Why Salems Lot is the scariest book of Stephen King

  • This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I'm curious, what do you think is his scariest book? Like GNT said, we all react differently to different books but it's fun to see what everyone says.
charlie-the-choo-choo-9781534401235_hr-1-1.jpg


According to something I just read on-line there is a Mom out there who thinks this book is pretty bad for kids.

She's at Scary Mommy dot com
;)

cnw7km9waaashwi-large.jpg
 

RichardX

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2006
1,737
4,434
There were some great scenes in the book. Burying Danny Glick, the mortuary, the dog impaled on the cemetery gate, Dud the dump guy. I think every kid growing up in the 70s-80s remembers that kid floating outside Mark's room from the TV series/book. Pretty good stuff but the book also feels a bit dated. Still a fun read. I thought the parts where Barlow spoke to folks was a bit weak. Better to have let him be an ominous silent presence. The seeds for a lot of other books are there in this one. Needful Things (the stranger coming to a small town to sell stuff), Marsten house was a miniature Overlook Hotel etc.
 

Zone D Dad

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2017
359
1,829
Chicago Suburbs
There were some great scenes in the book. Burying Danny Glick, the mortuary, the dog impaled on the cemetery gate, Dud the dump guy. I think every kid growing up in the 70s-80s remembers that kid floating outside Mark's room from the TV series/book. Pretty good stuff but the book also feels a bit dated. Still a fun read. I thought the parts where Barlow spoke to folks was a bit weak. Better to have let him be an ominous silent presence. The seeds for a lot of other books are there in this one. Needful Things (the stranger coming to a small town to sell stuff), Marsten house was a miniature Overlook Hotel etc.

How about Mark and Susan in the Marsten house? The adventure into Eva Miller's basement? The school bus full of kids - wow. Man, I love that book. Now I've got to get hold of that miniseries.
 

Rockym

Well-Known Member
Feb 11, 2012
77
236
'Salem's Lot is the first full SK novel I ever read. I read it way back in the 70s after reading Night Shift which had the prequel short story in it. I've re-read it many, many times since along with the majority of other SK novels and it's one of the books I always enjoy re-reading as much as I enjoyed it the first time.
 

Zone D Dad

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2017
359
1,829
Chicago Suburbs
'Salem's Lot is the first full SK novel I ever read. I read it way back in the 70s after reading Night Shift which had the prequel short story in it. I've re-read it many, many times since along with the majority of other SK novels and it's one of the books I always enjoy re-reading as much as I enjoyed it the first time.

And Night Shift has One for the Road in it too, which is such a great coda to 'Salem's Lot.
 

Philzilla

Well-Known Member
Mar 1, 2009
176
604
Warning:NOT the best but the scariest. In fact i think that the main characters are rather underdeveloped. But contrary to other books, in this the focus is on the supernatural and not on creating convincing characters. With that said, i think the idea of a family member becoming a vampire is one of the scariest things i can imagine. Surely Barlow is very scary himself but the most heart breaking scenes are those when dead family members come back to life and go and bite their relatives

maybe
 

grin willard

"Keep the change, you filthy animal!"
Feb 21, 2017
1,144
6,024
50
How about Mark and Susan in the Marsten house? The adventure into Eva Miller's basement? The school bus full of kids - wow. Man, I love that book. Now I've got to get hold of that miniseries.

The miniseries was wonderful. With a few reservations. Some legitimately scary moments. And wow, James Mason! Probably one of the top five best voices in film history. And here, he got it on the screen. The guy didn't phone it in. When he's screaming "Shaman!" at the priest, I practically cringe. There were other very good actors in the production, but he was hurling grenades. And in the debit column. Seriously, when you decide to put Fred Willard in his underwear, you're really rolling the dice. :ambivalence:

Cobb5.jpg
 
Last edited:

