Vampirism in Small Town America

Rating: 5/5

Review: The small town of Jerusalem's Lot has an unwanted guest, they just don't know it. This was only King's second book, and it sure shows exactly why he is one of the greatest authors of all time. He puts you right there in the scene every time, and he is a master at causing chills to run down his readers' backs. The slow decent of this town into chaos drips with suspense and dreaded expectation. The lead character, Ben Mears, is a writer who has had serious tragedy in is life. He's also experienced something terrifying in his home town when he was a kid. The Marsten House, who could also be called a main character, is the source of this childhood terror and the new evil that has come to town. The real on the edge of your seat thrills don't really start until the last few chapters, but everything leading up to it is well worth the ride.

Book Description: 'Salem's Lot is a small New England town with white clapboard houses, tree-lined streets, and solid church steeples. That summer in 'salem's Lot was a summer of homecoming and return; spring burned out and the land lying dry, crackling underfoot. Late that summer, Ben Mears returned to 'salem's Lot hoping to cast out his own devils and found instead a new, unspeakable horror. A stranger had also come to the Lot, a stranger with a secret as old as evil, a secret that would wreak irreparable harm on those he touched and in turn on those they loved. All would be changed forever: Susan, whose love for Ben could not protect her; Father Callahan, the bad priest who put his eroded faith to one last test; and Mark, a young boy who sees his fantasy world become reality and ironically proves the best equipped to handle the relentless nightmare of 'Salem's Lot. This is a rare novel, almost hypnotic in its unyielding suspense, which builds to a climax of classic terror. You will not forget the town of 'salem's Lot nor any of the people who used to live there.