Detail
Title: Carrie / 'Salem's Lot / The Shining ISBN: 9780517219027Published July 2nd 2002 by Wings (first published 1983) · Hardcover 1096 pages
Genre: Horror, Fiction, Classics, Fantasy, Adult, Thriller, Paranormal, Anthologies, Collections, Vampires, Academic, School
Must be read
User Reviews
Carol
'SALEM'S LOT
"They only come out at night."
After waiting so long to read this work of horror, I was a little worried that SALEM'S LOT would not live up to my expectations, but was I ever wrong! Once again, as is the norm with Stephen King, there's more here than just creatures of night; there's also a creepy good storyline, some very colorful characters, and a small backwoods town with a dark and evil history.
After you meet the tall man and the quick-witted boy with dark eyes.....and the rest of the vampire hunting gang, the spooky Marsten House enters the picture and the disappearances begin. Oh, does the master of evil have some ingenious and nasty tricks up his undead sleeve! And.....just to add to the fun, KING throws in a vision of a "white faced clown with huge eyes and sharp teeth" for a little jolt.
I can't say I was "paralyzed with fear" but I sure enjoyed the ride! (Dracula is still my favorite vampire read.....sorry Mr. K)
(Have previously read and reviewed CARRIE and THE SHINING from this wonderful collection)
Amit
Carrie -
I WANT A GIRLFREIND JUST LIKE CARRIE! YES IT IS…
Call it lame but I don’t give a sh*t. It’s all that I could think right now about this character. I just loved her, loved her so much & I bet when you read it you just can’t deny the fact…
CARRIE –
A mysterious girl! Who has lot of things in her guts. From the first moment I fall for her and obviously loved her character. I don’t exactly why but as if I was feeling some short connection with this character while reading the book. It was by far of course one of the best creation by the master story teller Stephen King & I’m glad to read it. It’s the way and the story that unfolded itself caught me deep in my mind. I just couldn’t put it down. Though it has fewer pages to mark it as a short novel but even though it has all in it with horror which will blow your mind. I say it was a gem and you while you read it I repeat you just kept reading. There’s no going back, never…
She has the dignity that I admire most and couldn’t shake it off from my mind how she revenged against those people who’s misbehaved with her. Of course it was gift for her. The Power. It’s the Power that anyone would love to have to him/herself. It’s the kind of power that you just don’t to messing with! She (Carrie) didn’t know at the time that she has that invincible power to her. Raised in a fanatic religious family her mother knows and cares nothing but religion in Jesus. It was too much but she survived it from her childhood. Her momma never let her to be socializing but only allow her to go to school. It was after that humiliation incident that happened to her in that school the thing began to change. You can’t humiliate a girl in front of every girl no matter how weird character she has in herself. You can’t do that to a person, never. But it exactly what happened in that school shower room where the incident took place. I hate that sick minded girl Chris and her sick headed boyfriend Billy too. What happened to them in the end was enough to satisfy my anger. Actually it all began when like a dream after that humiliating incident that Carrie White got the proposal from Tobby Ross in the Prom night of that school. There’s no way just then that Carrie would known what going to be happen aftermath she visit there. & what happened after then? Well it was chaos, total chaos I say. I just couldn’t remember the moment I put the book down but kept reading myself to know what exactly going to happen after that what they did it to Carrie. I was blown away but obviously so much satisfied by visualizing the horror myself in my brain. Believe me it really felt very good to revenge against your sick minded enemy, it was at some point too much to handle if you know what I mean. I loved Carrie & I wish if Stephen King bring back ‘Carrie’ novel with naming with ‘Carrie 2’ title, you know to read more about this character even though I know what happened to her in the end. Till then I am ok with it of course…
Salem's Lot -
Huh! Well. I really expecting more from that novel. When I picked it up I thought it gonna be a good time to read it out. But anyway it's fine and have to say good to read. On average I would like to give it a fair marks.
Better when (next time) I intend myself to choose another Stephen King's book I should have glance and check out the Book Reviews. But I am happy with what I've read...
The Shining -
Finally I have read this book and there's no reason to doubt but to admit this one is certainly one of the best horror fiction by King. It was too good in taste when reading in horror genre, too much not to ignore the terrifying events that happened in the book. Something to remember for a long while yes this one would definitely worth your time...
