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

This is the final discussion on the book, covering Chapter 10 of Part 4 to the end.

I was right! I had been pondering in my previous Discussion Posts who the man and the boy featured in the Prologue were supposed to be. I surmised that they were likely to be Ben Mears and Mark Petrie, and I was correct. Yessiree, I'm just like Agatha Raisin :)

I liked the grisly scene that Ben and Mark encountered when they went upstairs in Marsten House and found Straker hanging upside down and drained of blood. I liked how we learned about the final hours of everyone in The Lot. I was surprised that the vamps booby-trapped the basement by removing the stairs, and then Jimmy fell to his death. Certainly the vamps are so powerful that they needn't resort to setting traps! I was disappointed that Jimmy didn't make it, but I was even more bummed when Matt had another heart attack. So unfortunate! 

The book didn't go exactly where I thought that it would go! I thought after the final showdown with Barlow that Ben and Mark would stick around to finish off the rest of the vamps, but instead they left town and went all the way to Mexico! Like Michelle, I also enjoyed the newspaper articles in The Epilogue that point to the vamps being responsibile for all the strange happenings, such as sheep slaughterings and people seeing faces in their windows. I was very surprised that it took so long (about a year?) for Ben and Mark to return to The Lot. To be perfectly honest, I thought the ending was a bit lame and anticlimactic! My perfect ending would have been Ben and Mark going down in a blaze of glory while on a killing spree and taking down the rest of the vamps after killing Barlow. That would have been more gratifying! Instead, they set a fire and leave. Ben says, "Tonight they'll be on the run. And tomorrow --" "You and me," Mark said, and closed his fist. Nooooooo! You can't end it there like that! I want to read what happens next! I suppose that King left it open to write a sequel, and I found this on King's website: a 'Salem's Lot Deluxe Slipcased Gift Edition (ooooooh, me want! but the price is $244) that includes the following:

Special Features For This Deluxe Special Edition:

• an introduction by Stephen King

• an afterword by Clive Barker

• many deleted scenes that were cut from the original manuscript

• the short stories “Jerusalem’s Lot” and “One for the Road”

• deluxe oversized design (7 inches X 10 inches) featuring two color interior printing as part of the page design

• printed on a heavy interior specialty paper stock that is much thicker than the paper in a normal trade edition

• epic wrap-around full color dust jacket artwork by David Palumbo

• a different full color dust jacket for the Numbered Artist Edition painted by David Palumbo

• full color interior paintings by David Palumbo

• interior artwork will be printed on a heavy glossy stock and tipped into the book

• an original map of the town drawn by Glenn Chadbourne exclusively for this special edition

• signature sheet artwork for all three editions by Glenn Chadbourne

• high-quality endpapers and fine bindings

• an exclusive reproduction of the first reader’s letter to point out the Father “Cody” error and several internal memos from Doubleday about changing the pricing after the first edition of the book was already printed

• extremely collectible print run that is a tiny fraction of the TENS OF MILLIONS of copies of this novel you’ve seen in bookstores over the years!

I mentioned in previous Discussion Posts that I did watch the original 1979 Television Mini-Series when I was nine years old. I had older siblings, so I don't think my parents realized that it probably wasn't suitable for my age! My library has it on Blu-ray, and I am on the Holds List so that I can re-watch. I remember very little of it, other than knowing that David Soul was the primary character and that famous window scene with Danny Glick that gave me nightmares. I have never watched the 2004 Television Remake featuring Rob Lowe. Unfortunately, my library does not have this one :(

I would also like to watch A Return to Salem's Lot (1987), and I'm curious what King thinks of the movie sequel! Was it based on his short story sequels?? I will need to look into that further.

So, I have lots that I need to watch :)

Thanks, again, Michelle for hosting the read-a-long!