Re. SALEM'S LOT: I've seen that PEYTON PLACE + DRACULA comparison a few times over the years. Any idea who said it, and where/when? Given that the TV scriptwriter for Hooper's version was the creator of PEYTON PLACE, I can't help but wonder if >>that<< led to the comparison. Or, does the comparison pre-date his hiring and is it in fact the reason he was hired?
After much searching in dusty libraries, we've come no closer to finding the first attribution, though it was certainly picked up by King himself—he might have actually said it first, then critics turned the comment into an insult. An interesting quote from author Jeffery Deavers on how King (and others) used it in a positive sense: "Salem’s Lot single-handedly made popular fiction grow up. While there were many good best-selling writers before him, King, more than anybody since John D. MacDonald, brought reality to genre novels. He’s often remarked that 'Salem's Lot was 'Peyton Place meets Dracula,' and so it was..."
Re. SALEM'S LOT: I've seen that PEYTON PLACE + DRACULA comparison a few times over the years. Any idea who said it, and where/when? Given that the TV scriptwriter for Hooper's version was the creator of PEYTON PLACE, I can't help but wonder if >>that<< led to the comparison. Or, does the comparison pre-date his hiring and is it in fact the reason he was hired?
After much searching in dusty libraries, we've come no closer to finding the first attribution, though it was certainly picked up by King himself—he might have actually said it first, then critics turned the comment into an insult. An interesting quote from author Jeffery Deavers on how King (and others) used it in a positive sense: "Salem’s Lot single-handedly made popular fiction grow up. While there were many good best-selling writers before him, King, more than anybody since John D. MacDonald, brought reality to genre novels. He’s often remarked that 'Salem's Lot was 'Peyton Place meets Dracula,' and so it was..."