Steve-Calvert.co.uk
Steve-Calvert.co.uk
A Passion For Horror
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'Salem's Lot was Stephen King's second novel and it is set in the fictional Maine town of Jerusalem's Lot. King planed to name his novel after the townl, but the publishers thought that the name Jerusalem's Lot was a little too religious sounding and so shortened the title. The central character is a writer called Ben Mears. When Ben was a child he spent four years living in Jerusalem's Lot with his Aunt Cindy and has some happy memories of the town. Not all of his memories are good though. He once had a bad experience in the old, derelict Marsten House and the memory has haunted his dreams, on and off, ever since. Now Ben has returned to 'salem's Lot with the intention of renting the house and writing a book about it, in the hopes of perhaps exorcising the memory once and for all. Unfortunately for Ben, someone else has beaten him to it and the house has been sold to a pair of antique dealers, Barlow and Straker, who have not only bought the Marsten House but also the old Laundromat which they plan on turning into an antiques shop. Straker makes his appearance a few chapters into the book, but the mysterious Barlow, is apparently away on a buying trip. Unable to rent his dream accommodation, but still planning on writing his novel, Ben has to settle for a room in the local guest house instead and has barely settled in when he has a chance encounter in the park with, local girl, Susan Norton. Susan is quite a few years younger than Ben and when they meet she is reading one of his novels, looks up and sees Ben watching her and recognizes him immediately from his picture in the book. The pair strike up a conversation and suddenly Ben has found a new love in the old town. Ben also forms a firm friendship with local school teacher, Matt Burke and he agrees to give a talk to one of Matt's classes. Both men are well educated and they have a lot in common. In fact they get on so well together that when Matt begins to see evidence of vampire activity in the town, it is Ben that he turns to for help. Matt Burke becomes an important character in the story as does Matt's doctor Jimmy Cody and a young boy called Mark Petrie, who is also reasonably new to the Lot. In fact, if you have read Bram Stoker's Dracula, this little group might put you in mind of the one that went after the Count. You may also notice other similarities between the books because when King wrote 'Salem's Lot he intended it to be a kind of literary homage to Stoker's story, and even mentions this fact in his non-fiction book Danse Macabre. I have read 'Salem's Lot twice. I have also read Dracula, and I must admit to enjoying King's book the best. I find it easier to identify with the characters in Salem's Lot and the story has a lot more to it than just vampires. The spooky, old Marsten House, for instance, adds an aspect of the haunted house story to the tale and I am very partial to haunted house stories. Whether you are a fan of vampire stories,
haunted house stories -- or just horror stories in general -- I can
definitely recommend 'Salem's Lot. They don't come much better
than this; it is 483 pages of fantastic fiction. If your reading tastes
usually run to Mills and Boone, though, you might want to give it a miss
because if someone is starring into anyone's eyes it means that they are
hypnotized, love bites tend to be fatal and the only protection needed in
this book is a crucifix. |