Jack alongside with his wife Wendy came to Overlook hotel to stay for a while as he's been handed as a caretaker of that hotel but he is a writer too and was hoping to begin a fresh start of his writing. Danny the only little boy of them didn't know what could happen when he with his mom and dad arrived at that hotel. The problem is not anything but the Overlook, it's haunted with something dark that can naver be explained. It was terrific, fearful and unreasonable in the inside of it's atmosphere. Going there Danny found a grown-up adult friend Dick Hallorann though he couldn't stay with them but he did promise the boy whenever Danny call for him he will be there for him. It was something that shared only between them and no one known so at the beginning...
As the chapter go deep I found it impossible to stop but keep going and dig out what in the earth there's in next. In some point I did find myself in terrified position and couldn't help but being feared at once. It was too much and you only can realize what might happen when you finally read it. No wonder why most of the reader find it very much favorite to them while come to choose of all King's work of horror fiction. I can't tell that if I place it as my number 1 King book in my personal book list but of course it did creep the hell out of me and again of course 'The Shining' entertained me enough to scare me down. I just loved it...
For the ending part - I was really anxious and terrified about what might happen to that little boy Danny and his mom and dad too. The problem was that I was thinking if all of them will be dead though it certainly didn't happened but what happened was really matter; and I couldn't cope up with it, I wish I could tell the matter directly in here but it would spoil the whole story of this book. Anyway speaking in two different side or perspectives I think it was obvious that what coming to that character it was just waiting for it and it deserves what had happened to it (character) and in 2nd side I just can't accept the fate of that character, it seemed totally unfair to me. But the story ends the way the author wants it to end. No more questioning about it of course. So yeah anyway all comes to end and while it's end you can count too that it really didn't end but maybe the beginning of an end. To read the sequel of this book? Yeah, absolutely; why not! Who doesn't want to know what might happen when Danny the little grown up being an adult and how his life goes on by then? Have to keep patient till reading that book. Till then love to King...
Michael Sorbello
3 absolute gems!
The Shining - 5/5
Jack Torrance has been given the chance to turn his life around after being hired to work as a winter caretaker at the Overlook Hotel. Isolated from the rest of the world for months, Jack plans to rekindle his relationship with his wife Wendy and his son Danny all the while fighting his brutal alcohol addiction and working out his anger issues. Unfortunately for Jack, the Overlook Hotel has other plans for him and his family. The hotel is haunted by evil spirits with violent and tragic histories, taking advantage of Jack's own troubled past and his son Danny's psychic abilities. A peaceful winter getaway soon transforms into a true nightmare.
The Shining is a fantastic exploration of the struggles of alcoholism, financial ruin and past tragedies constantly coming back to bite you where it hurts most. Surprisingly, the fashion in which the basic elements of normal, human struggles is depicted in this book is far scarier than any ghost or even the Overlook Hotel itself.
Jack was a beat-down, broken and flat out pitiful man. He said and did some pretty horrible and disgusting things, but I developed a soft spot for him the more I learned about his troubles and what made him the way he is.
I loved the depth and feelings of sympathy and understanding the characters invoked. I wasn’t scared by this book on the same level as Pet Sematary, but I was moved by the very human struggles of the characters. It's a slow burner with a lot of heart.
***
Carrie - 5/5
The story of misfit high school girl, Carrie White, who gradually discovers that she has telekinetic powers. Repressed by a domineering, ultra-religious mother and tormented by her peers at school, her efforts to fit in lead to a dramatic confrontation during the senior prom.
A very sad book. I always thought this should be required reading in school as it captures many modern issues in gruesomely intimate detail. The importance of kindness, reaching out to struggling outcasts with toxic home lives, how to not be so shallow and judgmental for all the wrong reasons. You never know what someone is going through in their personal lives and you never know how close they are to breaking. Everyone develops and understands things differently.
Reading the book as a young adult who graduated high school not that long ago, I can say that it's an even more intense experience in the eyes of an adult who knows the horrors of growing up as a bullied outcast and being an awkward teenager that grew up in a loveless and hostile environment a bit too well. With bullying and prejudice at an all time high thanks to social media, the horror feels much more real and understandable now than it did when it was originally published. It's a chilling tragedy that captures the horrors of youth to a frightening degree. Tragedies like the case of Carrie can be avoided, but most people don't step in until it's too late.
