Rating: Summary: BEST BOOK IVE EVER READ!!!! Review: Stephen King is a great author. He writes with many, many details, and you can almost see every page in your head. Every page-from the first to the last is like a little movie inside your head. The size of the font isn't too small, so it's easy to read, unlike some of his other books (like "It"), and it isn't too big (like in "Pet Cemetary"). King breaks the chapters into little sections, too. Sometimes in the middle of a chapter, after one the breaks in the chapter, if something really exciting is about to happen, he changes the scene. I usually got really mad when that happened, but then when I read a bit further, I realized that what he did was for a reason. He usually changed it to five minutes or so before the end of the scence before, in someone else's point of view. For example, a girl is walking to a house to kill a vampire, and she gets to the front door and the scene changes and you start reading about a boy, a couple minutes before the girl got to the door, and he's preparing to go kill the vampire too, and they end up seeing each other. The beginning of the book starts out with Ben driving to Salem's Lot, his old home town. He is driving around and he gets to his hotel or motel or whatever it is, Eva's house. Later, he meets a girl named Susan that is reading one of his books(Ben is an author)at the park. They start talking, and they become very good friends. Also, later on in the book they start going out. Strange things start to happen in Salem's Lot as soon as "Straker and Barlow's Antique Shop" opens. People start to disappear, and some people are even found dead. No one really knows what really is going on in Salem's Lot, except about six or seven people. They know that vampires are taking over Salem's Lot. They have to stop the vampires before it's too late, and Salme's Lot turns into a city inhabited by vampires. I won't give any more away though, because I don't want to give away the whole story. I would recommend this book to EVERYONE that wants to read a really good book that will last him/her a while. The book has lots of details, and you can see everything in your head because it's written so well. This book took me about two weeks to read, and I guess I'm about an average speed reader . . . I think that if you're under 10, then you shouldnt read this book, because you wouldnt understand whats happening in the book. ALso, there is a lot of swearing, and a sex scene, so it may be too strong for little kids. BUY THIS BOOK NOW! YOU WON'T REGRET IT! Well, if you do read this book, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Rating: Summary: One of the BEST from the master Review: Nobody writes like this any more, even King himself. SL is the story of a boy who returns home to face the haunted Martsen House and his boyhood fears, only to discover a town slowly turning vampire. This one is a classic. I haven't read anything to touch it, especially lately (except perhaps for 'Night of the Beast, Harry Shannon's wonderfully over-the-top "pulp" novel released last August). If you are a horror fan, do NOT miss "Salem's Lot." It will keep you up nights!
Rating: Summary: Salem's Lot Review: Salem's Lot is a small New England town with white clapboard houses, tree - lined streets, and solid church steeples. That summer in Salem's Lot was a summer of homecoming and return; spring burned out and the land lying dry, crackling underfoot. Late that summer, Ben Mears returned to Salem's Lot hoping to cast out his own devils and found instead a new, unspeakable horror. A stranger had also come to the Lot, a stranger with a secret as old as evil, a secret that would wreak irreaparable harm on those he touched and in turn on those they loved. All would be changed forever: Susan, whose love for Ben could not protect her; Father Callahan, the bad priest who put his eroded faith to one last test; and Mark, a young boy who sees his fantasy world become reality and ironically proves the best equipped to handle the relentless nightmare of Salem's Lot. This is a rare novel, almost hypnotic in its unyielding suspense, which builds to a climax of classic terror. You will not forget the town of Salem's Lot nor any of the people who used to live there.
Rating: Summary: now this is a vampire story Review: There are two kinds of vampires. Either you like the sad, beautiful type ala Interview With a Vampire or Spike and Angel from the Buffy universe or you get something from the Stephen King mold. I prefer King's vampires. Kurt Barlow and any of the night creatures from Salem's Lot are mean, feral and cunning. They don't suffer from angst and they don't spend time on philosophy. Salem's Lot is a pleasant little town with a nasty underbelly. There is embezzlement, gossip, wife and child abuse, and alcoholism going on behind closed doors. King does such a good job describing his townsfolk, both the heroes and the lesser villains that you almost don't notice when the long, heavy box arrives at the old Marsten house. Once the vampire is loose things move very quickly in this book and you will go for a roller coaster ride. King makes you love certain characters and breaks your heart when he kills them off. The book raises so many emotions but best of all it scares the reader. You can not read this book at night without being unnerved. This, along with the Stand and the Shinning is King's best book.
Rating: Summary: Talk about a 2nd novel! Review: This novel was only Stephen King's second (after Carrie), but already it was easy to see that he had what it took to get on top and stay there. The new paperback edition includes a new introduction by Mr. King where he recalls some of his early influences and is informative as well as enjoyable. 'Salem's Lot represents a major contribution to the genre of vampires and anyone interested in the subject should read this novel. King has always enjoyed writing about young characters in incredible situations (he did it recently in "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon") and here he draws a deep and terrifying picture of a young boy and a town growing thirsty for blood all around him.
