Stephen King's 'salem's Lot (Jerusalem's Lot) is a novel of such chilling beginnings that we look forward to losing sleep over it…. It is the kind of goose bump fiction that makes grown men afraid of the dark.

It is to Stephen King's credit as a stylist that he has charmed us into such familiar territory. Sparing the endless atmospheric creaks and cobwebs and cupolas of this New England landscape, he thrusts us into the private terror of his characters. A wise choice. An equally familiar assortment of types achieves a personal dimension and life's blood that grounds us. King gives this stock company a contemporary resonance and wit. Instead of stalking among their dusty antiques, he lets us peek into their souls.

It is here that the writer proves a master of this genre. He juggles character vignettes into a structural crossfire that is hypnotic. A thousand...