Vampires » salem’s lot

Salem’s Lot: the Book and the Film

annimi — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:23:00 +0000

If you’ve never read or seen ‘Salem’s Lot, shame on you. But here’s the run-down for those of you who still need to put this stuff on your to-do list. In Stephen King’s best-selling novel, –probably still bringing in a ton of cash, –vampires are hardcore, nothing like the sissified vampires of the modern world. Don’t get me wrong, I love sissified vampires too, I admit it. But after recently re-reading ‘Salem’s Lot, I can’t help occasionally looking over my shoulder when I’m alone at night.

In the book, a previous resident of ‘Salem’s Lot, Ben Mears, returns to the town where he lived as a child. Following shortly behind him, is Richard Straker, who turns the closed-up local laundry into an antique store as a front to smuggle in the master vampire, Barlow. The first victim is a dog, then a child, and soon, the whole town is gradually infected with a plague of vampires, and the few living residents end up leaving, either in denial or refusing to speak of the horror they witnessed in Salem’s Lot. Ben Mears escapes with the vampire-savvy child, Mark Petrie, orphaned by the vampire Barlow.

The Book

Terrifying. There really isn’t a stronger word in the English language to describe the way vampires are portrayed in ‘Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King. I recently re-read the book, and it was more than enough to dispel any soft-hearted feelings about vampires I had because of the latest vamp trend. In this book, there are no demons with souls or friendly vampires who just want to save the day with their high school girlfriends. Don’t get me wrong, I love vampire romance; but King knows just how to wrench away all those soft little pretensions, and implant pure fear.

The Film

The film is great, but if you find yourself nodding off, or having trouble paying attention, then it’s fair to admit, like myself, that you just can’t get into 70’s cinema. The film was actually a miniseries in ‘79, and has since been condensed into its present film format. Though some of us might have a hard time getting into the groove, ‘Salem’s Lot has a pretty large cult following, –compared to films like The Exorcist, and The Lost Boys, Salem’s Lot is right up there with the big boys. It’s easy to see why people still love the film; the atmosphere, the rural set, and the 70’s style were perfectly rendered, making the movie more like an exquisite portrait of retro vampire horror.

OH No! Anything But Water!

Moonlight — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:00:47 +0000

Vampires hating water is a pretty common old myth. You’ve got loads of classic movies and books documenting vampires being stopped by water (the 1972 Dracula film and Dracula: Prince of Darkness to name a few). But was this idea created by modern authors and screen play writers? Nope, this has been around for ages.

Water is believed to be a purifier, washing away evil and sin. In Greece, naughty undead beasties were “exiled” to islands (because they were surrounded by water see), which isolated them and kept them from leaving and eating up the living. In some places people thought that souls were thirsty, so offerings of water were placed near graves to keep the deceased from wandering in search of it (Author‘s Note: my soul likes coffee, leave that at my grave instead). A trial by water (similar to what they did to supposed witches back in the day), which was called the iudicium aquae, was used to see if a corpse was really a vampire. If the body floated, it was a vampire. Simple as that. It was these types of crazy ideas that birthed the belief that vampires are disabled or destroyed by running water.

But that is only part of vampire water phobia; you also have holy water which is a whole other deal. Holy water is water that has been blessed by a cleric, therefore made sacred and possessing powerful anti-evil properties. When it comes to the undead, it has many functions. It was (and still is to some) believed when used on a vampire it would burn like acid, leaving horrible scars (think the Anita Blake series). Holy water is also said to be able to detect evil. If poured on ground under evil influences the water will either boil or smoke. If the holy water is poured into an empty coffin, it will keep all vampires from laying there, the same goes for pouring it on a grave. Then you have movie/book created myths, like in the film Salem’s Lot, in which a bottle of holy water would glow if a vampire were near.

So to sum it up… vampires + water = bad!

- Moonlight

Vampires in Literature

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:30:06 +0000

In fiction of course, the epidemy of vampire literature, would be Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. There were sexual undertones, of course, relaying vampirism to be a sort of sexually transmitted disease. Its themes of blood, death, and sex made it’s way to Victorian Europe, rattled because of the spread of tuberculosis and syphilis. But the vampire was first introduced to Western literature, by Lord Byron, in his poem The Giaour. Though, his manservant, John Polidori, wrote the first vampire story, Lord Ruthven, which was partly based on Byron himself. No doubt for his certain promiscuous behaviour with women, which was a characterization of the romantic perspective of vampirism. The story was written during a “ghost story competition” in which Lord Byron was said to have encouraged his friend Percy Shelley’s wife, Mary Shelley, to write a ghost story. Apparently, she did.

Vampires have dominated American fiction through many popular modern authors, namely Anne Rice, Charlaine Harris, Valerie Hardin, Margaret L. Carter, Stephen King, amongst many others. Anne Rice is famous for her widely popular Vampire Chronicles, and various other novels written under other pseudonyms. She portrays the romantic vampire, both breaking boundaries of old vampire legends, and regenerating and rebuilding the old to complete a new breed of vampire. The beautiful deadly killers that have captivated audiences globally.

Charlaine Harris has written various mystery and horror novels, but is now a rising star of vampire fiction, with her debut vampire novel Dead Until Dark, featuring a humourous female heroine. Her refreshingly original style is highly entertaining, and published globally. Valerie Hardin, well known on the web for her six books of Gothic poetry, and novella Crimson Kisses, and will soon be collaborating with other authors to produce young adult novels. Margaret L. Carter is widely known for her paperback paranormal romances, among them, Tall, Dark, and Deadly. Stephen King’s most popular vampire novels, Salem’s Lot, and The Night Flier, still terrorize the world.

Vampires » salem’s lot

Salem’s Lot: the Book and the Film

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OH No! Anything But Water!

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Vampires in Literature

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