Salem's Lot - Stephen King - 5 stars

It has been at least 15 years since I had first read this book. I decided to read this as a buddy read with a good friend. I knew that I had enjoyed this book before even though there were some parts of it that I did not remember. I have to say, I enjoyed it as much this time around and I did the first time I read it.
Synopsis
Something strange is going on in Jerusalem's Lot ... but no one dares to talk about it. By day, 'Salem's Lot is a typical modest New England town; but when the sun goes down, evil roams the earth. The devilishly sweet insistent laughter of a child can be heard echoing through the fields, and the presence of silent looming spirits can be felt lurking right outside your window. Stephen King brings his gruesome imagination to life in this tale of spine-tingling horror.

You have to love the plot of this story with a small town setting, a creepy house on top of a hill that no one likes, and then to be over run by vampires. What more could you ask for? Plenty of thrills and chills with this book that will keep you glued to the pages. Now if you are a King fan then you can actually deal with, and get through, the wordiness of this book. King sets up a great town and characters, but you must be patient because everything is described with very in depth details. For the most part I do enjoy that part of King's writing because it is pretty much a guarantee that one, you will know the town and who lives there, and two, you will never forget the story or the characters.

I have to say that there was a great number of characters that I loved in this story and will remember for a very long time. So well developed and so believable. I was able to relate with a lot of them. These are the type of characters that you would most definitely find in a small town, the type you could see yourself sitting down to lunch with. I do have to say that 2 of my very favorites were Ben and Mark. I feel like they went through the most together. There is a very large cast of characters in this book, so it may take some time to wrap your mind around them all, but you will love them for who they are.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves horror stories, or even if you love vampire stories, and most definitely to those who are King fans and have not yet read this book. It is very deserving of the 5 stars I am giving it. Such a great read for Spook Season!