There are some sections of the book that are edited somewhat awkwardly, the structure of the plot is a bit messy and you can definitely tell it was Stephen's first book as he improved significantly in just the next few entries, but it still holds up extremely well despite some flaws.
***
Salem's Lot - 5/5
Author Ben Mears returns to ‘Salem's Lot to write a book about a house that has haunted him since childhood only to find his isolated hometown infested with vampires. While the vampires claim more victims, Mears convinces a small group of believers to combat the undead.
The modern Dracula. An ancient vampire moves into an innocent little place, unleashes creatures of the night and turns people into blood-sucking monsters. I love this take on the old myth, showing that humans in a state of absolute panic and fear are often more terrifying and dangerous than ancient, powerful monsters. Your best friend can become your worst enemy at the drop of a hat.
I loved the long list of references of classic stories and authors that King mentions in this particular book. As someone that grew up reading a lot of weird fiction and gothic fiction, I enjoyed seeing Lovecraft, Poe, Hawthorne, Stoker and quite a few other of my old favorites continuously pop up.
Phoebe
This voluminous hardcover includes Stephen King’s first three novels:
-Carrie (1974)
-’Salem’s Lot (1975)
-The Shining (1977)
Each one just really a masterpiece and treat to read for itself!
In Carrie you are thrown into the world of a teenage girl that has, on top of having a very powerful ability to learn to handle, a more than a bit crazy mother and really tough days in school. What happens when shit hit the fans is simple chaos and destruction. An intense and mind-boggling journey the reader is accompanying Carrie throughout the pages.
Stephen King’s first novel (apart from his two-part self-published “The Star Invaders” ten years before Carrie) is surprisingly written from a young troubled girl’s point of view, yet perfectly believable and realistic – despite the supernatural element to it. As in his later works as well, King is portraying the life in a small town area and the dynamics within nicely – along with the on-goings of the local high school. All together I find it to be a very honest and direct book and in its core and story-telling wonderfully chilling and interesting.
With ’Salem’s Lot Stephen King surprised me with a vampire story. Haven’t read too much about it before starting reading, I wasn’t expecting the “vampires” to be actual “vampires”, but rather something other, slightly different, supernatural. Positively surprised, I may add. Vampires like they should be: classic style, menacing and yet oh so sophisticated!
The character development of the main characters is not only interesting but very convincing, no action seems out of nowhere and really understandable and comprehensible. From the writer, the magnificent boy, the priest, the teacher and the woman who wants to become a famous artist (and falls in love with the writer, by the way) up to the evil enemies the reader knows where they are coming from and why they are going where they are going. Though, as it should be, you’re honestly surprised and shocked about certain turns of events. Of course most importantly: the entire book is absolutely catching!
The Shining is my favorite of the three novels. Written in the seventies it is set around the same time. No cell phones on every person yet, no internet and up in the mountains there is an awful lot of snow in the winter. Enough snow, if the mountain is up high enough, to get snowed in and completely cut off from the rest of civilization – for months. That’s what happens to the Torrance family when father Jack Torrance takes on the job as winter caretaker in the Overlook hotel. From the start Wendy, the wife, and their 5-year old son Danny find something fishy about it. Especially Danny, who has “the shine” starts soon to get all kinds of weird signs about and from the hotel. Are they gonna survive the winter up there?
The story is thrilling and just exciting to follow. The characters are perfectly written and you are compelled by each chapter and eager to find out what happens next, hoping all the best for Danny and his family. It does give you the creeps frequently, which I enjoyed a lot while reading. Sometimes headlines of chapters alone (e.g. “Inside 217”, which is a very significant room right from the start) give you the creeps and a bad gut feeling. Brilliant book!
Shaun
A solid investment for someone wanting to sample some of King's earlier novels.
Carrie: 4 stars
'Salems Lot: 3 stars
The Shining: 4 stars
The Shining was definitely my favorite of the three, though all represent what I have come to think of as Classic King.
