Salem's Lot - Stephen King Book Review

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"Salem's Lot"
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Review Summaries

"In the small town of Jerusalem's Lot, Maine, strange things have occurred for many years, many of them connected to the Marsten House. When Ben Mears returns to his childhood home after becoming a successful writer, he finds that many things have not changed. The old Marsten House is still there as the local haunted house, and the residents of the town are as intrusive and mean-spirited as ever. Ben meets Susan, someone he comes to care about almost at once. A new kid in town, Mark Petrie is as precocious and as fearless as Ben once was. Two odd men move into the Marsten House and people start dying - and then coming back. Ben, Mark, and Susan must each face their own fears in order to join forces against what appears to be a horde of vampires taking over the quiet Maine town."
A. Antonow, Resident Stephen King Scholar

"When Ben mears moves back to Salem's Lot to write a book, he meets susan, who mom doesn't like him or his writing. Around the same time, two men move into the haunted house he's writing about, where he was hazed by group of kids long before. When people start dying, ben gets blamed for their murders. Then, the people disappear from the morgue and start spreading the killings. When one of Ben's friends gets attacked and ben mears and a few others, including susan, find out what its is thats doing the killing, they know they've got to stop the vampires and the two men, one of whom is the original vampire in the town, before it's too late. "
kate, Resident Stephen King Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30%

Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy story on current Earth
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Horror story? Yes
Horror plotlets - vampires taking a quick bite

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - writer
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status: - killer - mastermind
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - can talk to animals - mind reading - mind control - super strength - can fly - can read emotions - is very quick
Eccentric: Yes - eccentric - obsessed - emotionally unstable - wild
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - very athletic - average physique

Setting
Earth setting: - 20th century
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths - explicit references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only) - none/very little science jargon needed
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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