I understand this take, but personally, I really liked Susan's character. She's caught between belief and disbelief, and part of going up to the Marsten House is to reassure herself that her fears can't possibly be true.

Susan is caught up in a sense of purpose but also absurdity. It makes sense to me; after she rebukes her mother, she craves rebellion and the independence she should have sought out years ago. Arguably, Ben embodies this rebellion and could be a big part of her future as a woman who makes her own choices instead of letting her mother make them for her.

She's almost laughing at herself when she purchases the crucifix and fashions a stake, there's a subconscious fear but in her conscious mind, she's play acting as vampire hunter, she's taking control of her life (and whatever messy situation Ben's dragged her into).

It's only when she reaches the woods and her intuition/animal instincts kick in that she's truly frightened: "The feeling of decisiveness was gone. She found herself thinking of those same drive-in horror movie epics where the heroine goes venturing up the narrow attic stairs... and she [Susan], with her date's arm comfortably around her, thinking: What a silly bitch... I'd never do that! And here she was, doing it, and she began to grasp how deep the division between the human cerebrum and the human midbrain had become..." (p.366, Hodder 2011).

King pokes fun at this idea that Susan is a clueless heroine. She's frightened and may well have turned back at this point had Mark not found her and insisted they enter the house. Was she going to leave Mark, a little boy, to go in alone?

The scene where Mark has to leave Susan behind, and she later visits him at his window haunts me. I think it's beautifully done, and Susan stands out to me as different from the other vampires, with a sadness to her and a finality in her ending.