Salem's Lot

Rating:
Summary: Heart -Stopping suspense
Review: Stephen King's Book "Salem's Lot" was an excellent hair raising book. This was the first novel I had ever read of Stephen King. It was a very good book. I think this was one of the best books I ever read. Many times I couldn't set a place to stop because I would go over it because I was wondering what was going to happen next. It is really hard to put this book down for a second. You are just waiting for something to happen and then Stephen twists it around and you are in shock or surprise. Stephen King truly has an eccentric mind but brings out very interesting words. At times, I was even frightened. This was the first book I had ever gotten goose bumps by. My heart was pounding throughout the entire book. I gave this five stars because it truly deserves five stars. I've gotten hooked on his collection now. The book begins with a man named Ben travelling back to his hometown to write another novel. There is an old house on the hill that everyone is scared of. He remebered that house from his childhood. The town was Jerusalem's Lot but it was nicknamed 'Salem's Lot. Many people feared the old house on the hill. It was said that the owner of the house had died in it. Ben went up to that house when he was younger and went in it on a bet. He went upstairs and opened the door to one of the rooms. He saw the old man dangling from the ceiling and he looked at Ben. This part was very freaky. Things like this keep popping up in the story until they realize that many people are disappearing and dying. Ben and a few friends figure that it is local vampires and they go in search to solve the mystery. This is truly a hair-gripping book. I recommend everyone to read it.

Rating:
Summary: One of the King's best works!
Review: I've been a fan of Stephen King's work for a while now, after having been completely drawn to his books after reading Dreamcatcher, and while up at the nearby mall I happened up 'Salem's Lot, which had just been released as a brand new TV movie, so I decided to pick it up, and one word... WOW! The visuals I got out of reading this novel were amazing, and it featured a twist that I would never have guessed.

The characters, especially Ben Mears, were what first drew me into the novel. Being a writer myself, I could relate to Mears and what he was going through in terms of his current writing predicament, and that as he does in this novel, I have tended to go back to my roots to try and find writing inspiration. Mark Petrie was the next character that caught my attention, because for a kid that is described in this book as being only ten or eleven years old tops, he seems very mature and independent for his age, not to mention strong enough to take on a feared schoolyard bully. I didn't get as much out of Susan Nortan as I maybe should have, but she just felt to me like the cliched beautiful blond gal with which the main character falls in love. She just seemed like everything you'd find in a small town American girl, which was the cliche' really, so I probably didn't get as much from her as intended.

The concept of the story itself was also what prodded me to read this novel. I knew Stephen King as the master of horror when I was no more than a hundred pages into Dreamcatcher, and the thought of a vampire novel written by him seemed too good to be true. I know this book has been out since 1975, but in all honesty I didn't hear about it until the remaking of the TV movie, neither of which have I seen (original or remake). He wrote the events in this book as if they may have actually happened, and in all honesty it thrilled the hell out of me, which is why I couldn't put it down a lot of the time. It also rises an increasing sense of dread as the book describes the residents of 'Salem's Lot growing weaker and weaker as time progresses because of the powers of the vampires, as is the same sense of dread you get out of movies such as Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, etc.

The ending was also a very satisfying ending and I felt that it conveyed a kind of apocalyptic fear or feeling of impending doom, which is the very kind of ending a book such as this should trigger.

In conclusion, King's did it again, and so far it seems that he'll keep doing it until he just can't do it anymore. Where does he get his ideas? We may never find out. Then again, maybe we do not want to know. Maybe the fact that his writing talents and how he uses them is best kept secret so that he and his novels seem all the more mysterious, and 'Salem's Lot is really no acception.

I encourage any King fans to pick this novel up and read it immediately. I can almost guarantee 100% enjoyment.

Rating:
Summary: only so so at best
Review: if this book had been put out by publishamerica it would have been a great book mr king needs to join the growing publishamerica family or stop putting out books

Rating:
Summary: Best Modern Day Vampire Novel
Review: If you remembered watching the series when it first came out and if you read this book at the same time, then it was during an era when Stephen King was becoming a very big household name, Salem's Lot probably being the icing on that cake, and a very important instalment in the series, and probably the book that sealed King's fate as a horror writer. He could have turned anywhere after Carrie and instead delivered on a story about a town with a local vampire problem.

(Jeru)salem's Lot is a Timeless Horror classic. This is one of King's best ever page turners, each page demanding that you read the next... a perfectly executed piece of literature moving between first rate soap opera, B movie horror, faultless character development, great arcs and an unbelievable ending to boot, horrific right up until the finale midnight coffin hunting in the old house on the hill. Oh, holy hell!

A masterpiece that can not be described in a full bodied review, this is certainly one of King's best works he has ever written. The hero is even a writer. You don't have to like vampires to like the thought of writers chasing vampires in their old boyhood town.

