’Salem's Lot (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)

King's second published novel and first best seller was ’Salem's Lot. It is a variation on the famous vampire novel of Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897), but is set in the modern world and, like most of King's novels, in a remote area of rural Maine. The main character is Ben Mears, an author who has recently lost his wife in a motorcycle crash. Unable to conquer his grief after many months, he returns, after an absence of twenty-five years, to the town of Jerusalem's Lot, known by most of its inhabitants as “’Salem's Lot.”

As a child, Ben had spent four years in...

[The entire page is 1018 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass