Salem's Lot

Debi

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I read this many years ago. I can’t remember the plot anymore. All I can remember is it was about vampires. I’m sure it would be a good movie because it was written before Steven King became too crazy.
 
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I read this many years ago. I can’t remember the plot anymore. All I can remember is it was about vampires. I’m sure it would be a good movie because it was written before Steven King became too crazy.
I read this book a while ago myself, but if I remember correctly it was supposed to be a modern interpretation of Dracula.

In the original story Dracula wants to buy property in London and is assisted by Jonathan Harker. Harker is trapped in the castle while Dracula goes to London and attacks Harkers love interest Mina. Harker escapes, teams up with Van Helsing to destroy vampires in London. Along the way the meet Renfield who is human but worked for Dracula before being committed in an asylum. Dracula retreats to his castle where Van Helsing and crew fight him in a final showdown.

Salem's Lot is the story of a writer returning to his home town of Jerusalem's Lot, or Salem's Lot for short, after 10-20 years to write about a house he thought was haunted as a kid. This house has been purchased by a wealthy European man named Barlow who opens up an antique store in town. Barlow is a vampire and is never seen in town, his human familiar (the Renfield counterpart) runs errands and the antique store. Barlow meanwhile is going out hunting and turning towns people into vampires. The writer teams up with an older man, who I think was the town doctor, to fight vampires. Barlow goes after the writers love interest and there is a final showdown in the vampires haunted house.

At least that's how I remember it. I'm much more familiar with the Dracula story than Salem's Lot as I've only read the latter twice. There was also a short story in one of Kings anthologies that was about a family who's car breaks down in the abandoned town of Salem's Lot and are attacked by vampires, which was supposed to be a follow-up companion story.

However I was always partial to a short story called Jerusalem's Lot which had nothing to do with vampires but rather an HP Lovecraft inspired tale about a dark cult wanting to summon some Eldritch horror. It was very reminiscent of The Dunwich Horror, but the entire story is told as a series of letters the main character is writing to his colleague which I found absolutely fascinating as a literary device.
 
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I read this book a while ago myself, but if I remember correctly it was supposed to be a modern interpretation of Dracula.

In the original story Dracula wants to buy property in London and is assisted by Jonathan Harker. Harker is trapped in the castle while Dracula goes to London and attacks Harkers love interest Mina. Harker escapes, teams up with Van Helsing to destroy vampires in London. Along the way the meet Renfield who is human but worked for Dracula before being committed in an asylum. Dracula retreats to his castle where Van Helsing and crew fight him in a final showdown.

Salem's Lot is the story of a writer returning to his home town of Jerusalem's Lot, or Salem's Lot for short, after 10-20 years to write about a house he thought was haunted as a kid. This house has been purchased by a wealthy European man named Barlow who opens up an antique store in town. Barlow is a vampire and is never seen in town, his human familiar (the Renfield counterpart) runs errands and the antique store. Barlow meanwhile is going out hunting and turning towns people into vampires. The writer teams up with an older man, who I think was the town doctor, to fight vampires. Barlow goes after the writers love interest and there is a final showdown in the vampires haunted house.

At least that's how I remember it. I'm much more familiar with the Dracula story than Salem's Lot as I've only read the latter twice. There was also a short story in one of Kings anthologies that was about a family who's car breaks down in the abandoned town of Salem's Lot and are attacked by vampires, which was supposed to be a follow-up companion story.

However I was always partial to a short story called Jerusalem's Lot which had nothing to do with vampires but rather an HP Lovecraft inspired tale about a dark cult wanting to summon some Eldritch horror. It was very reminiscent of The Dunwich Horror, but the entire story is told as a series of letters the main character is writing to his colleague which I found absolutely fascinating as a literary device.
Nice recap