11 books to read if you like ‘Salem’s Lot’ on Max

Books

Ryan Clark, the horror bookseller at Gibson’s Bookstore, shares what to read after you watch Max’s new Stephen King adaptation.

Stephen King’s 1975 novel “Salem’s Lot” has been adapted into a new Max movie of the same name, retelling the infamous story of a New England town overrun by vampires.

In the movie, which was released on HBO on Thursday, writer Ben Mears returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot in Maine, only to discover that the town is infested with vampires.

This film adaptation features Lewis Pullman (“Bad Times at the El Royale”) as Ben Mears, and Jordan Preston Carter (“Ms. Marvel,” “The Haves and the Have Nots”) as horror-movie enthusiast Mark Petrie, who joins forces to defeat the evil presence. The cast also features Golden Globe winner Alfre Woodard as Dr. Cody, and Pilou Asbæk (“Game of Thrones”) as the town’s sinister Richard Straker.

We asked Ryan Clark, the marketing manager and “Queen of Scream” horror bookseller at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, New Hampshire what books she suggests for fans of the book and film.

Below, find her eleven book recommendations if you are watching, “Salem’s Lot.”

“Stephen King’s second novel, which tells the story of a writer named Ben Mears who returns to the town of Jerusalem’s Lot (or ‘Salem’s Lot for short) in Maine, where he lived from the age of five through nine, only to discover that the residents are becoming vampires.” – Ryan Clark, Gibson’s Bookstore

“For people who like Stephen King’s style and his adaptations, I always recommend that they check out Chuck Wendig. Wendig has a very similar story style in that he’ll have these huge, sweeping, scary stories that have tons of characters and tons of different story threads but then he ties them up into these perfect bows at the end. And you’re like, ‘How did you wrap that up so perfectly?’” – Ryan Clark, Gibson’s Bookstore

“‘So Thirsty’ by Rachel Harrison, which just came out, is incredible. If you’re looking for sexy vampires, this is the book for you. A woman must learn to take life by the throat after a night out leads to irrevocable changes.” – Ryan Clark, Gibson’s Bookstore

“‘Night’s Edge’ by Liz Kerin is a very pretty vampire novel with mother-daughter relationships and family drama. It takes a bite out of vampire lore in this blood-soaked novel about the darkest secrets we hide and how monstrous we can be to the ones we love most.” – Ryan Clark, Gibson’s Bookstore

“This book features New York vampires with Jewish backgrounds, it’s really, really interesting and really scary. The book harnesses the creeping paranoia of ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ and the urban horror of ‘Salem’s Lot,’ set in an exclusive New York City residential building.” – Ryan Clark, Gibson’s Bookstore

“A woman’s mysterious death puts her husband and son on a collision course with her demonic family. It features a very dark vampire creature, and the book cover has this amazing claw on it.” – Ryan Clark, Gibson’s Bookstore

“This is like an old, almost a Western vampire. It features a Black woman trying to make it on her own in brand new America, trying to start a life for herself. And there’s this creature.” – Ryan Clark, Gibson’s Bookstore

“Vampires, vaqueros, and star-crossed lovers face off on the Texas-Mexico border in this supernatural western from the author of ‘The Hacienda.’” – Ryan Clark, Gibson’s Bookstore

“You could go all the way back to the beginning of vampire novels with ‘Carmilla,’ an 1872 Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction.” – Ryan Clark, Gibson’s Bookstore

“A 1897 gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The book is an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles.” – Ryan Clark, Gibson’s Bookstore

“‘Dracula’ is one of those books that people get very daunted by, but there’s a way around that, and that is ‘Dracula Daily’ by Matt Kirkland. This guy, Matt, during the pandemic, he was in lockdown, and he was reading ‘Dracula’ and he realized that it’s an epistolary novel – it’s these dated either journal entries or letters. And so set up a Substack where people who sign up get an email on the date of the entries from the book, and it is chronological. And the internet went wild for it, and, like, people made memes and artwork with all this commentary. And so he turned it into a book, which was very fun.” – Ryan Clark, Gibson’s Bookstore