I first encountered Mr. King’s works back in the late 1970’s and quickly became a huge fan. I even got to meet the man himself in 1983 when I was attending Nassau Community College. Mr. King had come for a politician who had been running for the Democratic Presidential ticket (the man in question later dropped out after having been caught out by the press for having an affair).
Back to Stephen King, I was in awe of him back then and I still am today. I will admit some of his books are not always my cup of tea these days, but he is still a brilliant writer whom I look up to and respect. “Salem’s Lot” is one of the reasons for my admiration. Check out the review I created for Goodreads.com below and perhaps you’ll get a better picture as to why I love this particular book so much.
5-STARS
| Possibly one of the best modern-day vampire stories I’ve ever read.
‘Salem’s Lot is a nice little town up in Maine. A charming community where everyone knows their neighbors, but not all their dirty little secrets. Even the most picturesque towns has it’s share of dark tales. Take the Marsten House where Hubie Marsten murdered his wife and then hung himself. No one has lived there for years, but now someone has bought the place. At the same time Ben Mears, the famous author, has returned to ‘Salem’s Lot to do a story on the old place. He’d gone inside once on a dare and has been trying to reconcile what he saw that day inside the old abandoned place. But while he tries to wrestle with old ghosts, a greater threat has come to town. First a beloved dog is found hanging on the cemetery gate, mutilated in a most bizarre and ritualistic fashion. Soon a small boy disappears and his older brother contracts a fatal illness with anemia-like traits. Soon darkness spreads across the town, but no one is willing to talk about it. Some ponder but none are willing to acknowledge or admit to the possibility of something ‘supernatural’ taking hold of their community… I have always loved this story because it felt so believable to me. We are taught to be rational and intelligent. To not believe in bogeymen, werewolves, or vampires. So I could easily see an entire town slowly being turned into the living dead through the old “you bite two friends, and they bite two friends, and so on…” method. And who would believe it if you told them this was happening? The police? The clergy? The newspapers? Or would you have to create your own little band of slayers to fight the threat? People who’ve seen and now believe and are willing to stand with you? Or do you simply turn and run, leaving the town to it’s fate? For me, this is one of Mr. King’s greatest works |
Musings Of Two Creative Minds 