Reviews tagging 'Murder'

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

47 reviews

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

jaysees's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Minor: Homophobia and Rape

breezer's review against another edition

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

4.0

Very very slow start, outstanding second half

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Rape

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

caro_mac's review against another edition

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Child death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Addiction and Alcohol

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

augustinedreams's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It was a good book, but lasted way too long. Also once again Stephen King brings things into the story he doesn't have to (ie sexual assault & domestic abuse). This is a book about vampires not abuse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, Violence, Addiction, Death of parent, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Torture, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Body shaming, Drug abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual harassment, Rape, and Sexual assault

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