I chose this book to fill the Reading Challenge category "A Book that Scared You". I could have read a book I thought might scare me, but I decided to re-read a book that scared me the first time I read it -- close to 40 years ago. And of course I wondered if it would scare me the second time around.
The first time I read this book I was working in an office and had lots of free time on my hands. So I would bring a book to work and read at my desk. Those were the days. Anyway, I remember that this book frightened me so much that I had to put it away in my desk. There I was, sitting in an office in broad daylight and I had to put the book away and shut the drawer.
So did the fright factor stand the test of time? Short answer -- Kudos to Mr. King. This is as chilling a tale as you will ever run across. Ordinary people living in an small New England town doing ordinary things gradually realize that something is very wrong ... something to do with the old house on the hill. Yes, all the cliches are there -- the old house with a murderous history, mysterious strangers who take up residence there, their mesmerizing stare -- but don't let the familiar vampire story memes lull you into thinking that this story won't send chills up your spine.
When you consciously decide to stop reading a half-hour or so before bed time because you don't want the memories of what you just read to be the last thing on your mind as you try to fall asleep, when you actually feel your heart rate go up while you're reading, when your son asks you if you want him to turn off the lights before he goes up to bed and you say NO! -- because you don't want to have to walk through dark rooms on your way to bed -- that's when you know that King's reputation as the master of horror is well-deserved.
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