after reading a few of king’s works i think with each book i’m appreciating his craft more & more especially as i see this one as an early concept of king’s mastered framework. paying homage to the classic gothic horror novel like dracula, king takes the grand scale villain & puts him in a seething that is familiar to everyone, a small town. this claustrophobic element heightens the mysterious tension as the reader cannot trust anyone in the community while also knowing everything about them. king’s choice to give depth to characters with no back story really expanded the town to make it feel more menacing & full than if the reader only knew about the main characters. with this, most characters seem to have the same voice, morphing into one another to create an atmosphere of hopelessness, especially when the supernatural forces starts altering the dynamics between the townsfolk. i see this book as less of a vampire story & more of a metaphor for moral panic & mass hysteria. king’s ability to write not only a great horror villain but also an eerie setting that the reader feels trapped in is just another reason why i need to read more of his work.