'Salem's Lot
Ratings529
Average rating3.9
I blame myself for not getting scared. Watching too many movies(horror and others) has dulled my imagination into a stuporous state. I have reached a point where nothing, except jump-scares, can scare me. And that doesn't happen in books. I really loved this book, just so that I make up for giving it only 3 stars. Writing is excellent. Scary - not so much.
The buildup is fine, maybe tad excessive. For the first time in a book, I actually loved the author describing the sun and the wind and the darkness and such. It felt real, visceral.
“The tongue of darkness seemed to lick hungrily at this kitchen, waiting for night to come so it could swallow it whole..”
Summary: A writer comes to his childhood town(Jerusalem's lot), to fight his childhood demons and hopefully make a book out of it. Only, worse demons await him. The fight of the few good people of the town, first against their own rational minds and then against these umm.. vampires.
“No one pronounced Jerusalem's Lot dead on the morning of Oct 6, no one new it was.”
Post-apocalyptic vibes.
listened on audio. enjoyed it the second time. I read it in 2017. I think I enjoyed it more that time.
Good book, great atmosphere, just hasn't aged welll...can seem like a generic vampire story.
Second read:
Pretty much the same. This is far from King's best novels. This is far from best novels, period. It's ok. Not terrible but at this day and age it doesn't stand out either.
Mark was ridiculous character, especially in the first few scenes.
The book is not scary nor thrilling. I guess in the same way The Exorcist (movie) is not scary today. Maybe people shat bricks 40 years ago but I certainly didn't now despite even going out of my way and reading most of it after dark. The Shining or Pet Sematary are orders of magnitude better and more thrilling.
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Original review:
The most over-hyped book I've ever read. It was pure boredom. The two short stories at the end are waaaay better. But they were originally part of short stories collections so I'm not including them in the rating.
It's a small miracle King was able to improve so much in the next book - The Shining.
this is the 6th Stephen King book i've read and i'm very secure in saying that he is the best author of all time.
I know i'm reading all his very popular work first before i get to his lesser known stuff but his popular work is popular for a reason and i want to know what everyone is talking about
this book is reaaaaaallly good but its the first King book ive rated less than 5 stars.
It was fast paced but the “boss fights” went too quickly and things felt too quickly concluded so the book felt kinda empty??
I loved the characters. King knows how to make you feel like you've known a character your whole life with just one page, its crazy.
I loved Mark. what a legend.
NOS4A2 by Stephen Kings son Joe Hill is the better vampire story in my opinion.
I read it out of stubborness. Halfway through I was tired and thinking it was much more of the same and no editing had been done. This time he didn't win me.
3.5*
Me propuse a leer los libros de Stephen King de los años 70's en orden. Este es el segundo que leo en el año.
Mientras lo leía, me hizo creer que los vampiros eran reales. Te inunda en su mundo y es todo lo que necesito en una historia de terror. Me gustó muchísimo.
Por ahora mi top es:
1.-‘Salem's Lot
2.-Carry
Wow! This was my first Stephen King book, and it was REALLY good! Really tense all the way through, really effective use of its premise (I know its 45 years old and its spoiled in the synopsis probably but I don't even want to give away what the central conceit of the book is, because I had no idea what it was going into it and got spoiled from a stray internet headline and I regret knowing and not being surprised), and a really great pace throughout the entire thing. I'm really excited to read more Stephen King now! Next up (after a brief jaunt into Hill House because GOD does this man love this book).... It!!!
This was such an intriguing read. The development of the characters and the town was great. It was what you want out of a vampire story. Creepy, spooky, and intense. You get to a point and it is hard to put it down.
Le notti di Salem è un romanzo horror scritto da Stephen King, pubblicato nel 1975. È la seconda opera pubblicata da King, dopo il precedente Carrie. Come in altre occasioni, King arrivò a scrivere il romanzo sviluppando dei propri racconti, in questo caso Jerusalem's Lot e Il bicchiere della staffa, entrambi pubblicati nella raccolta “A volte ritornano”. Come succede spesso con i libri di King, vengono anche tratte delle miniserie per la tv.
Le notti di Salem è una combinazione di thriller psicologico e del classico genere horror, facendo riferimento al Dracula di Stoker in vari punti e, a volte, replicandone la storia. Anticipo subito che il libro non mi ha proprio entusiasmato e come mi succede spesso con i libri del Re o mi attirano nella storia sin dalle prime pagine riuscendo a fatica a staccarmene, oppure procedo con la lettura più o meno stancamente con la voglia di finirlo alla svelta. Come in questo caso.
