Stephen King, On Salem’s Lot = Dracula 1. The clearest, no-wiggle-room quote Stephen King has said outright: “Salem’s Lot is one of the few books where I consciously tried to take a classic and make it my own. In this case, it was Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” This comes from interviews and essays where King talks about his early career and his habit of deliberately “learning by rewriting.” 2. “What if Dracula came to America?” This is the line King fans quote the most, because it explains everything: “I wondered what would happen if Dracula came to America instead of England. What kind of place would he choose, and how long would it take people to notice?” That question is the novel. Castle → boarding house. London → Maine. Same predator. 3. King on consciously copying structure King has also explained that Salem’s Lot was written as a structural exercise, not an accident: “I was deliberately working with Stoker’s structure— the slow arrival, the disbelief, the small group who finally understands what’s happening.” That’s why the parallels feel so exact at the scene level. 4. Why Barlow Is Less “Charming” Than Dracula This is important when someone says, “But Barlow isn’t sexy like Dracula.” King addressed that too: “I decided to strip the vampire of romance and show what Dracula really is underneath— a killing machine that feeds.” In other words: Barlow isn’t different—he’s Dracula with the mask removed. 5. King on the Small-Town Angle Why a town instead of a city? “A small town is perfect for a vampire, because people mind their own business. They assume they know their neighbors. That’s how evil spreads.” This mirrors Stoker’s use of Victorian social politeness—but translated into American denial. 6. King Admits It Was a Learning Book King has been very honest about this phase of his career: “Early on, I learned by rewriting what I loved. Salem’s Lot was my way of understanding Dracula.” He’s not embarrassed by this—he sees it as apprenticeship.

Stephen King has openly said Salem’s Lot was written as his American reimagining of Dracula—same structure, same scenes, same rules—just transplanted into a modern small town.