Dan Padavona's Blog - Posts Tagged "stephen-king"

If you grew up between the late 1970s and early 1980s and loved horror, you saw the Salem's Lot (1979) TV miniseries. And if you saw Salem's Lot, you and your friends talked about it constantly and scared the bejeezus out of each other, convincing one another that Mr. Barlow was hiding behind the next tree.

The Salem's Lot TV miniseries was based on the classic Stephen King vampire novel of the same name. Unlike The Shining, the movie version of Salem's Lot stayed true to the novel. Sure, a few scenes were changed, and a few characters were combined or omitted altogether. But the main characters and story line closely followed King's novel.

With one exception.

The vampire, Mr. Barlow, is depicted in King's book as a devious monster, but human-looking. Perhaps even handsome. The television version of Barlow is considerably different...something straight out of a nightmare. The closest comparison I can draw to other famous vampires is Nosferatu, but Barlow is far more hideous. In my opinion, the 1979 television version of Mr. Barlow is the most frightening vampire in movie history. Towering at over seven feet tall, with demon's eyes and two humongous fangs for central incisors, Mr. Barlow is horrifying. He does not woo, talk, or connive. He kills, and he feasts.

Like in the original novel, the story follows a writer named Ben Mears (David Soul) who has returned to Salem's Lot after many years. Part ghost story, part monster movie, the Salem's Lot story keeps coming back to the Marsten house, a haunted-looking house where Mears claimed to have seen the ghost of Hubie Marsten hanging from a noose years after his death.

Can a house be inherently evil? This question is on the mind of Mears and some of the townsfolk.

The Marsten house is abandoned for decades before a dark man named Richard Straker, elegantly portrayed by James Mason, purchases the home with his business partner, Kurt Barlow. Straker explains away Barlow's initial absence, claiming his partner is on business overseas. Then Straker has a huge crate delivered to the Marsten house, and the children of Salem's Lot begin to vanish.

One of Salem's Lot's greatest traits is its believable portrayal of small town New England in the 1970s. Salem's Lot is small enough that we may learn its history and get to know all of its characters, from the slippery real estate maven, Larry Crocket (Fred Willard), to venerable teacher, Jason Burke (Lew Ayres), and Parkins Gillespie (Kenneth McMillian), a constable clearly in over his head.

Because we know the characters and believe in them, the horror that eventually unfolds is more effective. But even without our sympathetic compassion, the scares generated in Salem's Lot are top notch and often unique. One very effective scene involves the aforementioned crate, which seems to move on its own in the back of the truck as the movers deliver it to the Marsten house. The temperature drops precipitously inside the cab, as the crate appears to lurch toward the delivery men. Perhaps the scariest scenes involve the vampire Glick brothers floating in a fog outside bedroom windows, scratching their nails against the glass. These are bona fide classic moments in horror history, scenes which scared a generation of movie watchers and influenced future movies.

Like most classic vampire tales, eventually the hero and his friends must venture deep into the vampire's lair, in this case, the Marsten house. The climactic scenes are tense and frightening.

Salem's Lot is a slow-brooding masterpiece that creeps up on you. Once the horror begins, it is relentless. I cannot think of a more effective vampire effort during the 1970s and 1980s, though plenty of great ones came out of this era.

Stephen King, the mastermind of the thriller and horror genres, has captivated readers for decades with his unique knack for storytelling. When I first held a Stephen King novel in my hands (“The Shining”, in case you’re wondering), I remember being drawn into a world of suspense and terror that sent me scrambling under the covers. Now decades later, I still consider him a leading authority on the thriller genre. That’s why when King recommends a thriller book, we, as fans, sit up and take notice. So, let’s embark on a journey through the dark corridors of the top 10 Stephen King recommended thriller books.

Stephen King’s Approach to Thriller Books
Known for his uncanny ability to bring the unimaginable to life, King has a specific taste in thrillers. The elements that make his books captivating – palpable suspense, psychological depth, and the human struggle with evil – are the same he values in other authors’ works. Like a true dark thriller enthusiast, King isn’t merely about ghostly apparitions and gory murders. It’s the psychological terror that intrigues him the most – the terrors that lurk within the human mind.

Oh, and if you’re searching for a psychological thriller to start reading right away, I recommend you download “Dead and Buried”, the prequel to the bestselling Darkwater Cove series. It’s free.

Our Definitive List of Stephen King Recommended Thriller Books
Delving into King’s recommended reading list gives us a glimpse into the books that meet his high standards. In many cases, you will be familiar with the movie version. But have you read the book? Let’s unravel these gems one by one.

“The Exorcist” by William Peter Blatty
A classic horror tale, “The Exorcist” grapples with the terror of demonic possession. King acknowledged Blatty’s masterpiece in his non-fiction book “Danse Macabre”, calling it a great supernatural thriller. And who can argue with that? The book had me sleeping with the lights on for a week.

“The Silence of the Lambs” by Thomas Harris
“The Silence of the Lambs” is a chilling exploration of the mind of a serial killer. King admires how Harris crafts a sinister world that brings the readers face-to-face with pure evil. Having read this one based on King’s recommendation, I can tell you it’s a journey not for the faint-hearted.

I consider the movie version of “The Silence of the Lambs”, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, to be one of the greatest movies of the twentieth century. As difficult as it is to believe, the book is even better.

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