22. 'Salem's Lot' (1975).
'Salem's Lot - Beware: Spoilers ahead.
I first read Salem's Lot when I was about thirteen, and it was perhaps the fourth or fifth King I had read. I had seen the miniseries before reading the book, and other than the horribly striking scene of Ralphie Glick dragging his nails squeakily down his brother's bedroom window, found the whole thing a disappointing bore-fest, particularly coming from Tobe Hooper.
I have to admit that my first reading of Salem's Lot was probably influenced by my opinion of the miniseries, and I really had to drag myself through it. It didn't help that very few of the major protagonists were women or children, unlike It and The Shining, and at thirteen, my range of empathy didn't extend much further than myself.
I really wasn't looking forward to re-reading this, so imagine my surprise when I found I was thoroughly enjoying it.
I read the much more recently written introduction at the start of the text, just to get a sense of King's own impression looking back on his work. He writes that 'Salem's Lot feels a lot more grown up than some of the writing before it, and I'd agree with him. There is something much more mature in terms of style, a sense that you're reading a work by a fully fledged, experienced author who has already honed his craft.
The novel takes place in the titular town of Jerusalem's Lot, 'Salem's Lot to the locals, where Ben Mears, childhood resident of the Lot, has returned to try to put some of his figurative and literal demons to rest. Most of these demons lie sleeping in the old Marsten House, where Ben had a traumatic supernatural experience as a young boy. His idea is to rent the place out as an adult as a kind of psychic cleansing, convincing himself that what he saw all those years before couldn't possibly be real. A spanner is thrown in the works when Ben discovers the house has already been taken by the decidedly creepy and preternaturally strong Mr Straker, and his unseen partner Mr Barlow.
It's obvious to the reader pretty quickly that Barlow and Straker are bad news, and so when residents start getting a bit pale, dogs are impaled on railings, and children kidnapped, we are solemnly unsurprised. The question we ask is not who, but why?
For those of you that haven't read 'Salem's Lot and somehow have ended up on this site with no idea what the novel is about, it's best you stop here if you're thinking about reading it. I wonder to what extent my own opinion of the novel might have changed had I not been aware of the basic premise of the story, and what Barlow and Straker are all about.
It's not far into the novel that we discover what's happening to the folk of 'Salem's Lot, when poor Danny Glick, brother to the missing child, dies of severe anemia (starting to get it?). Later when the town grave-digger is burying him, he opens his eyes, grins with newly sharp teeth, and claims his first victim,
How does it read?
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I struggled with this novel the first time I read it, and have just roared through it at a mad pace twenty years later. Perhaps part of that is to do with the mature style King discusses in the introduction. 'Salem's Lot is an adult book, about adults and for adults. The main characters behave like adults, and strangely, so does the only younger key character, Mark. It was perhaps a little out of my reach at thirteen, and I couldn't quite get my head around the small-town problems and relationships which so spoke to me as an adult.
As a teenager, I gravitated towards King because I wanted to be frightened. I had graduated from Goosebumps, to Point Horror, and had then begun to sneak Kings off my mother's bookshelves because I craved ghosts and gore, and genuine terror. Because of this, at thirteen, 'Salem's Lot left me a little antsy and unsatisfied. I've never found vampires a particularly scary or believable prospect, and didn't here. Even enjoying it as I did this time, I wasn't afraid. It's a great read, pacy and fun with likeable, sympathetic characters, but it's not a really scary book.
If you're alright with that, then dive in. The story is hugely entertaining, rattling on with little room to pause, and King manages to keep an enormous cast of characters under control and specific. I'm not sure you could get through it in one sitting (483 pages in my edition), but it flows more steadily than Carrie, with less to break it up and halt the progress.
