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on 6 April 2016
First Stephen King book I have read. He writes very well and draws good characters. However I think he must get paid by the word. All suspense and tension is lost in the tedium of reading yet another chapter. Great author; lousy editor.
on 16 July 2012
I enjoy Stephen King's work as much as the next man, but found this particular novel to be somewhat lacking in his usual tension and threat. It opens well, and in general the portrayal of the main characters (the good guys, that is) was strong and encouraged the usual sympathy and sense of intimacy you often get from King. However, the vampires (when they eventually show up - it takes a little too long) are completely, almost comically un-scary. Big Boss Vamp (I forget his name, sorry) and the obligatory creepy human sidekick are so closely modelled on Dracula that it makes them both predictable and quite twee. They are rather preoccupied with property development. When confronted by our heroes, they taunt them in a moustache-twirling sort of way and leave them alone to carve their way through the cannon-fodder under-vampires at will. The word for them is "dastardly" rather than "frightening".
Personally, I think this is no way to write about vampires. Vampires are excellent vehicles for all manner of human drama in the right hands. I respectfully direct the reader to John Lindqvist's Let The Right One In (or better yet, the superb film of the same name Dir. Thomas Alfredson). THAT is the last word on vampires in my book.
Personally, I think this is no way to write about vampires. Vampires are excellent vehicles for all manner of human drama in the right hands. I respectfully direct the reader to John Lindqvist's Let The Right One In (or better yet, the superb film of the same name Dir. Thomas Alfredson). THAT is the last word on vampires in my book.
on 21 October 2002
Something was missing from this book. It is hard to point out but it was really not there what ever it was. So kings second book has all the same style points little in the way of discription,small back town middle-of-nowhere America. Ok the lack of discription is one of the man traits and its ok if you like that and as a vampire novel it lets face it sucks. But has as social comentry its one of the finest i have read. so why 3 stars you ask because i dint find it as good as carrie. Lot should have been a lot shorter (no pun intended) but it does seem to ramble a touch, not that its a tome by any-means. but if your bored and dont want another pridictive knootz to read its a fine.
on 6 March 2016
I would love to have given this 5 stars as this story really is King at his best. However, it is severely let down by the proof readers at the publishing house. There are major typos on average every five pages. Some are spelling mistakes, others wrong words, and often character names are misspelled or contain strange letter formations. I was quite surprised by what I thought was such a reputable publishing house. Although these ubiquitous mistakes don't let down the overal story, they do stop the reader in their tracks. At one point I read for a few pages thinking a new character had been introduced and I'd missed something only to realise the name was incorrect.
on 29 September 2007
I must start by pointing out that the 3 stars awarded here are not for the novel itself; it still remains a classic vampire tale and a great contemporary reworking of Bram Stoker's Dracula. If you haven't already done so, read it, especially on a cold autumn night when the wind's blowing and the trees outside are rustling. As King himself implores in the new introduction here '...why don't you turn off all the lights except for the one over your favourite chair?-and we'll talk about vampires here in the dim.'
No, the 3 star rating depicts my disappointment in this actual so-called 'special edition.' When The Stand was re-released in the early 90's we were treated to an extra 400 pages of text which were originally excised before the original publication as King was a relatively untested author and those extra pages would have made the cost of publication, binding, etc, prohibitive. When we were finally able to read the novel in it's 'uncut' form we were shown a whole new character arc with a new journey, as well as additional experiences and backgrounds of already well-loved characters. The chance to experience Salem's Lot all over again in the same light was too good to pass up.
But that's not what we get here. The novel is presented in it's original form with the promised 'previously unpublished fifty pages of material' added on afterward, a bit like the extras on a DVD. Why some of this wasn't included in the book is a mystery. In these pages we find Barlow's (originally called Sarlinov) daytime guardian is an army of rats, resulting in a much more gruesome death for Jimmy Cody; an extremely disturbing sequence involving a vampire baby; a longer sequence in which our heroes travel through the Lot staking and exposing vampires to the sun, and various additional character background pieces. Some of the scenes are alternate takes on events: Callahan meets a different fate here than in the book- which would have left a major story arc in The Dark Tower books turning out very different!- and the final showdown is slightly different. As interesting as these pages are I personally don't interpret this to be 'the novel as the author intended'. It would appear that we've already had that for the last 30 years!
It's a nice touch to include the connected short stories 'Jerusalem's Lot' and 'One For The Road', previously only available as part of the 'Night Shift' collection, the latter being a wonderfully creepy sequel to the main book and the former a prequel of sorts, but the inclusion of a half-dozen arty black & white photos which bear little relevance to the text does not make an 'illustrated edition' in my humble opinion. Some drawings or paintings by previous King collaborator Berni Wrightson would have been so much more entertaining and appropriate...
So, a beautifully produced and bound hardback package for those who are unfamiliar with the town of Jerusalem's Lot, or for those who only know Father Callahan from The Dark Tower and want to know his back-story and origin; otherwise it's only for those who must have everything that Stephen King has published. You know who you are. And, dammit, I'm one of you!
