...
Show More
This is, without a doubt, the scariest book I have ever had the misfortune to read. It features a haunted house and vampires at their absolute deadliest. Gone are the friendly vampiric teenagers of other stories. Here, these vampires kill their earthly relatives and friends, seducing them almost, with the promise of a life-stealing kiss. The story is told through multiple points of view. There's Ben Mears, a successful novelist returning to 'Salem's Lot to write a novel that he hopes will exorcise his personal demons. There's also Matt Burke, an English teacher at the local high school, Susan Norton, a strong-willed and independent woman who is Ben's love interest, and Mark Petrie, a new kid in town with the intelligence and street smarts to take on the school bully. And there are many others. Sometimes it was a bit of a challenge to remember all the names of the characters (like the Mark, Matt, and Mike who confused me at the start), but King portrays them with such a plethora of fascinating flaws and quirks that this issue becomes insignificant as you progress further into the story. Then there are the mysterious Kurt Barlow and Mr. Straker, antique dealers who have just purchased the haunted Marsten House on the hill and plan to open an antique store in town. The number of deaths grows exponentially after their arrival. However, the corpses disappear from the cemetery and mortuary, and Matt, Ben, and Susan must convince the town that the corpses are actually undead vampires. And, oh my God, are these vampires terrifying! They can float and fly, their eyes can hypnotize victims, and their lust for blood is insatiable. They hunt their parents, their children, their friends. I usually read before bedtime, but that was not a good idea with this book! Every little scratch on the window creeped me out as I imagined a vampire floating in the fog outside my window, waiting, beckoning. But perhaps the most memorable character and the most tragic victim in this book is 'Salem's Lot itself. King describes in the beginning how it has become a ghost town, with so many of the residents simply disappearing. But once Ben arrives in town, which is two years before the initial description of the town, King populates it with his signature quirky characters, and the town comes alive and breathes with both comical and tragic moments as the vampires literally suck the life out of it. I not only missed the characters who were killed, but I also missed the idea of a small town where windows and doors were never locked, where neighbors gossiped about each other but also cared about their well-being. ***There is a trigger alert in this book, however. There are horrific descriptions of child abuse, so graphic that it brought tears to my eyes.*** For a truly wicked scare, I would highly recommend this book!