There are, perhaps, fewer memorable moments in 'Salem's Lot than in Carrie. The scene I mentioned earlier from the Tobe Hooper miniseries is not as startling in the text, and the scene that King discusses as being particularly shocking to him, where a character falls down a fake flight of stairs and is impaled by knives, didn't have the same impact on me. I also felt that Susan's staking worked better in Hooper's interpretation, left until the end for ultimate shock value.
Who's Who?
What makes 'Salem's Lot as effective as it is, is the characters. There are hundreds of them, and, as you would in a small village, you get to know them all. King knows and understands each one, their mannerisms, motivations, thoughts and feelings. There are occasional bursts of this in his short stories, but in 'Salem's Lot, King's now famous talent for characterisation is on full show.
The minor characters are treated with just as much respect as those we spend more time with. Cheating Bonnie Sawyer and her abusive husband Reggie barely feature, but their relationship is drawn carefully enough that we relish his eventual destruction. We feel simultaneous disgust and sympathy for Sandy McDougall, who takes out the frustrations of the lost potential of her life on her
infant son.
The more significant characters are similarly rounded. Ben Mears is a wholeheartedly nice bloke who manages to not come across as too nice. His relationship with sweet Susan is touching and natural, and her eventual demise is genuinely saddening. My only criticism of the character is that his reaction to her death feels a little off. His lack of emotion may be King's attempt to show the swirling storm inside, but it comes across as cold and out of character.
The rest of the 'Scooby Gang', who make it their mission to stop the domino chain of vampires started by the wicked residents of the Marsten House, are similarly likeable. The fact that they do a pretty poor job actually strengthens the novel, making the whole journey feel more likely and the villains much scarier. The only major issue I had with them, and have with many Kings, is the ease with which they accept the supernatural occurrences taking place. I suppose it's necessary for the novel to take place, but it always felt to me a little ridiculous. Perhaps in a real-life situation you could convince one person to listen to your crazy story without calling the local psych ward. Four or five? Doubtful.
The villains of the tale are weaker than the heroes, and I struggled to feel particularly afraid of either vamp-in-chief Barlow or his super-strength human familiar, Straker. I've tried to put my finger on why I found them so safe, and can only come up with the lack of real, get-down-to-it blood, guts, and gore. You don't actually see Barlow bite anyone, and the worst Straker does openly is give someone a sore set of balls. Perhaps my main issue with the villains, however, is simply that I don't find vampires frightening. Sexy, sometimes. Interesting, maybe. To me, they conjure the same sort of fear as zombies; more a gross out than a real spine-chill.
Small-town Maine
This is the first of Stephen King's settings to feel like a character in its own right. 'Salem's Lot was not the first of King's stories to be set in Nowheresville, Maine, and certainly wouldn't be the last, but it marks a shift in terms of attention to detail. You could draw a detailed map of Jerusalem's Lot based on King's description of it, and become its local taxi driver after.
There is something truly magical and fascinating about small-town America. I have always dreamed about taking a holiday to the US and travelling all around the tiniest towns, make-believing I'm in a King, or a Russo, or an Irving. My itinerary would be less galleries, museums, and wine bars, more diners, porch spotting, and finding the water tower with the town's name on it - they all have that, right? I have it all sketched out in my head (but maybe more on that in another post).
The town of 'Salem's Lot, and later Castle Rock, Derry, or any of the many other small fictionalised Northeastern settings, are classic backdrops for King's work, because they contain and encourage all the things that make his work the best. Close (sometimes too close) relationships, isolation, secrets, nostalgia. In all of them there is a sense of being frozen in time while the world around you continues about its business. As a basis for horror, small towns are ideal, and many authors of frightening fiction know it. A microcosm in which terrible things can happen without anyone really paying attention? Perfect.
As a setting for a vampire tale, it's better than perfect. Where else could you lose so many residents without people quickly noticing? In his introduction, King mentions Dracula, and his conversation with his wife about how the ideas contained in it might translate to a small American town. In a much later interview I remember hearing once, King mentions that many of his stories start with the thought 'wouldn't it be kinda funny...'. In 'Salem's Lot, that casual first thought really reaches its potential.
