Horror Annotation

Author: Stephen King

Title: Salem’s Lot
Genre: Horror
Publication Date: January 1975
Number of Pages: 653 pages
Geographical Setting: Jerusalem’s Lot, Maine, West Coast/Mexico
Time Period: 1975
Series: Not part of a series, but characters do appear in other books
Plot Summary:
Author Ben Mears returns back to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot after being away for 25 years.  After suffering the loss of his wife in a motorcycle accident, Ben is in need of inspiration to produce his third novel.  He decides to publish his book about the Marsten House, a large house in which a 1930s hitman murdered his wife and committed suicide.  Upon returning to town, Ben begins a romantic relationship with Susan Norton, a young college graduate that Ben meets in the park.  He also develops a friendship with the high school teacher Matt Burke. 
As Ben is writing about the Marsten house, he inquires about renting it only to discover that the house that has been abandoned for several decades has been purchased by out of towners Kurt Barlow and his business partner in antique dealing Richard Straker.  Barlow, who is out of town on a purchasing trip, has Straker set up an antique store downtown.  As the men get established in the community, strange occurrences begin to happen.  A dog is discovered brutally murdered in a graveyard.  The Glick brothers disappear after walking through the woods on the way to a friend’s house.  One is found dead while the other is discovered suffering from extreme shock.  Although previously healthy, the brother dies of anemia.  At night, Danny Glick rises from the dead and is seen by townspeople.  As other people begin to also get sick and die, Ben and Matt begin to question if this small town has been overrun by supernatural monsters.  Are Staker and Barlow behind all of this?  Can Ben and the other townspeople save the town from this evil force? 
Subject Headings: Maine—Fiction, Vampire—Fiction, City and town life—fiction (World Cat)
Appeal:

- Character-Driven

- Fast-paced

- Super-natural monsters

- Unresolved ending

- Protagonists are “haunted, shattered individuals.” (Saricks 113)

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors:

                Paul Barber, Vampires, Burial, and Death:  Folklore and Reality

                                - Scientific explanation for the origins of vampire legends

                                - Supernatural elements

                Mark Collins Jenkins, Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of the Enduring Legend

                                - Includes both historical and contemporary view of vampires

                Stephen King, Danse Macabre

                                - Non fiction work by King

                                - Discusses the behind the scene of Salem’s Lot and King’s inspiration for the characters

3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:

                Laurell K. Hamilton, Cravings

                                - Compelling

                                - Fast Paced

                                - Supernatural elements (Vampires)

                Dean Koontz, Phantoms

                                - Fast Paced

                                - Disappearance of a town

                                - Horror/Suspense story

                Brian Lumley, Necroscope: The Plague-Bearer

                                - Vampires

                                - Intricately plotted

                                - Fast paced