La trama: Ben Mears, uno scrittore di successo cresciuto nell'immaginaria città di Jerusalem's Lot, Maine (chiamata “il Lot” dagli abitanti), torna nella città natale. Ben ora ha intenzione di scrivere un libro su ‘Casa Marsten', una casa abbandonata che nasconde al suo interno molti segreti e che gli causò molti incubi dopo una brutta avventura vissuta da ragazzo. L'arrivo di due strani personaggi che torneranno ad abitarla coincide con una serie di spiacevoli avvenimenti. Nel corso del libro, si scopre che molti abitanti sono stati trasformati in vampiri dai due nuovi venuti, i protagonisti e pochi altri residenti del Lot tentano invano di evitarlo.
Essendo un libro di fantasia, non si dovrebbe stare a guardare propriamente le incongruenze o le forzature dei singoli passaggi, soprattutto quando si parla di conficcare paletti nel cuore dei vampiri, ma il ragazzino che si trasforma in Houdini o la ragazza che come in ogni stramaledetto libro o film dell'orrore si reca da sola nella tana del mostro, sono sempre troppi per l'occhio del lettore smaliziato e alla fine annoiano un poco. Probabilmente meno nel 1975. La scrittura del “Re”, anche se acerba, comincia a prendere le forme che lo caratterizzeranno successivamente come un grande narratore, orrori a parte.
Le notti di Salem è stato il primo dei libri di King ad avere un gran numero di protagonisti, una cosa che verrà ripetuta in successivi libri come “L'ombra dello scorpione”. La città di Jerusalem's Lot servirà anche prototipo per le successive città immaginarie descritte da King, tipo Castle Rock e Derry nel Maine e se avete letto prima gli altri libri dell'autore, vi sentirete suonare le orecchie più volte.
Se poi siete lettori della serie della “Torre Nera” sarete contenti di ri/vedere il personaggio di Padre Callahan, che appare ne “I lupi del Calla”, “La canzone di Susannah” e “La torre nera”.
Per concludere consiglierei la lettura ai veri appassionati di King, o se come molti non sopportate più di vedere vampiri che volano per i boschi, si accoppiano ad ogni alito di vento e che sembrano scivolare fuori da riviste di mode, qui potrete respirare l'aria di vero terrore che un vampiro dovrebbe generare, e di questi tempi, è già molto.
Really scary when reading at night, in a tent, by myself. Less scary in the morning, in my parents house.
It's Stephen King, you know the drill.
Había leído que Stephen king no hacía buenos finales, pero este me ha gustado mucho.
Buena historia , de la mitad en adelante se prende y no para, pero el inicio.... El primer 30% fue lento y con relleno, con cosas que no hubieron al caso para lo que fue el desenlace del libro.
En general muy entretenido, con una buena construcción de personajes y con el autor sin miedo a matar personajes geniales.
Mi primera experiencia con king, pero bastante satisfactoria
This was a fun re-read for me. I love it now as much as I did when I read it as a teen. I remember reading this and then watching the movie. I also remember watching The Lost Boys. I was into scary vampires back then
While it took me a while to finish the book, it was worth it. I had read the short story by Stephen King near Halloween and it really set the mood. The short story was GREAT (10/10 if you ask me) and once I found out that there was a full book on it, I just had to read it. Watching the slow take over of the town by the vampires was interesting. I will say, I wasn't a fan of how most of the characters were written. The end wasn't bad and it lead to me want a second book about the characters that did survive.
I found myself deeply invested in the overall feel of the town and the well thought out characters. Putting the horror elements aside i find that the central idea of this book is loneliness and fear. King wraps a monster novel around these emotions and it is ever so endearing and hard to put down.
As an avid fan of Stephen King, diving into “Salem's Lot” felt like a natural progression in my exploration of the horror genre. Having enjoyed King's intricate character development and ability to create palpable atmospheres in his other works, I approached this novel with high expectations. However, “Salem's Lot” proved to be a rather challenging read for me, particularly due to its parallels with Bram Stoker's “Dracula,” a classic that I struggled with in the past year.
Similarities between “Salem's Lot” and “Dracula” range from the small-town setting to the gradual realization that supernatural forces are at play. The feeling of déjà vu, while undoubtedly intentional on King's part, created a sense of predictability that hindered my ability to become fully immersed in the narrative. It felt like a déjà vu not only in theme but also in the structure of the story, with characters discovering the truth about the supernatural threat through journals and investigations.
Maybe it is just a book at the wrong time, as I have been binging a lot of Stephen King and this was the last book that broke my streak. I might revisit at another time and give it a second chance.
Anyone who's read The Dark Tower will understand why I've read this.
Chilling and a good read.
Fine, but a bit too much of a slow burn for me and I'm MAD about Susan. Also it's annoying to me when King introduces 57 characters all at once and I have to keep them straight but ¯_(ツ)_/¯