some questions about the book ... unexplainable?

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bellatrix_l

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Aug 17, 2017
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Hi, I'm new here, and I'm glad to find out there are some people so into "Salem's lot" as I am : ) I have some questions which have bothered me since I first read the book.
1. If the vampire has to be invited to the house ( and he has to, as Susan came to her mother, because she had been invited ) , how did a vampire get into the McDougal's house?
2. Why was the coffin of Danny Glick locked?Nobody knew what was happening, so...
3. Why was Mark Petrie baptized after he and Ben left Salem? Wasn't he a Christian before ?
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
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Cambridge, Ohio
....but having said that:
1. The child was an innocent, that may be a "work around" for the vampire, because they're minds are so open....
2. A simple case of the funeral home closing the coffin and securing it....plus, it's a writer's device to add to the creepiness factor.....
3. To again "purify" the soul from the evil it had been exposed to nearly constantly.....
 

staropeace

Richard Bachman's love child
Nov 28, 2006
15,210
48,848
Alberta,Canada
Your first question I have no answer for. It was an oversight , I think. Barlow should not have been able to enter the house.
I think the coffin was locked because that was policy in the funeral home.
Mark was baptised Catholic. They anoint with holy oil as well as water...all Christian churches do not.
 

bellatrix_l

Member
Aug 17, 2017
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2. A simple case of the funeral home closing the coffin and securing it....plus, it's a writer's device to add to the creepiness factor.....

It can't be that easy, Mike Ryers was really surprised that the coffin was locked. It couldn't be a part of Mike's halucination, either, as he really had to open the coffin using some tool.
 

bellatrix_l

Member
Aug 17, 2017
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Howdy Bellatrix_l, Good questions. It's been a while since I read that one. Hopefully the others will be able to shed some light, if there is any to shed. I will tune in to see as well. Welcome to Mr. Kings' board! Keep posting. All the best, mal.
You can't even imagine how I'm glad I've found you! In my country, in Poland, there are some fans of SK, but no one gets involved into details as you do.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
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Cambridge, Ohio
2. A simple case of the funeral home closing the coffin and securing it....plus, it's a writer's device to add to the creepiness factor.....

It can't be that easy, Mike Ryers was really surprised that the coffin was locked. It couldn't be a part of Mike's halucination, either, as he really had to open the coffin using some tool.
...why can't it?......and better yet, why dismiss what people have posted-simply because you don't agree with it?".....you asked, and some of us gave our opinions....this is minutiae anyway....
 

bellatrix_l

Member
Aug 17, 2017
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...why can't it?......and better yet, why dismiss what people have posted-simply because you don't agree with it?".....you asked, and some of us gave our opinions....this is minutiae anyway....

I did not mean to offend anyone by my disagreement :) And , for sure ,I'm not dismissing anybody for what they have written. And maybe I did not explain my thoughts precisely, maybe because English isn't my mother language , you did not catch what I meant . So I'll try to explain now. Mike Ryers was a gravedigger, yes? He was one of the two undertakers in Jerusalem, right? So we have a person, who is responsible- together with other undertaker- for all the catholic funerals in the town. The town is small, people know each other and know about the town's customs. Mike's reaction- suprisement- for the locked coffin shows, that locking coffins in this town was NOT a normal things to do. That's why I found the aforementioned explanation unprobable, not because I'm dismissing somebody's ideas. To say the truth, I still think of the McDougals house, as well as the house of Petries , to which Barlow came into uninvited. As for the third question, I don't know much about religious customs there, so I asked...
I know my English is far from being perfect, sorry .
 

FlakeNoir

Original Kiwi© SKMB®
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Apr 11, 2006
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I did not mean to offend anyone by my disagreement :) And , for sure ,I'm not dismissing anybody for what they have written. And maybe I did not explain my thoughts precisely, maybe because English isn't my mother language , you did not catch what I meant . So I'll try to explain now. Mike Ryers was a gravedigger, yes? He was one of the two undertakers in Jerusalem, right? So we have a person, who is responsible- together with other undertaker- for all the catholic funerals in the town. The town is small, people know each other and know about the town's customs. Mike's reaction- suprisement- for the locked coffin shows, that locking coffins in this town was NOT a normal things to do. That's why I found the aforementioned explanation unprobable, not because I'm dismissing somebody's ideas. To say the truth, I still think of the McDougals house, as well as the house of Petries , to which Barlow came into uninvited. As for the third question, I don't know much about religious customs there, so I asked...
I know my English is far from being perfect, sorry .
Your English is fine. :smile:
 

Spideyman

Uber Member
Jul 10, 2006
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I did not mean to offend anyone by my disagreement :) And , for sure ,I'm not dismissing anybody for what they have written. And maybe I did not explain my thoughts precisely, maybe because English isn't my mother language , you did not catch what I meant . So I'll try to explain now. Mike Ryers was a gravedigger, yes? He was one of the two undertakers in Jerusalem, right? So we have a person, who is responsible- together with other undertaker- for all the catholic funerals in the town. The town is small, people know each other and know about the town's customs. Mike's reaction- suprisement- for the locked coffin shows, that locking coffins in this town was NOT a normal things to do. That's why I found the aforementioned explanation unprobable, not because I'm dismissing somebody's ideas. To say the truth, I still think of the McDougals house, as well as the house of Petries , to which Barlow came into uninvited. As for the third question, I don't know much about religious customs there, so I asked...
I know my English is far from being perfect, sorry .
We learn by asking questions. No problem with your English. Every country, nationality has their own traditions, customs. We all learn from each other on the SKMB. International message board. I've been here eons and am still learning from new members.
 

grin willard

"Keep the change, you filthy animal!"
Feb 21, 2017
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Hi, I'm new here, and I'm glad to find out there are some people so into "Salem's lot" as I am : )
1. If the vampire has to be invited to the house ( and he has to, as Susan came to her mother, because she had been invited ) , how did a vampire get into the McDougal's house?

Maybe they had a welcome mat outside!!! The McDougal's seemed like the types.

Nice_Underwear_1_1.jpg


Not that one!!

Come-Back-With-a-Warrant.jpg


No, not that one either!

il_340x270.1162546359_ehh5.jpg


Ah, that's okay.

I'm going to go out & get mine right now! And it could be that Barlow was at such a high level the general laws of vampirism don't apply to him. Be that as it will, I'm still removing the damn welcome mat. Why take chances? :suspect:
 
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Coyo-T

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2016
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321
This is entirely speculation on my part, but perhaps Barlowe was able to enter the MacDougal's home because it was so dysfunctional that the "threshold" was very weak- this is how things work in the Dresden Files, where a threshold's strength is dependent on the positive energy associated with being a "home" and a particularly strong supernatural entity might be able to "break" the rules and come through if this energy is lacking. I'm not sure if that's what was intended here, but it's how I would explain it.