Salem's Lot Read-a-long ~ Chapter 7 Matt

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CHAPTER 7: MATT

END OF PART ONE

Matt Burke asked Ben to speak to his English class . Do you think the subject of vampires came up? Anyway, Ben goes to Matts house for dinner and they talk about Bens book, the Marsten House, the disappearance of 4 children in the '30's , Straker, how the Glick boy died from pernicious anemia and they agree to pay a visit to Mr. Straker at the Marsten House, sorta like a welcome committee.

Matt goes to Dell's and finds Mike Ryerson looking sickly and thought he was on drugs. His face was pale showing all the symptoms of having been bitten by a vampire. Even though Matt doesn't know that, he makes the mistake and invites him home . Matt doesn't try to rationalize things when he hears a voice inviting someone to "come in" ....the window opening ...... evil laughter of a child.... and sucking sounds. No he knows what he heard and he is frightened .

Salem's Lot Read-Along ~ The Lot (II) Hell in A Hand Basket

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CHAPTER SIX: The Lot (II) section 6-9

*****BEWARE! IT MAY SPOIL THE BOOK FOR YOU IF YOU READ THIS! GO NOW and "read the damn book!"

It's unfortunate that family violence often occurs in the lives of many, threatening the fabric of society. Back then I don't imagine there were many women shelters brimming with single mothers or foster homes with kids, but I believe spousal/child abuse is a crime. I feel so bad for those abused children and desperate parents like Randy's. Oy. It's one of the themes that disturbs me.

Constable Parkins Gillespie had done some digging and background checks for Mears, Straker and Barlow in the Ralphie Glick disappearance. He learns that Ben Mears was once an activist, and that Ben's wife died after a motorcycle accident in which Ben was driving the motorcycle but other than that Ben is clean. In the evening Dud Rogers was skirming through the fire debris in the dump and killing rats. He sees a figure watching in the distance. They start talking in a peaceful kind of way and Dud was taken in by the man's speech. It was compelling him and ...and....he liked it . Fr. Callahan cleans up some spilled scotch before his housekeeper sees it in an attempt to hide his excessive drinking. This town was going to hell in a handbasket whether they knew it or not, Like Mr. Straker said, Mr. Barlow does not care about the people of Jerusalem's Lot.

Read-a-long Salem's Lot ~ The Funeral

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Chapter Six section 1-6

BEWARE! IT MAY SPOIL THE BOOK FOR YOU IF YOU READ THIS! GO NOW and "read the damn book!"
It was almost fall when Danny Glick was buried and everyone was at the funeral. Tony Glick didn't handle it too well. He had to be restrained from yelling at Danny to "Come on out of there and stop pretending to be dead!" The idea of burying the boy everyone thought was dead, along with his dad screaming at Danny to come out, was kinda funny. I was waiting for Danny to jump out of his coffin or say something funny like "Hey guys , what's up?" lol but it doesn't happen like that and vampires aren't funny . At least not in this case and Mike Ryerson would agree. He felt like he was being watched the whole time as he was throwing dirt on the grave. He was scared and gave Mike the creeps. Somehow he was being impelled to break the coffin open to see if Danny's eyes were watching him. He'd shut them for him. Aaaaah!

It's either Mr. Barlow the vampire, or some other entity i.e. the Lord of Flies who was forcing Mike to do what they wanted. Who do you think it was? Do you think Danny Glick was watching him ?

We get a second glimpse at Mark Petrie at home with his parents. He's not as fragile a kid as his parents think he is. He undersands death and is not afraid of it , only maybe what comes after death.....like monsters.

Salem's Lot ReadALong - Ben (II)

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CHAPTER FIVE: Ben (II)

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Ben and Susan are together at the Nortons for supper getting to know each other when Ann mentions Danny Glick died in hospital possibly from anemia. After dinner, Susan and Ben might've gone for a soda but instead had sex in the park. Ben finally tells Susan that his book is about the Marsten House and about the recurrent power of evil. What a coincidence! Salem's Lot is about that very same thing! Sameness must run in evil circles *JK Hubert Marsten, Adolf Hitler and Kurt Barlow. All the horrible atrocities throughout history are all caused by the same fellow. Neato *sarcasm. Can you tell I'm not a big fan of the devil? I do believe he exists and I don't like it.  Hubert was a mobster who killed many kids according to his sister-in-law and owned a trucking business as a front,  Mr. Barlow is a vampire, (god knows who he really is)  who we know to have killed at least one kid and is using his furniture store as a front. Marsten's wife Birdie could've been what Straker is to Barlow for all we know right? Same same different time. 

Susan tells Ben she loves him. He couldn't sleep thinking about that so he decides to drive to Dell's for a beer and meets Matt Burke the English teacher. Matt invites him to give a talk to his students the next day and he agrees to do it not only as a favor for a friend but the PR wouldn't hurt . 

Salem's Lot ReadALong ~ Danny Glick and Others continues...

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CHAPTER FOUR : Danny Glick and Others section 6-14

It was Hank Peters who saw some clothes that belonged to Ralphie Glick in the cellar of the Marsten House and reported it to Larry Crockett but instead of going to the police Larry pays him to keep his mouth shut about it. What were Ralphie's clothes doing in the basement of that creepy house? What kind of foul play did it involve? Who put them there? Why does it always stink around Mr. Barlow? I get it he's dead and flies and rats are just gross but why not spiders? I mean c'mon ~ Flies??!! really? Do you think Kurt Barlow is the one called Lord of Flies? Parkins Gillespie does some digging into the disappearing Glick boys and questions Ben and Straker.

Salem's Lot ReadALong ~ Danny Glick and Others

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CHAPTER 4

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This chapter is alarming. After what we see happen at midnight in the cemetery we get a vivid impression that poor Ralphie Glick isn't coming home. His mother calls the police when the boys never arrive home. The older brother Danny comes back disoriented and confused.. Dun dun dun dun. Can you guess why?
Straker is pretty inconspicuous around town and implores the help of Larry Crockett who agrees to keep Strakers dealings a secret from everyone in town out of fear for what Straker might do to him. It is very clear who the EVIL bad guys are.
After Larry strikes a deal that includes a title of land, we see two men arrive in a U-haul at the Portland docks. They are to take some boxes and deliver one to the Marsten House. Reluctant to finish the job, they see one of the boxes has no customs label and Royal Snow has a bad feeling about it. What would've happened if he opened the box? What do you think was inside the box without the label ? 

Salem's Lot Read-A-Long ~ The Lot

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Chapter Three

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When the vampires move into town the folks continue their daily toil under the sun, unaware of the evil lurking in the darkness. This chapter is written in chronological order to show us what a day in the life of it's people looks like and introduces us to a variety of characters. Some of who I will mention here: Sandy McDougall , a seventeen year old abusive mother. Mike Ryerson the cemetery's maintenance worker and gravedigger. Larry Crockett the real estate agent who sold the Marsten House to Mr. Straker. Larry would later say he made a deal with the devil. Then there is Charlie Rhodes the school bus driver. Richie Boddin the eleven year old school bully and Mark Petrie. Dud Rogers the dump custodian who likes to kill rats ..Danny and Ralphie Glick who both go missing in the woods on their way to Mark Petries' house but Ralphie was never found.
By the end of chapter 3 it becomes evident what happened. There was a sacrifice ritual to the Lord of Flies. Does anyone else notice the flies?