Rating: Summary: genuinely frightening Review: Yes, I know, I'm supposed to think that this genre of popular horror is trash, etc, etc. To be honest though, this is a genuinely frightening book. Engrossed, and reading it at night and alone, I pulled the curtain across my window after I read the 'window' scenes, just nervous enough that some child like cadaver would float past and force me to run screaming into the hallway. Regarding King's manner of writing in general, I really enjoy his portraits of small town life, and the web of relationships that emerges as the novels progress. It is a nice combination - being really frightened yet also interested in the psychology of people in the town. King does this well, showing us how individuals are dragged into the horror; which weaknesses and desires lead people into particular vulnerabilities to the villains (in this case vampires). It's a fun, frightening, and gripping read.
Rating: Summary: Not the Best of King's Review: The Salems Lot does not contain many novel ideas, at least when read from this point in time. It might have been when it was first published when popular works and films on vampires are not as overflowing. Since then, things like "Fright Nights" flooded the market, and everyone knows what vampires are up to, and what their tricks of trade are, so to speak, namely, no reflection off mirrors, repulsed by crucifix, vulnerable to sunlight and can be killed by piercing a wooden stick through the heart. So, there is nothing striking when these appear in the book. In this novel, you won't find many detailed exposition of the historical legend of the Vampire, nor can you find explanation of why the vampire ever bothered to travel hundreds of miles across the ocean from a classy mediveal castle in Romania to a samll forlon American town. The objective of the Vampire trying to maintain a low profile but at the same time opened an antique furniture shop in the town where nobody could afford the luxury of the merchandise, seem self-defeating. Also, the story is of a one-sided good versus evil type. Yet, the main characters are not "unblemished": the teacher is a drunk, the priest has lost his faith, the writer is sort of an adulterer, the boy (Mark) is more or less a freak with his collection of monster figures and vampire comics, and the girl is infidel. It is not convincing that these people would have the moral conviction to fight an evil. At least, I am not sorry to see some of them destroyed by the Vampire. As for the Vampire, there is no description of his inner feelings - if he is not the Devil himself, but, say, an agent of the devil, has he ever retained some kind of humanity that he may have some compassion towards the human race? He may hate them all, and vent his anger by sucking their blood dry, or that he may feel remorse as his is not able to control his lustful desire and murder innocent people - sort of like an addiction, or he may just be a beast with a human shape with no feeling at all towards mankind, that to suck their blood is just like how we eat KFC or a steak - that what he feels is an instant gratification of physical desire. A modern reader will find these description to add perspective in the novel. The other characters are uninteresting and not well developed. They are weakly linked among each other. For example, that the girl who used to be a prom queen but got pregant and married young plays no part in the story. It is not necessary and quite irrelevant. You won't miss much if her part is completely removed. All in all, the story is too straight forward and the characters are uninteresting. You almost know how it will develop and how it will end after having read the first few pages.
Rating: Summary: Freaky Review: This is the best Stephen King book, of the 3 I've read (Thinner, pet semetary). A very suspensful book, that conjures some genuinly scary moments. I love the way King made the town seem so real, and the main charachters have real depth. BE FOREWARNED...reading this alone at night, may cause nightmares, and/or stubbed toes as you go to check to make sure there are no vampires hovering outside your window.
Rating: Summary: Scariest book ever!!! Review: This is literally the scariest book I've ever read!!! Vampires slowly take over a small Maine town (not Derry) and Ben tries to stop them along with an alliance with Mark, Susan, Father Callahan, a doctor, and a kid. Read this at night. It makes it even scarier. A must read for vampire fans.
Rating: Summary: A Good Old-Fashioned Horror Story Review: Little surprise to find evil lurking in a town whose name sounds like a gravesite. Stephen King survives the test of time, the distinguishing mark of a true artist, in that "Salem's Lot" retains its bite from its first to susbsequent readings. It is unlikely that King set out to write a social commentary (though he's crafty enough to have done it sublimally). Rather, this classic tale of vampirism is a sheer delight if for no other reason than to get spooked. It's a great read on a cold, snowbound night with popcorn or flavored rice cakes within reach. On a steamy summer night, it forces the reader to close the windows (and hang a strand of garlic) and lock the doors. Whatever the season, though, "Salem's Lot" amplifies every otherwise unnoticed slight creak in the tree outside and the silenced whispers in a mild breeze. And, as King forces it in virtual every other writing, his reader at some point has to set the book down and come up for air - and a safety check.
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