No, the 3 star rating depicts my disappointment in this actual so-called 'special edition.' When The Stand was re-released in the early 90's we were treated to an extra 400 pages of text which were originally excised before the original publication as King was a relatively untested author and those extra pages would have made the cost of publication, binding, etc, prohibitive. When we were finally able to read the novel in it's 'uncut' form we were shown a whole new character arc with a new journey, as well as additional experiences and backgrounds of already well-loved characters. The chance to experience Salem's Lot all over again in the same light was too good to pass up.
But that's not what we get here. The novel is presented in it's original form with the promised 'previously unpublished fifty pages of material' added on afterward, a bit like the extras on a DVD. Why some of this wasn't included in the book is a mystery. In these pages we find Barlow's (originally called Sarlinov) daytime guardian is an army of rats, resulting in a much more gruesome death for Jimmy Cody; an extremely disturbing sequence involving a vampire baby; a longer sequence in which our heroes travel through the Lot staking and exposing vampires to the sun, and various additional character background pieces. Some of the scenes are alternate takes on events: Callahan meets a different fate here than in the book- which would have left a major story arc in The Dark Tower books turning out very different!- and the final showdown is slightly different. As interesting as these pages are I personally don't interpret this to be 'the novel as the author intended'. It would appear that we've already had that for the last 30 years!
It's a nice touch to include the connected short stories 'Jerusalem's Lot' and 'One For The Road', previously only available as part of the 'Night Shift' collection, the latter being a wonderfully creepy sequel to the main book and the former a prequel of sorts, but the inclusion of a half-dozen arty black & white photos which bear little relevance to the text does not make an 'illustrated edition' in my humble opinion. Some drawings or paintings by previous King collaborator Berni Wrightson would have been so much more entertaining and appropriate...
So, a beautifully produced and bound hardback package for those who are unfamiliar with the town of Jerusalem's Lot, or for those who only know Father Callahan from The Dark Tower and want to know his back-story and origin; otherwise it's only for those who must have everything that Stephen King has published. You know who you are. And, dammit, I'm one of you!
on 31 March 2013
Having read King's treatise on writing fiction I took a sample of several novels and plumbed for Salem's Lot. The opening chapters were intriguing and drew the reader into the town of Salem's Lot with it's sinister secrets. There was a wonderful dark compulsion that could not be ignored and, being more of a reader of 'serious' fiction, I was impressed by King's art and skill.
However, by the time the vampires arrived the story became a hammed up parody of hammer film horror. The 'Dracula' character borders on camp and tension was lost through the comical and corny chasing of vampires with the clichéd wooden stakes and bags of garlic, climaxing in Christopher Lee-esque disintegration of the villain with the big teeth.
King states that was one of his favourite and longest novels. The story wasn't that long. The epilogue and attempts at realism through the correspondence of previous inhabitants of Salem's Lot was an unnecessary filler.
King's favourite? He's written better than this.
However, by the time the vampires arrived the story became a hammed up parody of hammer film horror. The 'Dracula' character borders on camp and tension was lost through the comical and corny chasing of vampires with the clichéd wooden stakes and bags of garlic, climaxing in Christopher Lee-esque disintegration of the villain with the big teeth.
King states that was one of his favourite and longest novels. The story wasn't that long. The epilogue and attempts at realism through the correspondence of previous inhabitants of Salem's Lot was an unnecessary filler.
King's favourite? He's written better than this.
on 17 October 2013
Having read all of the reviews for this, and having read a fair portion of King's back catalog prior to reading this, I had high expectations for this book.
To be fair the book starts very well and the first third is excellent - he sets the mood perfectly. At this stage I was convinced this book would live up to the hype.
Unfortunately the pace escalates remarkably in from the second third onward - and in truth I found it to be too fast. All of the tension built up before hand was lost and the plot just got sillier and sillier.
The climax of the book was also a bit of a disappointment.
To be fair the book starts very well and the first third is excellent - he sets the mood perfectly. At this stage I was convinced this book would live up to the hype.
Unfortunately the pace escalates remarkably in from the second third onward - and in truth I found it to be too fast. All of the tension built up before hand was lost and the plot just got sillier and sillier.
The climax of the book was also a bit of a disappointment.
on 10 February 2017
Bought this as remember reading it in the early 90's in a tent and the slow gentle breeze blowing the tent flap, which scared the bejesus out of me. Reading again many years later it didn't quite have the same compeling hold on me. I think this might be due to tv,films, books etc being at a different level than back then, as is reader/viewer expectation. Over all a great book, but modern life and horror makes it seem tame.
on 21 September 2013
This may be a classic from Stephen King but it hasn't proved to be one of my favourites. However if you are a die hard King fan, which I generally am, then it is a must read book.
There are times you root for the main characters & there is some suspense. Unfortunately I found the story somewhat disjointed to the point that I felt I'd missed information to explain character motives & standpoints.
There are times you root for the main characters & there is some suspense. Unfortunately I found the story somewhat disjointed to the point that I felt I'd missed information to explain character motives & standpoints.
