Salem's Lot

I was positive I had read Salem's Lot as a kid. So sure, I had marked it as read and even given it a stared review over at another website. Well I just finished "rereading" it and am ashamed to admit that I am 99.98% sure I have never read this book in my life. I was just remembering the glorious 1979 movie. I have never read this book in my life, but I'm sure glad I read it now!

It is hard not to compare this work to the last King book I read, Tommyknockers.

Salem's Lot was the lean, hip-waggling Young Elvis version of Mr. King. Tommyknockers felt more like the fat, bloated, dead on the toilet Elvis. While reading "The Lot," I could feel the passion for the materials.

Today, the vampire subgenre just makes me want to shake my head and cry, sparkly vampires, and books that are simply vamped-up Harlequin romances for tween girls. I much prefer the vampires to be drooling hideous creatures that tear the throat out of the victim. With King's Mr. Barlow, the reader is treated to the best of both types. Mr. Barlow does not look like a slobbering monster, but everyone who encounters him feels the evil in him, even as the succumb to him. I can live with that. Sometimes evil in a beautiful package is even more horrific. That is why evil children stories horrify even jaded horror fans.

I'm glad I am reading some of these old-school King stories. I makes me remember why I fell in love with King as a kid.

Next up..... Pet Semetary. Which I absolutely know I read, you know just like I knew I had read this one!!