'Salem's Lot is one of the works by Stephen King that I most recently read, but I was wrapped up in the warm, buttery fog of post-surgical painkillers when completing the book. Therefore, I'm quite anxious to see what all I missed and what impact the novel will have on me this go-round. Of the titles I'm pushing to read as 2013 carries itself forward, this is the first of those listed as having some degree of tie-in to the Dark Tower series which prompted this endeavor in the first place.
My memory of this book is not of it having a strongly horrific impact, although I do recall certain bits as leaving me feeling a sense of disquiet and unease, but of the creative genius that King displayed in this work so early in his publishing career. Stephen King has a terrific understanding of people, real people, people who do the things that everyone can relate to, people who have assets and liabilities. Carrie had some degree of this, but the moments it offered were wrapped up in a sort of pseudo-documentary style, as if one were reading a story of true crime a la Truman Capote (albeit with the telekinetic twist). I remember 'Salem's Lot as something of a Gothic soap opera, a little Peyton Place gone bad (or gone supernatural, at least). If memory serves me well, the characters are people you run into at the market and in line at the credit union. They are everyday people finding themselves drawn into a sort of living nightmare. I distinctly remember enjoying it and not hurrying to complete it, enjoying it for these moments it offered.
I'm looking forward to staying with these folks in the Lot for the next week or so.
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