Kärt Tiisvend
I've wanted to read S. King books for a while now and never knew where to start. So I stumbled on this one. I think I have a S. King over dose now😵😄
I apsolutely loooooooved "Salem's Lot" and "The shinning", can't wait for my "Dr. Sleep" to arrive🤭
But "Carrie". I don't know. It was really confusing to me, everything was out of order and to much happening at the same time. The story and idea behind it are really good but the execution of it was little random for me. Might give it another try in future, maybe it is little easier to understand it then😊
Benjamin Stahl
Neither of King's first three novels are his greatest, in my opinion. Not even The Shining, which is widely heralded as one of his best works. Carrie is a decent first novel, but far from remarkable. Salem's Lot is easily the strongest, with some genuinely thrilling and terrifying moments to compensate for its other lacklustre aspects. The Shining is a masterful work until about the second half, when the supernatural elements become way too silly and impossible to take seriously.
Daniella
I didn't get a chance to finish reading this book before I had to take it back to the library, and considering the fact that it's been languishing on my Currently Reading list since--what, 2008? 2009? Something like that. At any rate, I doubt I'll bother to check it out again so I can finish it. So my rating here is based on the parts of the book that I did finish, which were Carrie and Salems' Lot.
Carrie gets two stars from me. It's an interesting enough little story that I feel is largely allegorical; the chaos and destruction wrought outwardly by Carrie to me represents the anger and the negativity that gets internalized as self-destructive behavior by so many adolescents in similar situations. (Not the telekinetics with mommy issues who flip their shit and kill everybody situation, but the outcasts who just can't seem to catch a break no matter how hard they try situation. Just to be clear.) The problem is that, stylistically, it's obvious this is one of King's freshman efforts. His prose simply doesn't have the same fine-tuning and finesse as his later work, and I didn't particularly care for the narrative device he employed here. I heard somewhere that King added the faux newspaper articles and book excerpts after his editor, or someone, told him the story wasn't long enough to be published as a novel. If that's true, then I wish he had found a better way of lengthening the story, because this method just doesn't work for me. It gives away too much too soon and ruins any suspense or sense of build-up, since you go through the entire book already knowing what's going to happen.
Salems' Lot, on the other hand, only gets one and a half stars. The writing was better, in my opinion, and the story was both sufficiently creepy and intriguing, but unfortunately it seemed like only half a story to me. I was completely dismayed when I got to the end of it, and I actually spent some time investigating whether this was an abridged version of the book for the compilation, because it felt like I had just finished part one of what should have been a two-part novel. I was left wanting and unsatisfied, which displeases me greatly, and I cannot in good conscience give it a higher rating. Salems' Lot is not a novel; Salems' Lot is the set-up of a novel, which requires a lot more elements to make it complete.
So, since Goodreads doesn't allow half-scores, I give this book an adjusted score of three stars for the two-thirds I did finish.
Emma
I have already finished Carrie, which I found to be an astounding novel! Simple, but packs a punch. You turn all sorts of corners, and venture into places you never thought you'd ever have the nerve to go to. It also exposes the very real creulty that High Schoolers face every day, and how even the person who wishes to reach out a hand of kindness can be persecuted for things assumed of them. Incredible read. If you're just dipping your toe into the world of Horror, this is definitly a perfect novel for you to read, to hook you into it. Or, if you're already hooked, this a a novel that will chill you, and send shivers down your spine.
I have yet to finish 'Salem's Lot, but expect a review when I do!
Richart Drake Lewis
Salem's Lot was the first of many King books I read and still the best of them all. I just wish they would actually do the book as a movie rather than what they've already done (which by the way were good).
Cora
Second time reading this. It's been 15 years since the first time I declared this as my favorite book ever and now I remember why.
David
This omnibus collects Stephen King's first three novels. This time around, I (re)read THE SHINING, one of the greatest haunted-house tales ever written, maybe even better than Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. King was influenced by HILL HOUSE, and it shows in THE SHINING, but what really stands out in this work is its semi-autobiographical nature.
For those unaware, King battled addiction to drugs and alcohol early in his career. In SHINING, Jack Torrance battles alcoholism and loses. One gets the sense while reading the book that Torrance could have been King. Like Ting, Torrance was a struggling English teacher who dreamed big dreams of making it big as a writer. Like King, Torrance had a family to support, and had to take jobs he deemed beneath him to keep them fed and clothed.
The book hinges on Jack's struggling with alcoholism, and with thoughts and impulses that grow darker as the Overlook Hotel's hold on him tightens. Jack blames his wife and son for his situation, and wonders more than once how his life might be different if he didn't have them to think about.
