Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

54 reviews

ktnl22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

4.5

It took a little while to get into but then I couldn't put the book down. This is my 2nd Stephen King book I've read and I really enjoyed it, looking forward to reading more of his books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal death, Death of parent, Death, Murder, and Rape

the_cheerful_necromancer's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Ported over from my now-abandoned Goodreads:

Quite frankly this is my favourite King book. It's terribly bleak, but it manages to be tentatively hopeful too. The tension and the pacing kept my attention all the time, and I inhaled the book over the course of a day or so.
I found myself really, truly rooting for every one of the POV characters. It's a product of its time, of course, and features quite a few very heavy themes and detestable side characters (what else is new?) but overall this one holds up brilliantly. I know I'll be coming back to it again. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Alcoholism, and Rape

Minor: Homophobia

Buyer beware: This book was written in the 1970's, and sometimes goes out of its way to make snide remarks about gay people. It's almost funny how much of a non-sequitur every inclusion of homophobia is; literally none of the characters are actually gay, at least as far as we see.

mxpringle's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Torture, Murder, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Death of parent, Violence, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

11black_cats's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Very good take on the vampire trope, quite a slow burn in terms of horror but very tense. Quite long though 😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Car accident, Infidelity, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

introverted_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Blood, Gore, Car accident, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual violence, and Homophobia

Minor: Cancer

polargare's review against another edition

dark tense 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Rape, Violence, Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Blood, and Death of parent

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Animal death

Moderate: Car accident and Rape

risemini's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, Death, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Grief, and 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