Rating:
Summary: Salem's Lot Book Review
Review: The book Salem's Lot by none other than the acclaimed horror novelist, Stephen King, is an excellent example of a book that reels its readers in slowly then catches them off guard with an intriguing mystery that is sure to keep anyone flipping through chapters at record speed, hungry for more. As a clichéd vampire story about a small town, Stephen King gives the vampire ideas a twist of his own, making his story as believable as if the events in his novel really were capable of happening in reality.
This book started off very slowly in introducing all of the characters and their part in the town. Though, these characters all came into play at the end I found it difficult to pay close enough attention during the lengthy exposition. The multiple story lines get lost and I started confusing one person with the other until my scene of events was garbled. Around the middle of the book, the storyline picked up pace and I found myself not able to put it down.
Ben Mears a writer who had a traumatic experience as a child in the town of Jerusalem's Lot has returned to write a book based on his childhood horror. He meets the beautiful Susan Norton, as well as a few other good friends who will accompany him to the end of the book into the heat of the classic battle between good and evil, where they will all literally, be fighting for their lives. The final chapters are packed with suspense, excitement, action and unbreakable bonds of friendship.
With Stephen King's uncanny talent to weave an unforgettable story with words and imagination, Salem's Lot was a good book for anyone ready for an enjoyable horror story with twists and turns with every flip of the page. I most definitely had fun while reading this book, and when it was over I was disappointed there wasn't a sequel. The original story line and quick-to-like characters made this novel a one-of-a-kind, a book you can really sink your teeth into.


Rating:
Summary: Solid quintessential early King novel
Review: This is King's second novel, and while it has all of the elements that went on to establish him as the premiere author of horror fiction, I think that it lacks the sophistication of is later novels, and the raw power of some of his best early novels.

Salem's Lot deals with the adventures of Ben Mears, Father Callahan, and a host of others as they struggle to defend their small town from a mysterious spate of deaths (and undead) that turns out to be the handiwork of vampires.

King's fingerprints are all over every page. Uber-realistic dialogue, complete with cursewords and contemptorary cultural references. Blood, guts, and more blood and guts. A small northeastern town town by a sinister presence. Good versus evil. Child heroes, and adult heroes. Vivid descriptive language and a plot that keeps moving. For all that, this book is not King's most enjoyable, and I would recommend that someone new to King's work pick up something more popular, and save this for somewhere in the middle.

The reemergence of Father Callahan in the final two gunslinger books makes it known that King himself finds this work to be an important piece of his life's work, and it is actually a very good take on vampires, mixing elements of folklore with a more realistic and modern setting.

Despite my criticisms, I don't want anyone to think that this is a bad book. King is miles ahead of the pack when it comes to fleshing out a world, and then goosebumping out the flesh. You will get thrills and chills from this novel, especially if you read it alone at night.

But if you're new to King, revel in the fact that you can measure his work against a stick a mile high, and that this is somewhere in the middle. If you're already a fan of King, this is a classic and typical example of King's early work.


Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: This book has great characters and is an exciting read at times, but it is not very scary and even at times boring. The story was at its best discussing the symbol of the Marsten house and how the many characters acted in its shadow, but the story eventually devolves into a standard thriller which is enjoyable but nothing special. I actually found my self laughing out loud at many of the similes and circumstances.

Rating:
Summary: A classic vamp story
Review: Salem's Lot was one of the first King novels I read. He sort of set the standard for a lot of horror writers when this book came out. This vampire story kind of goes against the tide of a lot of modern vampire stories where the vampires are all super cool. This is a classic nosferatu, and its corrosive impact on the small town is horrific. Vampire fans should make it a priority.

Rating:
Summary: Classic King -- lots of jumps and few sidetracks
Review: 'Salem's Lot is about a fictional town in 1970s Maine that becomes infested with a plague of vampires. It is written very adeptly by Stephen King, who uses his prose very sparingly and rarely descends to the diarrhea of the typewriter that he developed in the 1990s.

The first third of the book unfolds quite slowly yet it is deliciously paced (if that adjective can be used for a book). The middle third is perhaps my favorite, as several townsfolk become privy to what's been happening in the town and begin to take actions against it. The resolution of the narrative is where I was slightly disappointed. I've read the book 3 times and every time, the last 50 pages or so seem almost rushed. Not sure if it was the writing or the editting that led to it, but there are gaps in the narrative that just weren't there in the first two-thirds of the novel. This is the reason I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5.

The book is throughly enjoyable and pretty darned creepy. It's a perfect read for a rainy/snowy day when you're trapped indoors. On a side note, what's surprising to me is that reading this book so long after it was first published, it shows nary a sign of age. A rarity for any book written 30+ years ago, don't you think?

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: A great book. Totally different from some of Steven King's other books. It was in your face scary, not the subtle scary.