Staff Writer: Kathleen
Published Date: October 17, 1975
Number of pages: 439
Format (physical book/e-book/audiobook): E-book
Genre: Horror
Tags: Adult, Vampires, Paranormal
Cardigan rating: 5 out of 5
Thoughts:
“There is no life here but the slow death of days, and so when the evil falls on the town, its coming seems almost preordained, sweet and morphic. It is almost as though the town knows the evil was coming and the shape it would take… The town cares for devil’s work no more than it cares for God’s or man’s. It knew darkness. And darkness was enough.”
Oh, Stephen King. You either love him or you hate him, but he’s regarded as the king of horror for a reason, and it’s not just wordplay on his name. While King brings out the creepy creatures and things that go bump in the night, what he really scares you with is people. What he excels at is making his characters real, 3-dimensional, flawed people, and his settings seem like any town you could encounter going down the highway, and these people are capable of horrible things with or without monsters entering the picture. In this case, the vampires just brought the internal rot to the surface.
Oh yeah, spoiler alert- there are vampires! But to be fair, the book has been out for 50 years this month. Happy birthday, ‘Salem’s Lot! It was only King’s second published novel, and in some ways, it is a little dated. There’s some outdated language, some of which can be a bit offensive, but keep in mind, it is a 50-year-old book, and attitudes change. Homosexual slurs that were used as insults in 1975 aren’t thrown around in the same way, and they weren’t necessarily representative of King’s views at the time so much as being representative of the characters’ views- two very different things. Creating characters who are sexist, homophobic, or any other variety of small-minded doesn’t mean that an author has to be the same way, so I personally don’t have a problem with the book. At the same time, I’m of the opinion that if specific language or content bothers you, it doesn’t make you weak or a lesser person to avoid a book for it. There’s a book for every person, but every book isn’t for every person.
I’m not entirely sure why I love this book so much- I’m not a big horror fan, I’m not crazy about vampires (they’re just okay), and if I had a dollar for every time someone pees themself in this book, I’d be able to buy myself lunch- and that’s a big turnoff for me in any form of media. It’s not a light-hearted read by any stretch of the imagination. Yet ‘Salem’s Lot is easily in my top five favorite books, maybe even top three, and I have a very hard time choosing favorites. There’s just something about the way King writes people and relationships that I love, and it really shines here. I love a good team-up, and I enjoy ordinary people stepping up to the plate more than a chosen one. I really appreciate a genre-savvy protagonist, and you’ve got your pick of them here- not that it keeps anyone safe. Of course, it’s a Stephen King book, so there’s not going to be a happy ending, but it’s optimistic. Some of our heroes died, the ones who lived are traumatized, but by God, they aren’t giving up. Despite the vampires, it’s a very human book.