I can't help but wonder if King had similar thoughts during his lean times, when there was writing to be done at the same time there were bills to be paid and mouths to feed. I think it's likely. It's also human, and that humanity, more than the nightmarish images King paints in chapters that explore the haunted rooms and shadowy corners of the Overlook Hotel, is what makes SHINING such a raw and candid read.
I don't think I'm alone in sympathizing with Jack Torrance. He's not a bad guy. He struggles through most of SHINING, and you root for him to stay strong and mourn for his soul when he finally gives in. Readers love to talk about the forays into room 217, and the hotel's grisly history, and the pulse-pounding climax when Jack stalks through the hotel's corridors hunting his family. Those scenes are chilling and haunting, and deserving of the "How about the part when" talk they've generated for decades. But for my money, the book's best scene takes place in a maintenance shed, where Jack quietly scrapes and claws against the hotel, and loses.
My only qualm with SHINING is the characters' tendencies to blame Jack's disease instead of Jack himself for the havoc and horror he wreaks later on. More than once, you'll read "That isn't Jack" or "That's not your father" or "This isn't his fault." I don't want to get into a moral debate on the intricacies of drug addiction. It is a disease, and people in my life have lost loved ones to it.
However, I believe personal responsibility is of paramount importance. Addicts cannot and should not be allowed to blame the damage they cause on their diseases. They must accept their part in the harm they inflict on themselves and on others. As much as I love the Jack Torrance character, as hard as I root for him to persevere every time I read THE SHINING (this marks round three, I believe), I maintain that he is at least partly to blame for his actions, as he must be. The hotel may have conjured alcohol to fuel his demons, but there's a scene where he has a choice: pick up the glass, or go down fighting. Jack picked up the glass.
SHINING is one of King's most well-written books because it doesn't suffer from the bloat that weighs down many of his later works, even the best of the bunch such as THE STAND and IT. Most of the time his prose is elegant and understating, which makes the book's most horrific scenes all the more impactful.
Likewise, King didn't dip his pen in blood to write this story. He became known as the master of the grotesque, and sometimes seems to embrace the label by writing shocking and schlocky descriptions of gore and death. In SHINING, death is omnipresent, but never overwritten. It's beautiful in its way, and stands the test of time.
Rosie Lee
The movie was better
Meghan
Carrie : I knew the basics about Carrie from what I've heard of the movie. I have not watched the film yet; I wanted to read the novel first. When I began reading Carrie, it had sentences in brackets to explain what was going through Carrie's (and other characters') minds. These "thought" sentences were the only parts of the book that took me a while to get used to. To say that Carrie frightened me was an understatement. In the most straightforward sense, Carrie is quite relatable. The novel demonstrates the cruelty of people and their lack of remorse. Not every person has these qualities, but enough do. Bullying is a big problem and Carrie shows the extreme of its outcome. Stephen King definitely creeped me out with Carrie, so much so that I took a break before continuing to read Salem's Lot. My rating for Carrie is a 4/5.
Salem's Lot : Salem's Lot took a while to get good. The story is broken up into three parts (with an epilogue at the end). The first part was rather tedious because it introduces the reader to characters who are forgotten almost instantly. The second part begins to flesh out the true motives of the novel while the third part reveals the climax. The story does well to keep a sense of foreboding and evil. Although not overtly frightening, King's words easily paint a picture in the mind's eye. If the first part of Salem's Lot had been a tad shorter, or less peppered with rather irrelevant characters, than the rating would have been a 4/5. However, my rating for Salem's Lot is 3/5.
The Shining : The best phrase for this story would be chillingly eerie. Perhaps eerie bordering on downright terrifying. I'm not ashamed to say that The Shining gave me nightmares within reading a few chapters. Not many books have the ability to do that to me. I know a movie adaptation was made but I don't think I'll ever work up the courage to watch it after having read the book. I had to put the book down multiple times out of sheer fright. When I read Danny and Jack's experience in Room 217 I became increasingly uncomfortable walking into any bathroom with a bathtub. Good job scaring the crap out of me, King. I commend your ability to craft a chilling tale all while keeping the reader eager for the next turn of events. The Shining has become my favourite King novel, even if it scared the bejeezus out of me. While I'm wary about the forthcoming sequel, I'm excited to see how it plays out. My rating for The Shining is a 5/5.
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