'Salem's Lot by Stephen KIng

In my continuing quest to read everything Stephen King has written, I've finished 'Salem's Lot, a tale about vampires taking over a small Maine town. This was King's second published novel, and it showed off his skill at style with wonderful descriptions and beautiful phrases. However, the characters were rather thin even though he spent a lot of time developing them. The plot was also lacking, and about half-way through I found it tough to keep reading because I already knew that the rest of the book would be people vs. vampires, and I didn't really care that much about any of the characters.

The introduction to 'Salem's Lot is interesting. Written in 2005--thirty years after publication--King makes a case against plotting in favor of panting. He says that he intended the vampires to win in the end but that his characters took over and slayed the vampire. I'm sure this made it entertaining for King to write, since he didn't know himself what was going to happen. But by just letting the story wander and find its way, it made it much less interesting for the reader, as noted above.

He also mentions that he had another book, Roadwork, finished and that he could have published that one as his second novel. His editor thought Roadwork was more "literary" but that 'Salem's Lot would sell better. They decided to go with the latter, even though it typecast King in the horror genre. I think I'll read Roadwork next, to see the difference.