NOW READING: 'Salem's Lot

I guess you could say I'm having a Stephen King phase. It started with Hearts in Atlantis, which my Recommender thought I would enjoy - and I did. Then, he said 'Salem's Lot was one of his favorites, but he thought it would be "too much" for me. Challenge accepted.

What can I say? I like my books dark and my coffee darker.

Here are my honest-to-goodness summary thoughts of 'Salem's Lot. Not scary. Not scary at all. Creative, engaging, enthralling and thrilling, but not scary. I've been told this is not the majority opinion.

I could see how living in 'Salem's Lot would be terrifying. For me, there's a mental separation between reading a book and watching a movie - or reading a book and walking up the driveway at night. I think its related to the various media richness - walking up the driveway is happening now. at this moment in time. I'm actually experiencing it. It cannot be more media rich than that. What would parrot most closely, would probably be 3D skype (I don't think this exists yet). But a movie would not be much further down the line, between seeing and hearing the action, a movie is still media rich. But a book? That's only words and open to your interpretation. By reading the book as fantasy, I'm able to separate myself from the action and view it as fantasy, where a movie would seem more real.

Please don't argue that this means I'm missing King's creative brilliance, as 'Salem's Lot is probably the best book I've read-to-date. To say I greatly enjoyed it, would be a gross under-representation of my feelings. I just wasn't scared by it. I think perhaps its the idea of vampires, which like many of the residents of 'Salem's Lot, I find difficult to conceive of as plausible.

We'll see if my feelings hold true for my next King Adventure: The Stand.