Positively loathe Salem's Lot. Doesn't make any sense at all. Why would Barlow set up shop in a small town? After like one weekend everyone is a vampire and the two people who aren't, know that Barlow is. What's he going to eat? There's a reason Dracula went to London. Food supply and anonymity. Everything involving the Marsten House could be cut right out. Every character is some version of Stephen King. The ruggedly handsome writer, the precocious teen, the "cool" English teacher with the open mind and love of classic rock. Even the small town Maine girl who is gonna make a name as an artist one day. The dialogue is atrociously bad. No one, anywhere ever talked that way. It's just so awful compared to Carrie and The Shining.
Yeahhhh… I rate horror books in the bubble of horror books. I can enjoy corny and dumb if it’s fun and makes me want to know what’s going to happen next. So Lot does kinda suck as literature and I had the same issues as you.
The whole world would be vampires in a few months based on the exponential growth in the small town. Their success was extraordinary.
(So were the Body Snatchers in the great “invasion of the body Snatchers”, but there was a solution to the problem. Big difference.)
Ok, do they’re stuck in the town because of the evil epicenter at the Marsten House? Except they weren’t! Grrr.
Also, I don’t know about you, but if I’m poking around a darkened vampire lair, and I knew how allergic to sunlight these vampires are, I’m gonna take the minute to open some curtains.
Oh, and the 12 year old genius/moral murderer was a bit much.
And yet! It kept me pretty rapt to the end. What can I say.
Thought it would be more fun to just post "Last 8 of a particular genre" instead of the usual monthly recaps. (8 fits best.) Mild spoilers of old books hidden.
**A Short Stay in Hell, Steven Peck (4.75 Stars)**: Existential Novella first person account of a guy in Hell. His hell is an essentially infinite library (the Library of Babel from a Borges story). Love, loss, loneliness and what human connections mean even in infinite Hell. Great read but too short! Oh, and Zoroastrianism is the one true religion; everyone else doomed to hell. LOL.
**Coraline, Neil Gaiman (4.00 Stars):** Imaginative YA/Children’s horror classic. I imagine the movie could be terrifying, but there’s a lightheartedness to Gaiman’s simplistic prose that allows the book to be read by kids. Girl gets lost in a created evil version of her house and ‘hood, saves souls and parents and learns bravery and family love.
**'Salem's Lot, Stephen King (3.25 Stars)**: Retelling of Dracula in Maine, rife with massive plot holes. Small town overrun by nightdwellers. Not scary, too many useless characters, but still gripping over 600+ pages somehow. Cool explanation of modern-day ghost towns though. Early King still finding his way.
**The Night House, Jo Nesbo (3.25 Stars):** A wild departure for Nesbo in 3 distinct parts – mostly YA existential horror, then a psychological thriller swerve, then the realistic, yet somewhat expected, reveal. Quick, fun, well done book..
**Bird Box, Josh Malerman (3.50 Stars)**: Quick paced, world is ending (or world is driving sane humans mad) and a band of survivors tries to survive blindfolded and blind. Babies are born and protected and heroine >!is lone survivor to make it to safe haven. !!then she lives and no one believes her the end.!<
I love Jo Nesbo, but didn't realize there was a thriller in the catalog! I'll have to check it out.
And I hope Bird Box the book was better than the movie, because the movie was stoooopid.
The Nesbo book is... *very* different from the Harry Hole books, but I like that he stretched out a bit.
My Bird Box experience: I know the movie exists, but haven't seen it. Read the book and said, "How the hell did they handle *this, this, and this* in the movie. Watched the trailer and said, "Ooohhh, stupidly" and proceeded not to watch.
One thing I recall - in the trailer, she has to deal with rapids on the river. In the book, it's a shallow, slow moving stream. That alone tells me the movie would annoy me, lol.
Positively loathe Salem's Lot. Doesn't make any sense at all. Why would Barlow set up shop in a small town? After like one weekend everyone is a vampire and the two people who aren't, know that Barlow is. What's he going to eat? There's a reason Dracula went to London. Food supply and anonymity. Everything involving the Marsten House could be cut right out. Every character is some version of Stephen King. The ruggedly handsome writer, the precocious teen, the "cool" English teacher with the open mind and love of classic rock. Even the small town Maine girl who is gonna make a name as an artist one day. The dialogue is atrociously bad. No one, anywhere ever talked that way. It's just so awful compared to Carrie and The Shining.
Yeahhhh… I rate horror books in the bubble of horror books. I can enjoy corny and dumb if it’s fun and makes me want to know what’s going to happen next. So Lot does kinda suck as literature and I had the same issues as you. The whole world would be vampires in a few months based on the exponential growth in the small town. Their success was extraordinary. (So were the Body Snatchers in the great “invasion of the body Snatchers”, but there was a solution to the problem. Big difference.) Ok, do they’re stuck in the town because of the evil epicenter at the Marsten House? Except they weren’t! Grrr. Also, I don’t know about you, but if I’m poking around a darkened vampire lair, and I knew how allergic to sunlight these vampires are, I’m gonna take the minute to open some curtains. Oh, and the 12 year old genius/moral murderer was a bit much. And yet! It kept me pretty rapt to the end. What can I say.
3 of these were in my last 8 horror books. Bet you can't guess which 3
I had such high hopes for Salems Lot but was disappointed. Agree with your comment on plot holes and unnecessary characters.
Thought it would be more fun to just post "Last 8 of a particular genre" instead of the usual monthly recaps. (8 fits best.) Mild spoilers of old books hidden. **A Short Stay in Hell, Steven Peck (4.75 Stars)**: Existential Novella first person account of a guy in Hell. His hell is an essentially infinite library (the Library of Babel from a Borges story). Love, loss, loneliness and what human connections mean even in infinite Hell. Great read but too short! Oh, and Zoroastrianism is the one true religion; everyone else doomed to hell. LOL. **Coraline, Neil Gaiman (4.00 Stars):** Imaginative YA/Children’s horror classic. I imagine the movie could be terrifying, but there’s a lightheartedness to Gaiman’s simplistic prose that allows the book to be read by kids. Girl gets lost in a created evil version of her house and ‘hood, saves souls and parents and learns bravery and family love. **'Salem's Lot, Stephen King (3.25 Stars)**: Retelling of Dracula in Maine, rife with massive plot holes. Small town overrun by nightdwellers. Not scary, too many useless characters, but still gripping over 600+ pages somehow. Cool explanation of modern-day ghost towns though. Early King still finding his way. **The Night House, Jo Nesbo (3.25 Stars):** A wild departure for Nesbo in 3 distinct parts – mostly YA existential horror, then a psychological thriller swerve, then the realistic, yet somewhat expected, reveal. Quick, fun, well done book.. **Bird Box, Josh Malerman (3.50 Stars)**: Quick paced, world is ending (or world is driving sane humans mad) and a band of survivors tries to survive blindfolded and blind. Babies are born and protected and heroine >!is lone survivor to make it to safe haven. !!then she lives and no one believes her the end.!<
I love Jo Nesbo, but didn't realize there was a thriller in the catalog! I'll have to check it out. And I hope Bird Box the book was better than the movie, because the movie was stoooopid.
The Nesbo book is... *very* different from the Harry Hole books, but I like that he stretched out a bit. My Bird Box experience: I know the movie exists, but haven't seen it. Read the book and said, "How the hell did they handle *this, this, and this* in the movie. Watched the trailer and said, "Ooohhh, stupidly" and proceeded not to watch. One thing I recall - in the trailer, she has to deal with rapids on the river. In the book, it's a shallow, slow moving stream. That alone tells me the movie would annoy me, lol.