Salem's Lot Readalong Wrap-up

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Oh what fun it is to read Stephen King books with other people. This month Trish, Care, and I co-hosted a readalong of Salem's Lot. We had so much fun! Sometimes I forget what an addictive writer King is. I had to put the book down for about a week at one point because I couldn't stop reading and was getting too far ahead. 

Those of you who sent me your address received a set of vampire teeth earlier this month. I loved seeing everyone's photos with them! Before I get to my thoughts on the book, here's just a few of our scary poses. 



Salem’s Lot
By Stephen King

★★★★☆

A small town, a creepy old house, mysterious deaths, this one hit all the right notes. The vampires felt very old school to me. There were definitely no sparkles. 

One thing I really loved about the book is that it struck me as pretty realistic. I felt like this is probably how things would go down if it really happened in a small town. People would be unlikely to believe the truth even if they saw it with their own eyes. They would also have almost no idea how to handle it. Some might know the general superstitions, but would feel silly waving a crucifix around.

Like all of King’s novels, it’s the characters that suck you in. He gives you just enough time to get attached to a few of them before the bodies start to drop. The plot was scary and suspenseful, but it wasn't gory. There were very few parts with where death was described in any detail at all and I really appreciated that. My level for gore is very low, but it was just scary enough to be perfect.

BOTTOM LINE: Definitely makes the list top ten of King books for me. The Stand, The Green Mile, On Writing, and Different Seasons are a few I liked more, but I really liked this one. It was just the right amount of scary for me.
 

WRAP-UP POSTS:
Kay's Reading Life 
The Friday Friends 
Word Hits 
Care's Online Book Club 
 
(Leave a link in the comments to your post and I'll add you in!)

Photos by participants 

10 comments:

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

I'll be doing my wrap-up on Halloween. I really enjoyed if after 35 years --LOL

Anonymous said...

Yes, this will go in my top faves for King, too. Here's mine: https://bkclubcare.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/salems-lot-salemalong/

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Diane - Good! I'm curious what you thought of it as a reread.

bkclubcare - Love your roller coaster description!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for linking to my post! It was just the right amount of scary for me also. (The fact that I have a cross necklace and new window locks helped. Ha!) I also appreciated the low gore (there was a lot in Under the Dome). This seemed a perfect Halloween read to me.

One of these days maybe I will brave The Stand or The Shining. Am way behind on King.

Thank you so much for organizing #SalemAlong! I also need to post a pic of my vampire teeth. ;)

Ti said...

I am still reading. I fell way behind but I am reading every day, just not large sections. Hope I can finish this weekend and then I will send you the link to my wrap-up post.

Anonymous said...

p.s. GORE ALERT Had a really hard time with the Career of Evil, the latest from "Robert Galbraith". So much gore and violence. Unexpected and complete veer from the first two books. Had to skip over a lot!

Kay said...

Thanks for linking to my post as well. And you are right about the gore factor. I don't know that I thought about it much. My tolerance is pretty high. However, sometimes, less is more and King really knows how to hit the scary button with just a few ordinary words. LOL

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

wordhits - I'm so glad you said something about Career of Evil. I just started it and now I'll be a little more wary of what's to come.

Ti - No hurry! Can't wait to read your thoughts.

Kay - He does! This one felt more like an old school scary movie. It's what you don't see, what you hear or feel that's the creepiest.

Debbie said...

It really was a fun read-a-long---and you said it right---It's what you don't see, what you hear of feel that's the creepiest.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Debbie - It was so much fun, I'm so glad you joined us!