October Stephen King Tribute Day 29: Salem's Lot

Salem's Lot was originally published in October of 1975.

Warning, this review does contain spoilers.

Following the death of his wife, author Ben Mears returns to his home town of Jerusalem's Lot, or Salem's Lot as the locals call it. Ben decides to write a book about the old Marsten House, now an abandoned mansion. It had once belonged to Hubert Marsten, a rough gangster. Ben learns that the house has been purchased by Mr. Straker and Mr. Barlow who plan on opening an antique store in Jerusalem's Lot.

What Ben and the rest of the town are unaware of is that Mr. Barlow is a master vampire. A young boy goes missing and the town is slowly taken over by vampires, leaving it a ghost town during the day. Ben, his girlfriend Susan, his friend Mark, his doctor Cody, a boy named Mark and Father Callahan endeavor to eradicate the vampires from the town. Tragedy strikes the group. Susan is turned into a vampire herself while Father Callahan is forced to drink blood from Barlow's neck, thus preventing him from ever approaching a church. Cody is killed and Mark dies of a heart attack.

Ben and the young Mark eventually take out the master vampire but just barely escape the town with their lives. They flee to Mexico only to return a year later to renew their efforts.

This book really scared me silly when I first read it. I was in eighth grade, and read most of it on a rainy night. I know that sounds a little cliche, but it is true. I remember looking under beds and in closets for a week or so after I finished the book.

Vampires are certainly not a new topic, not even back in 1975. The story is simple, vampires attempting to take over the world. But, Stephen King gives the story life and forces you to be interested in the characters. No one can take you on a scary ride like he can.

There have been several movies and sequels based on this novel. In my opinion, they are all garbage and do not come close to doing the book justice. Maybe I am too hard on movie adaptations of King's novels. But maybe not. He does set a pretty high bar to have to strive towards.