Comments (23)

What did you think about this title?
1 to 23 of 23 items
Feb 06, 2024mickie_4 rated this title 1.5 out of 5 stars
Was waiting 60 pages for something interesting to happen. When there was actual dread or fear, it was over immediately into stuff that was boring, irrelevant, and put me to sleep. He actually quoted, "Kill your darlings" in "On Writing."…
Oct 31, 2023P_rick rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed the world building and some of the characters but my issue with this book is also the characters. There are like 60 named characters in this book. I literally had to take notes to keep up.
Jul 26, 2023cassbjorn rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Solid horror story that makes your stomach turn not only due to fear of that which is not real but for that which is. There are details in this book that are truly disturbing and almost overshadow the supernatural aspect.
Jun 02, 2023caitlinlr rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Not a fan of vampire stuff usually but this was different and I couldn’t put the book down. He’s such an amazing writer.
Mar 03, 2023Pladdin rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
King's second foray tells a classic vampire story rooted in old mythology and religious tones. The story begins when a mildly well known young author, with a tragic past, returns to his sleepy small town. There he meets and befriends…
Sep 24, 2022aickman09 rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I've been a fan of King's work for over thirty years, and I finally got to read this recently, as I am currently going through some of his back titles that I've missed. This one was quite disappointing for me. It hums along nicely for the…
Nov 23, 2021ReadingAdviser_Sally rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I liked this story about as much as any Stephen King. Solid, not overly original and yet still hits the feels in all the right places. I'm not a big fan of vampire stories but this hit differently and I enjoyed that.
Feb 01, 2021
I am a pretty big fan of Stephen King but had put off reading this book because I felt that vampires have been overused in media. But King took this supernatural concept which had been beaten to death by movies and shows like Twilight and…
Jan 20, 2020
2nd novel 1975
Dec 25, 2019samsue rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
If you thought the TV show was scary, you ain't seen nothin' yet. More than 650 pages and you're caught from the very first paragraph. There is so much more to the story than they could show on TV. This was King's second hit novel, so the…
Oct 20, 2019watrousj rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
A fun and suspenseful vampire novel by the great Stephen King.
May 09, 2018DBRL_MattS rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I'm a sucker for stories about small towns with dark secrets. I'm not a sucker for vampires. Having said that, I enjoyed King's second novel quite a bit. It has several genuinely creepy moments, including an infant vampire and a group of…
Mar 02, 2018deebitner rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
One of the most interesting things about some of the reading I've been doing lately is noticing the changes in writers over time. It doesn't have to be over as much time as passed for Stephen King between <i>'Salem's Lot</i> and <i>Black…
Apr 26, 2017Spacek76 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
One of my favourites. No one else's books capture the history of a place in all it's nostalgia and creep like Stephen King. Great summertime horror for me.
Apr 05, 2017JCLMelodyMK rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Not nearly as full of gore as many of the current books are, yet well written and can still make you think about old houses. King even tips his hat to Shirley Jackson using a quote from her book the Haunting of Hill House.( I really liked…
athompson10
Feb 29, 2016athompson10 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Classic horror. This was the first Stephen King I read when it was published back in the '70s and I re-read it recently. The story isn't as scary as my old memories made it out to be but it's well told with good development and a dawning…
Jan 25, 2013pea46 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I read this recently, after having read it many years ago - still as good a book as I remembered, though not his best work. I have always thought "The Shining" was his best.
Aug 23, 2012kittybay rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Not one of his best, but an original vampire novel that's pretty good. I still enjoy his early works much more than his newer (post accident) books. I feel his brush with death (how ironic) has actually erased his true talent.
Aug 20, 2012Abbess rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Very early King and possibly not his best-written book, but it's one of my favorites of his - and the tv miniseries made from it in the late 1970s ain't bad either! (the newer tv series was tacky and dull IMO) This book is actually a bit…
Nov 19, 2010forestofmagic rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I read this book in a few days, and, let me tell you, it was hard to put down. I stayed up late reading it a few nights, and never really found a good place to put in my bookmark. (It was especially hard to stop reading when my teacher…
Sep 02, 2010Sabrina Prem rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
King really captures the frightening sense of the word 'Vampire'
Mar 16, 2010div_dbrl rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Stephen King is one of my favorite authors, and this might be his best book. It's also probably the second best book about vampires that I've ever read, second only to "Dracula." With books like "Twilight" and Anne Rice's "Vampire…
Nov 22, 2009ScorchingSun rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I am not an avid Stephen King fan, but this was one of his better ones. Extremely frightening as I recall.