Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

30 reviews

emilypolcyn's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.75

This is a perfect vampire book to me. I loved how much setup we had — it made the world feel so real and grounded so when the vampires actually came the stakes were incredibly high (haha get it… stakes…)

A lovable cast of characters and a portrait of some truly awful people. I expected a good scary story but didn’t expect to love the people in it as much as I did.

Some outdated language / iffy remarks about queer and trans people but the story is all about terrible people + it was the 90s and King is just some white guy so I’ll give him a break. But if that sort of stuff upsets you be forewarned (not that you probably read Stephen King to feel warm and fuzzy inside… but still)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Child death, Car accident, Death, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

literatureleaf's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Physical abuse, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual violence, Cursing, Homophobia, and Infidelity

Minor: Bullying, Medical content, Car accident, Addiction, Racial slurs, Sexism, Grief, and Death of parent

scip's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Kidnapping, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Cannibalism

r_o_s_e's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Child death, Violence, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Suicide

nathegz's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, and Car accident

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

mmadill227's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Child abuse, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Child death, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcohol and Rape

julesfromarvs's review against another edition

dark inspiring tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Eccomi qua con un’altra recensione ad un libro di Stephen King. 
Mi trovo ora ad averne letti quattro, e devo ammettere che questo è stato per me il più difficile da leggere. 
Da subito ci vengono presentati una trentina di personaggi diversi ed, essendo io abituata a fare molto affidamento sulla mia memoria visiva, ho avuto difficoltà a distinguerli uno dall’altro, proprio perché molti vengono esplorati e, soprattutto, descritti pochissimo fisicamente. 
Ogni volta che leggo la descrizione di un personaggio, nella mia testa parte un collegamento diretto ad una persona originata dalla mia mente (a volte anche ad un attore) che mi facilita l’immaginarmi l’intera scena; qui purtroppo spesso ho fatto fatica. 
Inoltre, io do moltissima importanza e attenzione allo sviluppo dei personaggi, e qui onestamente ne ho trovato poco. Sono tutti personaggi interessanti, ma che mi abbia preso veramente forse ce n’è stato solo uno, Matt, e comunque anche lui approfondito per modo di dire … sono stati più che altro molti dei suoi discorsi a farmici affezionare. 
Con questo assolutamente non voglio togliere nulla al libro e al tipo di scrittura, semplicemente è proprio un mio gusto personale, forse anche legato al fatto di aver letto, fino ad ora, una maggioranza di racconti tanto centrati sulla crescita dei personaggi. 
La trama è sicuramente interessante, le storie di vampiri catturano sempre la mia attenzione, e così è stato anche qui. Ho solo da aggiungere che forse, avendolo letto nell’anno 2023, oramai con un bagaglio “vampiresco” molto pieno, non l’ho trovata particolarmente originale, anzi, è stato tutto abbastanza prevedibile. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcohol, Blood, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical content, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

kaimetcalfe's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Gore, Medical content, Violence, Child death, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Car accident, and Sexism

Moderate: Excrement, Cancer, War, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Pedophilia, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

zone_a3's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Stalking, Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Blood, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Animal death

Moderate: Body horror, Rape, Sexual violence, Bullying, Car accident, and Alcoholism

dannilmp's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

You would think a novel with Salem in it's title would be about witches, but here you would be very wrong. A refreshing vampire read compared to the novels I grew up with during my teenage years (looking at you Twilight, vampire academy and the Morganville Vampire series). King takes what should be a dark topic and makes it even more so. We follow a young man recovering from personal loss as he ventures back to the town he once spent time in as a child. Except now new men have moved in and the mood has certainly changed.

It is King's ability to write a good atmospheric horror setting that makes me enjoy all of his work so much, the descriptions of the vampires, of their creation, their impact on the town and the rest of the living is so stomach churning,

especially the description of the smells these vampires leave behind

Honestly I think the priest was one of my favoutire characters for this novel. 

I must say I wasn't a fan of the epilogue section of the novel, I thought this dragged out, didn't really add much more to the story but also didn't help to make the ending of the novel any clearer. In fact I think the epilogue muddied the experience and put me off of any ideas of a re-read any time soon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Child abuse

Minor: Car accident