'Salem's Lot

I had begun to worry on day two (of seven) of my holiday that I had nearly run out of books to read.  Luckily I had chosen to pack Stephen King's cross between Dracula and Moby Dick.  I had been reading a reference book on the evolution of horror and while I hadn't enjoyed my previous encounters with King's writing, I wanted a chance to read a vampire novel that didn't have a place within the genre boom that has occurred in the last five years.


Set (like many of King's novels) in Maine; Ben Mears is returning to Jerusalem's Lot, the small town in which he grew up in, to face his childhood fears.  His arrival happens to coincide with that of a mysterious stranger, who with his often absent partner, has purchased the eerie Marsten House which looms over the town.  Not long after do the strange occurrences that have made King the master of the horror genre.

'Salem's Lot  is packed to the brim with detail, and I got frustrated at the beginning trying to figure out who was who as a few of the names are very similar.  I didn't feel scared when I was reading it but while residing in a small town's hotel room which had open slats for windows, and then to top it off while on the beach having a stake wash up right next to me, I couldn't help but feel unnerved.  There was a need within myself to constantly discuss the ending, up until the point where I was raving like the father in Poltergeist when he discovers that only the tombstones have been moved and not the bodies.  The continuing discussion cemented my like for it, and I look forward to re-reading, which is a rare event.  For me it had everything: mystery, history, romance, murder. A perfect holiday read.