How do I rate it?
I think the question of how effective the novel is depends partly what you're judging it on. Is it scary? For me, no. If vampires give you the willies, then yes. They're well done and don't sparkle.
'Salem's Lot - 7/10
Overall, although the writing was decidedly better, and the story fast and fun, it still drops just shy of the emotional power and punch of Carrie. The novel is often recommended by Constant Readers to friends looking to get into King. I always lend those friends The Shining first, but this certainly has more of a taste of the small-town beauty of many of King's novels. Read it outdoors in late summer to truly immerse yourself.
Go and get your teeth into it.
I first read Salem's Lot when I was about thirteen, and it was perhaps the fourth or fifth King I had read. I had seen the miniseries before reading the book, and other than the horribly striking scene of Ralphie Glick dragging his nails squeakily down his brother's bedroom window, found the whole thing a disappointing bore-fest, particularly coming from Tobe Hooper.
I have to admit that my first reading of Salem's Lot was probably influenced by my opinion of the miniseries, and I really had to drag myself through it. It didn't help that very few of the major protagonists were women or children, unlike It and The Shining, and at thirteen, my range of empathy didn't extend much further than myself.I really wasn't looking forward to re-reading this, so imagine my surprise when I found I was thoroughly enjoying it.
I read the much more recently written introduction at the start of the text, just to get a sense of King's own impression looking back on his work. He writes that 'Salem's Lot feels a lot more grown up than some of the writing before it, and I'd agree with him. There is something much more mature in terms of style, a sense that you're reading a work by a fully fledged, experienced author who has already honed his craft.
The novel takes place in the titular town of Jerusalem's Lot, 'Salem's Lot to the locals, where Ben Mears, childhood resident of the Lot, has returned to try to put some of his figurative and literal demons to rest. Most of these demons lie sleeping in the old Marsten House, where Ben had a traumatic supernatural experience as a young boy. His idea is to rent the place out as an adult as a kind of psychic cleansing, convincing himself that what he saw all those years before couldn't possibly be real. A spanner is thrown in the works when Ben discovers the house has already been taken by the decidedly creepy and preternaturally strong Mr Straker, and his unseen partner Mr Barlow.
It's obvious to the reader pretty quickly that Barlow and Straker are bad news, and so when residents start getting a bit pale, dogs are impaled on railings, and children kidnapped, we are solemnly unsurprised. The question we ask is not who, but why?
For those of you that haven't read 'Salem's Lot and somehow have ended up on this site with no idea what the novel is about, it's best you stop here if you're thinking about reading it. I wonder to what extent my own opinion of the novel might have changed had I not been aware of the basic premise of the story, and what Barlow and Straker are all about.It's not far into the novel that we discover what's happening to the folk of 'Salem's Lot, when poor Danny Glick, brother to the missing child, dies of severe anemia (starting to get it?). Later when the town grave-digger is burying him, he opens his eyes, grins with newly sharp teeth, and claims his first victim,
How does it read?
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I struggled with this novel the first time I read it, and have just roared through it at a mad pace twenty years later. Perhaps part of that is to do with the mature style King discusses in the introduction. 'Salem's Lot is an adult book, about adults and for adults. The main characters behave like adults, and strangely, so does the only younger key character, Mark. It was perhaps a little out of my reach at thirteen, and I couldn't quite get my head around the small-town problems and relationships which so spoke to me as an adult.
As a teenager, I gravitated towards King because I wanted to be frightened. I had graduated from Goosebumps, to Point Horror, and had then begun to sneak Kings off my mother's bookshelves because I craved ghosts and gore, and genuine terror. Because of this, at thirteen, 'Salem's Lot left me a little antsy and unsatisfied. I've never found vampires a particularly scary or believable prospect, and didn't here. Even enjoying it as I did this time, I wasn't afraid. It's a great read, pacy and fun with likeable, sympathetic characters, but it's not a really scary book.
