Book Review - 'Salems Lot

Author: Stephen King

Genre: Horror

Format: Paperback

Pages: 653

Oh, how I wanted to like this book. It has everything I usually love: Stephen King, vampires, and weird small towns. I was so excited to start this one and honestly had really high hopes, and for the first hundred pages so I was digging the story. Though, once I hit the second volume of the story it slowly started to lose me. Honestly, I would have DNFed this book, but I just kept hoping that the ending would pull me back in because it was Stephen King.

It did not. In fact, I did the thing I normally hate doing and sped read through the last two hundred pages. 

I only finished this a few days ago, it took me well over a month to read, and I don't think I retained a single fact about this book. Some character names have stuck with me, but I'm sure those will fade eventually. Which is one of the reasons I struggled with this book. I prefer it when I can at least attach myself to one character. Someone to root for, good, bad, or neutral, I'm not picky. Just some character I wasn't to squeeze.

While I didn't dislike any of the main cast of characters. I also didn't really attach to any of them and basically got to the point where I was like they could live or die. I wasn't really pulsed one way or another. 

And, while there were some moments that were quicks scares, there wasn't really anything I found really scary. Nothing that had me turning my lamp up brighter, nothing that had me diving into bed in the dark to void what was under my bed. No weird dreams once I'm done reading for the day. Maybe if I would have read this when I was younger, but as an older reader (who read some seriously twisted books) I was just underwhelmed.

Lastly, there is so much just talking. Personally, I felt like this read as more of a history of Jersalem's Lot with a fine dusting of vampires. Almost of gossip rag of all candles the town had seen since the building of their haunted. Which leads to the most disappointing part. Because so much of this book had potential. There were the moments where I was like, yes finally it's about to take off, and then it just doesn't.

So 'Salem's Lot was definitely not for me. Honestly, I'm not super shocked I didn't like it because I'm always hit or miss with Stephen King's body of work. I either really like his books, or they just aren't for me. Which is fine because not every book is meant to bring me joy. I just wish my stubborn backside had DNFed this book. Because now I'm trying to dig myself out of a reading slump.

HAPPY READING!!