I was gearing up to review the 1987 movie, A return To Salem’s Lot, but I realised that it makes little sense to review that without reviewing the 1970s TV movie first. I then realised that talking about the book would be the best way to start. So, here’s the first part of a four part review, covering the book. I’ll follow that in the coming weeks with reviews of the TV movie/miniseries, the sequel and the newer TV miniseries starring Rob Lowe. But first, here’s King’s original:
Story
In Mexico, a young boy and a man who is not his father are hiding out from some unnamed protagonist. They have been hiding for a long time, and the man keeps a constant eye on daily newspapers from Maine. One day, he sees an article about the town of Jerusalem’s Lot, known locally as either ‘Salem’s Lot or simply the Lot. The town is deserted, abandoned like the Marie Celeste. No reason for this has been given, but from the stories of the ex-residents who have been found, the town apparently dried up overnight. Reading this, the man decides it’s time to return….
Flash back some time earlier. A writer, Ben Mears (whom it’s not surprising to find later revealed as the man in the prologue) is returning to ‘Salem’s Lot where he spend a couple of years of his childhood. While he’s been a fairly successful novelist, Mears has always been haunted by an incident in an old house known as the Marsten house, where a horrible atrocity took place years before. He plans to write about the house, but is disappointed to learn that despite having lain empty for many years, the house has recently been rented by a pair of antique dealers by the names of Straker and Barlow who plan to set up shop in the town.
Disappointed, he stays at the local boarding house and settles into writing his new book. He begins a romance with a local girl, Susan Norton, who he spots reading one of his novels, and ingratiates himself with her family and many in the town. However, something dark is happening in the town. A couple of young boys disappear one night – one is found dead, the other suffering from a strange form of anaemia. Mears investigate, teaming up with the local doctor and Catholic priest, but who is the mysterious Barlow and how old and powerful is he?
Opinion
‘Salem’s Lot was King’s second published novel, and it really establishes many of his standard themes and characters. First and foremost is the ensemble cast of characters that make up the town. King gives the town a real sense of history (including how it got its original name of Jerusalem’s Lot from a pig), while the current residents are interesting and well fleshed out; from the real estate agent and his mistress to Susan’s jealous ex-boyfriend who doesn’t take kindly to a perceived outsider. The Marsten house is also an interesting location, raising one of King’s regular themes of evil being drawn to a bad place. You get the feeling that Barlow and Straker were drawn to the town not just because of its isolated location but because it’s been corrupted by evil in the past. This corruption manifests itself in some of the residents – such as an abusive new mother – as well as the vampires.
Oh yes, the vampires. King wrote ‘Salem’s lot as his version of Dracula, and there’s plenty of vampires to go around. It’s not too much of a spoiler to reveal that the boys murdered early on return as vampires, and they begin to feast on the townspeople along with their masters. Mears makes a sympathetic hero, and his allies are usually interesting. Father Callahan actually made enough of an impression to return in the later dark tower novels, while the fates of his other allies are surprising at points (though the identities of the two survivors mentioned in the prologue doesn’t come as a surprise).
Overall, ‘Salem’s Lot is the work of an accomplished writer and deserves the recognition it’s gotten over the years.
Rating: 
