’Salem’s Lot
Stephen King, 1975
Horror FantasyMystery, thriller & crimeContemporary fiction
A vampire arrives in a small Maine town, and the town's own secrets do as much damage as the bite. King's second novel, still his most atmospheric.
Feels like dread, serenity and nostalgia. About ambition, time and friendship.
A page from the book
The monster under the bed has no therapist; adulthood is the only cure.
There is no group therapy or psychiatry or community social services for the child who must cope with the thing under the bed or in the cellar every night, the thing which leers and capers and threatens just beyond the point where vision will reach. The same lonely battle must be fought night after night and the only cure is the eventual ossification of the imaginary faculties, and this is called adulthood. Stephen King.King taught high school English in Hampden, Maine, while writing his early novels; the title shortens Jerusalem's Lot, a real Maine place name he borrowed for his fictional town.
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Questions readers ask
- What is ’Salem’s Lot like?
- Feels like dread, serenity and nostalgia. About ambition, time and friendship.
- What should I read after ’Salem’s Lot?
- If you liked ’Salem’s Lot, try Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice), The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (John Boyne) and The Wife Upstairs (Freida McFadden).
A taste of the feed
Why the devil survives even when God does not.
People who cease to believe in God or goodness altogether still believe in the devil. I don’t know why. No, I do indeed know why. Evil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult.
Interview with the Vampire · Anne Rice
A greeting repeated until it means nothing, and everything.
Heil Hitler,“ he said, which, he presumed, was another way of saying, ”Well, goodbye for now, have a pleasant afternoon.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas · John Boyne
Some houses are haunted by things that are too alive.
I can’t say to him what I’m really thinking, which is that this house gives me the creeps. Maybe Victoria loved it here, but I don’t. And for that matter, his wife gives me the creeps too. There’s something about her and that blank expression that terrifies me. It’s an awful thing to say about a woman who has been through something horrible, but I can’t help it.
The Wife Upstairs · Freida McFadden
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