The Show Begins at Sundown
Back in 2011, Screem magazine commissioned me to write an article about ‘Salem’s Lot and its adaptations. (1) That led me to revisit the 1979 miniseries, starring David Soul, that had so terrorized me at the time. I had just started reading King a couple of months earlier, and two scenes in particular—ones that will be familiar to anyone who’s seen it—haunted me for a long time thereafter. Even though the original miniseries doesn’t stand the test of time—even in 1979, Soul didn’t have the gravitas required of the role and I find the adaptation almost painful to watch now—those scenes do hold up. I would say that the miniseries is better as a memory than as an actuality. I found a lot of flaws in it when I wrote about it for Screem and I doubt I could make myself watch it again today. (2)
It’s unusual for a Stephen King book to be out of print, but that’s been the case with Creepshow, the 1982 adaptation of the George Romero-directed, King-scripted move of the same name. The original edition published by Plume has only been available on the collector’s market—usually at a cost well above its original $6.95 price tag.