'Salem's Lot cover art

'Salem's Lot

a chilling classic from the No. 1 bestseller

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'Salem's Lot

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Ron McLarty
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Summary

 Don't miss King's #1 chilling classic, now a major motion picture from Warner Bros. Pictures. Available in cinemas (UK and Germany) or stream on MAX from October 2024.

'Salem's Lot is a small New England town with white clapboard houses, tree-lined streets and solid church steeples. Of course there are tales of strange happenings - but no more than in any other such town.

Ben Mears has returned to the Lot to write a novel and exorcise the terrors that have haunted him since childhood - since the event he witnessed at the Marsten House.

He finds the house has been rented by a newcomer, a man who causes Ben some unease. And then things start to happen: a child disappears, a dog is brutally killed - nothing unusual, except the list keeps growing...©1975 Stephen King Crime Fiction Fantasy Horror Supernatural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Scary

Critic reviews

Hugely impressive
One of the few horror writers who can truly make the flesh creep
Mr. King's gift of storytelling is unrivaled. His ferocious imagination is unlimited (George Pelecanos)
[King is] ... the guy who probably knows more about scary goings-on in confined, isolated places than anybody since Edgar Allen Poe
Popular fiction's most prolific terror-monger's...genius remains in the conjuring of evil out of ephemera, of a malevolent universe lurking behind the Walmart shopping trolley banality of every day, small town America
All stars
Most relevant
What a great story teller Stephen King is. The way he weaves stories of every day small town life into a gradually ramped up tale of genuine horror and shock is simply brilliant. Literally unputdownable (or whatever the right word is for an audiobook!) - you'll find yourself extending your journey home or the dog will get an extra walk just so you can finish the story. Narration is perfectly judged too - really adds to the book.

a five star listen by any yardstick - strongly recommended.

Gripping vivid horror story

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Well, sort of. In fact, this is King’s masterpiece, or has a strong claim to it, though for my money IT just has the edge. This one works so brilliantly because of its evocation of small-town American life: the curtain-twitchers, the family conflicts … these ingredients are present in many other King titles - indeed, probably most other. Here, the juxtaposition with the horrors visited on the town of ‘Salem’s Lot is so stark that it packs a more powerful punch - and somehow, despite the extreme subject matter, the listener buys into it; it all seems weirdly plausible, at times. There are some fantastic set-pieces. I loved the almost poetic descriptions of the town throughout the book, a place whose life force has ebbed away. The plot has a tremendous momentum and the portentous narration is spot-on. There’s also a great foreword - read by King himself. Sink your teeth into this magnificent audiobook now!

Peyton Place — with vampires

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A real slow burner, King brings a rich life to his sleepy Maine town and its characters before the horror begins. I loved the book and the TV mini series as a teenager and enjoyed the audiobook. I mainly listen to non-fiction books, but will try a few fiction after getting a lot of pleasure from this one. The narration was excellent.

One of King's best

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the story stands the test of time and keeps you gripped and wanting more. brilliant narration that brings the story to life.

superb

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I have read many of King’s books over my life, but somehow hadn’t read this one. I picked it up and listened to it over the course of a weekend. It is truly scary. Not in blood and gore, but in the buildup, suspense and all the old tropes. I listened to a lot of it while driving in bright sunshine, yet still found goosebumps rising from time to time.

The narrator did an incredible job with all of the characters, and with capturing just the right tones and emphasis. Though I have to say his pronunciation of Citroen I found quite jarring, but that’s just nit picky.

I also really appreciated the foreword by Stephen King himself, giving insight to where the story came from. A truly masterful telling of the story, with characters we learned to Cate about and we’re really affected by what happened to them.

Truly scary

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