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
The miniseries was wonderful. With a few reservations. Some legitimately scary moments. And wow, James Mason! Probably one of the top five best voices in film history. And here, he got it on the screen. The guy didn't phone it in. When he's screaming "Shaman!" at the priest, I practically cringe. There were other very good actors in the production, but he was hurling grenades. And in the debit column. Seriously, when you decide to put Fred Willard in his underwear, you're really rolling the dice. :ambivalence:

Cobb5.jpg
But they're sexy red silk boxers!! ;-D
 

prufrock21

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2011
2,956
12,657
The Caribbean
The miniseries was wonderful. With a few reservations. Some legitimately scary moments. And wow, James Mason! Probably one of the top five best voices in film history. And here, he got it on the screen. The guy didn't phone it in. When he's screaming "Shaman!" at the priest, I practically cringe. There were other very good actors in the production, but he was hurling grenades. And in the debit column. Seriously, when you decide to put Fred Willard in his underwear, you're really rolling the dice. :ambivalence:

Cobb5.jpg
Fred Willard in his undies. Stranger things have happened in the Stephen King universe.
 

Rockym

Well-Known Member
Feb 11, 2012
77
236
The miniseries was wonderful. With a few reservations. Some legitimately scary moments. And wow, James Mason! Probably one of the top five best voices in film history. And here, he got it on the screen. The guy didn't phone it in. When he's screaming "Shaman!" at the priest, I practically cringe. There were other very good actors in the production, but he was hurling grenades. And in the debit column. Seriously, when you decide to put Fred Willard in his underwear, you're really rolling the dice. :ambivalence:

Cobb5.jpg

And this is another reason why I get annoyed at a lot of adaptations. It's not even supposed to be Fred Willard's character in that situation. It's supposed to be Cory the telephone repairman. One of my biggest pet peeves is when they "splice" characters together like that. They did that in Needful Things too with Sally Ratcliffe, they "spliced" her into the police dispatcher woman.
 

Zone D Dad

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2017
359
1,829
Chicago Suburbs
The miniseries was wonderful. With a few reservations. Some legitimately scary moments. And wow, James Mason! Probably one of the top five best voices in film history. And here, he got it on the screen. The guy didn't phone it in. When he's screaming "Shaman!" at the priest, I practically cringe. There were other very good actors in the production, but he was hurling grenades. And in the debit column. Seriously, when you decide to put Fred Willard in his underwear, you're really rolling the dice. :ambivalence:

Cobb5.jpg

I remember this from the first time I saw it as a kid of about 9 years old. It was, shall I say, confusing.
 

grin willard

"Keep the change, you filthy animal!"
Feb 21, 2017
1,144
6,024
50
And this is another reason why I get annoyed at a lot of adaptations. It's not even supposed to be Fred Willard's character in that situation. It's supposed to be Cory the telephone repairman. One of my biggest pet peeves is when they "splice" characters together like that. They did that in Needful Things too with Sally Ratcliffe, they "spliced" her into the police dispatcher woman.

I can see 'splicing' for the sake of brevity if you're making a 2 hr film, but they had quite a bit of time to work with here. Still, as adaptions go Tobe Hooper followed it pretty well. At least used it as a blueprint. Nice, since so many tend to go with their own "vision". I tend to forget he directed SL. This & Poltergeist are about the only things in his canon of work I really care for. Here's a great interview with Julie Cobb, in the miniseries she was "Boom Boom". :) Seems like a very nice lady. Her father was Lee J. Cobb who was the detective in The Exorcist! She apparently had a great experience filming SL. She spoke well of Hooper, Stephen King & the other actors. She seems to love Stephen King's work, but has never read Salem's Lot! Of James Mason she said, "I mean James Mason was simply terminally charming. He was the most erudite, cultured, sophisticated, handsome, elegant and graceful man ... " Yow! I'd bet money I won't be described that way when I hop this mortal coil.

Interview: Actress Julie Cobb Remembers 1979's SALEM'S LOT - ComingSoon.net

Her very first acting job was a Star Trek! That's her natural hair color, they lightened it for SL.

98c3ba1c744b4488abe165c0f091364f--star-trek-jokes-funny-star-trek.jpg
11.jpg