The #StephenKing Challenge: Salem's Lot Read-Along - Discussion Two/Three #TuesBookTalk

Note: If you have not completely read sections 2 {pp 111 (Ch. 4, section 10 in Part one) - 218 (end of Ch. 9 in Part two)} and 3 {pp 219 (Chapter Ten - in Part two) - 328 (part three, Ch. 14, before section 4)}, please note that there are spoilers ahead.

I fell way behind on this read-along and I apologize. I hope I'm not the only one! So, this post will cover sections 2 and 3 (see above). I will have the final discussion posted on Halloween (Oct. 31). What better day, I say!?

I'm just going to start off by saying...Wow! That part when Matt and Susan are talking in his kitchen and he says, "There's someone upstairs" and then "I know my house...someone is in the guest bedroom..." Well, I started getting this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. Then, when he goes upstairs and discovers Mike. Egads! That was probably the scariest part of the book for me so far. Whew! My skin was crawling with fear.

I've mentioned that I've seen both television mini-series based on this book. The 1979 version which starred David Soul, and the 2004 version starring Rob Lowe. Previously, these were the only point of reference I had for this story...and I thought them pretty scary, especially the 1979 version. Not anymore. These two TV films do not hold a candle to this book. So, again, the book is better. As if we didn't know!

Things really escalated in these two sections. People are dropping like flies, And Kurt Barlow. Did anyone else envision him as a Dracula-like figure? Totally! I just think the name "Kurt Barlow" is so weird. And I guess Straker is a kind of Renfield character, but a more tough, less sniveling one. Thank you for that, SK. I never could stand the Renfield character, to be honest. (I'm listening to Dracula on audio right now).

The facepalm moment for me was when Susan decides to go to the Marsten House...alone. What a dummy. She is so set on proving her independence (my opinion) that she takes it to the ultimate limit, and it costs her life. But I guess it's kind of the theme of vampire novels (or at least Dracula-esque stories). There has to be a woman who is tragically lost to the vampire.

So, those are my thoughts this week? What did you think? Are you enjoying the book as much as I am?

I'm also sharing this discussion in the TuesBookTalk group on Goodreads.

The #StephenKing Challenge: Salem's Lot Read-Along - Discussion One #TuesBookTalk

Note: If you have not completely read section one through subchapter 10 in Chapter 4 of Part One, please not that there are spoilers ahead.

Subtlety. That's how I would describe how King sets up a story. He goes about showing us how normal a town is, throwing in bits of alarming details, like the savage hanging of the dog on the cemetery gate, slowly building us toward the horror to come. It's masterful.

It's at that point, when we feel nice and settled in, perhaps part of the town now, that he throws us the scene with the Glick boys in the woods. Now we really get the master of horror. Yikes. The growing terror is palpable and the hairs are standing up on the back of my neck. The scene in the cellar, when Hank Peters has to go back down to leave the keys...and sees a shirt, jeans, a sneaker, and then one of the aluminum bands comes loose on the big box. Egads!

I have been a fan of Stephen King since I was about ten years old. Oddly, I read a lot of his books as they were released, like Pet Sematary, Cujo, Christine, etc., and did not read these older books until I was well past my thirties. I read The Shining a few years back. Excellent. The Stand, also excellent. Now this one. And I can tell already...excellent.

This is the perfect read for this time of year. I can't wait to keep going. I know I've seen both editions of the made for TV movies, but these often do not compare to the book (although the 1979 version was quite creepy. My parents wouldn't even let me watch it when it was first aired. I saw it years later).

From the 1979 movie - Delivering crate to the cellar

So, what are your thoughts so far?

I'm also sharing this discussion in the TuesBookTalk group on Goodreads.