror begins, their back stories feel shallow. Ben was married before, but what does that mean? Who is he? he’s nice and he’s a writer. There’s not much more to him than that. Most of the men are in this book. Nice, but homophobic, even tempered men. The women are essentially children each, and every one of them is a brat! that being said, I think Kings take on vampirism is a better one than most. He concentrates on the horror of this Apex predator and removes the idea of seduction entirely. This is much closer to Bram Stoker’s idea then much of what’s been written over the last 50 years. You also see King’s talent and weaving multiple POV’s together in its early stages here.
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