If you're alright with that, then dive in. The story is hugely entertaining, rattling on with little room to pause, and King manages to keep an enormous cast of characters under control and specific. I'm not sure you could get through it in one sitting (483 pages in my edition), but it flows more steadily than Carrie, with less to break it up and halt the progress.
There are, perhaps, fewer memorable moments in 'Salem's Lot than in Carrie. The scene I mentioned earlier from the Tobe Hooper miniseries is not as startling in the text, and the scene that King discusses as being particularly shocking to him, where a character falls down a fake flight of stairs and is impaled by knives, didn't have the same impact on me. I also felt that Susan's staking worked better in Hooper's interpretation, left until the end for ultimate shock value.
Who's Who?
What makes 'Salem's Lot as effective as it is, is the characters. There are hundreds of them, and, as you would in a small village, you get to know them all. King knows and understands each one, their mannerisms, motivations, thoughts and feelings. There are occasional bursts of this in his short stories, but in 'Salem's Lot, King's now famous talent for characterisation is on full show.
infant son.
The more significant characters are similarly rounded. Ben Mears is a wholeheartedly nice bloke who manages to not come across as too nice. His relationship with sweet Susan is touching and natural, and her eventual demise is genuinely saddening. My only criticism of the character is that his reaction to her death feels a little off. His lack of emotion may be King's attempt to show the swirling storm inside, but it comes across as cold and out of character.
The villains of the tale are weaker than the heroes, and I struggled to feel particularly afraid of either vamp-in-chief Barlow or his super-strength human familiar, Straker. I've tried to put my finger on why I found them so safe, and can only come up with the lack of real, get-down-to-it blood, guts, and gore. You don't actually see Barlow bite anyone, and the worst Straker does openly is give someone a sore set of balls. Perhaps my main issue with the villains, however, is simply that I don't find vampires frightening. Sexy, sometimes. Interesting, maybe. To me, they conjure the same sort of fear as zombies; more a gross out than a real spine-chill.
Small-town Maine
This is the first of Stephen King's settings to feel like a character in its own right. 'Salem's Lot was not the first of King's stories to be set in Nowheresville, Maine, and certainly wouldn't be the last, but it marks a shift in terms of attention to detail. You could draw a detailed map of Jerusalem's Lot based on King's description of it, and become its local taxi driver after.
The town of 'Salem's Lot, and later Castle Rock, Derry, or any of the many other small fictionalised Northeastern settings, are classic backdrops for King's work, because they contain and encourage all the things that make his work the best. Close (sometimes too close) relationships, isolation, secrets, nostalgia. In all of them there is a sense of being frozen in time while the world around you continues about its business. As a basis for horror, small towns are ideal, and many authors of frightening fiction know it. A microcosm in which terrible things can happen without anyone really paying attention? Perfect.
As a setting for a vampire tale, it's better than perfect. Where else could you lose so many residents without people quickly noticing? In his introduction, King mentions Dracula, and his conversation with his wife about how the ideas contained in it might translate to a small American town. In a much later interview I remember hearing once, King mentions that many of his stories start with the thought 'wouldn't it be kinda funny...'. In 'Salem's Lot, that casual first thought really reaches its potential.
How do I rate it?
I think the question of how effective the novel is depends partly what you're judging it on. Is it scary? For me, no. If vampires give you the willies, then yes. They're well done and don't sparkle.
'Salem's Lot - 7/10
Overall, although the writing was decidedly better, and the story fast and fun, it still drops just shy of the emotional power and punch of Carrie. The novel is often recommended by Constant Readers to friends looking to get into King. I always lend those friends The Shining first, but this certainly has more of a taste of the small-town beauty of many of King's novels. Read it outdoors in late summer to truly immerse yourself.
Go and get your teeth into it.
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