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dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very very slow start, outstanding second half
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Murder
Moderate: Rape
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love the way King creates entire communities, with fleshed out characters and history, rather than just dumping the present on us. It's so fascinating to read even the parts that aren't filled with the supernatural. If the book is about a community you can be damn sure King knew every corner of the place inside out; it teminds me of Under the Dome in that way. It adds to the tension because you know something horrifying is coming, and there's constantly something simmering under the surface while you deal with small-town gossip and secrets.
When things start to ramp up from about half way through, you can totally see the point of the slow burn until then. You've got to know all the characters just well enough to predict and dread the impending carnage.
When things do start to escalate (and it happens fast!), you can tell that making the reader informed and the victims ignorant is completely intentional; I wanted to yell at the book every time someone said "come on in" to a knock at the door, or brandished a useless gun. It made it quite fun through the tension.
I flew through the second half after savouring the first. This is definitely a classic with a proper traditional horror feel.
When things start to ramp up from about half way through, you can totally see the point of the slow burn until then. You've got to know all the characters just well enough to predict and dread the impending carnage.
When things do start to escalate (and it happens fast!), you can tell that making the reader informed and the victims ignorant is completely intentional; I wanted to yell at the book every time someone said "come on in" to a knock at the door, or brandished a useless gun. It made it quite fun through the tension.
I flew through the second half after savouring the first. This is definitely a classic with a proper traditional horror feel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Car accident
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol
I would like to have a talk with Stephen King’s editor, because I have suggestions. Cut the slurs. Cut any sexual comment about an underage girl (and maybe even the ones about adult women — this man called breasts “jahoovies” MULTIPLE TIMES). Cut ~150 pages because this does not need to be as long as it is.
I felt about this the same I do about most Stephen King books. The bones are there and so good; he’s unmatched in his breadth of horror plot lines. But my god is this long book filled with writing that you’d think was intentionally trying to alienate women, queer readers, people of color… basically, Stephen King writes for straight, white, cis men and the rest of us just take what we can get from it. I loved the vampires and the haunted mansion on the hill, just hated all the characters and the way they talked and the way they were talked about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual assault
Minor: Pedophilia, Transphobia
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love Stephen King, his writing really works for me and I usually love his stories, but I just hate vampires. That's literally the only reason I didn't like this book. The writing was amazing, and I like how descriptive it is, but I'm just not a fan of vampires.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death
Moderate: Animal death, Rape
Minor: Sexual content
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Age: 16+
Reading time: 7 days
Difficulty level: 1.5/5
Rating: 3.5/5
Salem’s Lot by Stephen King follows Ben Mears, a stuck-in-a-rut, struggling author, as he returns to his hometown in hopes of drawing inspiration for his new book from the Marsten House, an abandoned mansion with a dark and bloody history. However, upon arriving, Ben quickly realizes that all is not what it appears to be in the ‘Lot when things begin to go wrong.
As strange disappearances and unexplained happenings start to occur, coinciding with the arrival of two new residents who just don’t quite seem to be who they say they are, Ben teams up with a small group of locals to uncover the secrets of the Lots’ past, and attempt to save both the residents of Salem’s Lot and the town itself from a fate worse than any of them can imagine.
In typical King fashion, the vivid, chilling atmosphere is the star of the show. Simultaneously disquieting and beautiful, the feeling of something deeply sinister unfolding just under the nose of our main characters, against the backdrop of a seemingly sleepy New England small town that somehow feels like somewhere you’ve been before, if not in person, then in your dreams, is intensely personal and familiar.
King is the master of turning the mundane into the riveting, disgust into empathy, and pain into beauty. With the simple stroke of a pen, the boring, repetitive, and often depressing realities of those who live in small towns are crafted into something that shows how the most carnal, intimate thread of the shared human experience is fear.
With so much of the focus placed on the setting and the plot, character depth suffers. For much of the book, the main cast feels forced and shallow. With what feels like little insight into their deeper motivations and feelings, forming empathy and genuine connection with them feels impossible to achieve, even in the face of their struggles.
Unfortunately, the impression of underdeveloped characters is compounded by, at times, weak dialogue, and a long winded narrative. So much time is spent on their circumstances and environment that there is little time left to devote to the inner workings of their relationships with the town and with one another, leading to the feeling that something integral is missing.
Leaving little to the imagination, Salem’s Lot is a masterwork in utilizing the supernatural as a vehicle to explore the depths of human depravity. Taking the quietly desperate lives of the Lots’ residents, and putting their secrets, heartache, rage, wonder, and love on display in the face of a surreal, non-human malevolence beyond their wildest dreams displays a stark spotlight, not on otherworldly entities, but on the horrors that permeate our towns, our neighborhoods, and even our own backyards.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence
Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Racial slurs, Sexism, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent
Too slow, predictable, and some extremely disturbing content
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death
Minor: Rape
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I know a lot of people who consider this to be one of King's best but I was honestly bored a lot of the time. There were a couple of chapters that actually kind of moved me so in a way it made the whole thing worth it. But what's up with King and using the f slur every other page in his book?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Blood
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I forgot how much I loved Stephen King's books! It was slow to start - why would I care about some random small town in Maine? But once it got going it was relentless and I simply couldn't put it down. I plowed through the second half of the book last night and this morning. The story is thrilling and it pulls you in before you even realize it. Stephen King is a master at crafting tense and creepy atmospheres and 'Salem's Lot does not disappoint on that front.
One thing to be wary of is this book also is no exception to King's sometimes weird descriptions of what women (and sometimes also girls) look like or behave like. Just weird sexual descriptions that are just uncomfortable. I understand sometimes it's the characters themselves thinking these things (Dud regarding Ruthie is the major example here) but even still it always sticks out as weird to me.
In spite of that, though, this book was thoroughly enjoyable to read!
One thing to be wary of is this book also is no exception to King's sometimes weird descriptions of what women (and sometimes also girls) look like or behave like. Just weird sexual descriptions that are just uncomfortable. I understand sometimes it's the characters themselves thinking these things (Dud regarding Ruthie is the major example here) but even still it always sticks out as weird to me.
In spite of that, though, this book was thoroughly enjoyable to read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Rape, Suicide