Fifteenth lecture for my students in English 104A, UC Santa Barbara, spring 2012. Course website: http://patrickbrianmooney.nfshost.com/~patrick/ta/s12/index.html

1. Lecture 15: “It will go fast, now.”
Time and Place in ’Salem’s Lot
English 104A
UC Santa Barbara
Spring 2012
21 May 2012
“She hefted it. ‘Feels pretty goddamned thick to me. A
Stephen King book for sure. He sells by the inch, America
buys by the pound.’”
—Irene Tassenbaum in Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, part 3,
ch. 3, sec. 15

2. In the beginning …
● Sept. 5
● Ben Mears arrives in ’salem’s Lot (19; ch. 1, sec. 1).
● Sept. 16
● Ben meets Susan (26; ch. 2, sec. 1).
● Ben & Susan’s first date (49; ch. 2, sec. 6).
● Sept. 17
● Mark Petrie dethrones Richie Boddin (82; ch. 3, sec. 9).
● Ben has dinner at the Nortons’ (108; ch. 3, sec. 16).
● Ralphie Glick abducted (116; ch. 3, sec. 18).
● Midnight: Straker sacrifices Ralphie Glick (123; ch. 3,
sec. 20).

3. ● Sept. 18
● Search for Ralphie Glick begins (127; ch. 4, sec. 1).
● Sept. 20
● Susan cooks Ben dinner at Eva’s boardinghouse
(130; ch. 4, sec. 2).
● Sept. 22
● Danny Glick taken to hospital (127; ch. 4, sec. 1).
● Barlow arrives from London (138; ch. 4, sec. 5).
● Hank Peters thinks Straker killed Ralphie Glick (149;
ch. 4, sec. 6).
● Sept. 23
● Straker buys groceries at Milt Crossen’s store; pays
with a fifty-year-old bill (153; ch. 4, sec. 8).

4. ● Sept. 24
● Danny Glick dies in the hospital (169; ch. 4, sec.
14).
● Parkins Gillespie interviews Ben at Eva’s
boardinghouse (156; ch. 4, sec. 9) and Straker at
the shop (162; ch. 4, sec. 10); puts in inquiries
about them to the FBI (165; ch. 4, sec. 11).
● Sept. 25
● Ben has dinner with the Nortons (171; ch. 5, sec.
1); goes for a late-night walk with Susan (175; ch. 5,
sec. 2). Susan tells Ben she loves him (185; ch. 5,
sec. 5).
● Ben goes to Dell’s; encounters Weasel Craig and
meets Matt Burke (185; ch. 5, sec. 6).

5. ● Sept. 28
● Danny Glick’s funeral (201; ch. 6, sec. 2).
● Danny Glick rises and infects Mike Ryerson (217; ch.
6, sec. 4).
● Parkins Gillespie receives a response from the FBI
(227; ch. 6, sec. 7).
● Dud Rogers infected by Barlow (234; ch. 6, sec. 8).
● Sept. 30
● Ben visits Matt Burke’s high-school English class
(242; ch. 7, sec. 1) and has dinner with Matt (244; ch.
7, sec. 2).
● Oct. 2
● Matt Burke takes Mike Ryerson home after meeting
him at Dell’s (253; ch. 7, sec. 3).

6. In the middle ...
● Oct. 3
● Mike Ryerson dies (262; ch. 7, sec. 5).
● Matt calls Ben; articulates his vampire theory during
Ben’s visit to the hospital (270; ch. 8, sec. 3).
● Mike Ryerson pronounced dead (282; ch. 8, sec. 5).
● Floyd Tibbets attacks Ben; Ben hospitalized (290; ch. 8,
sec. 10).
● Ann Norton tells Susan about Ben’s past (292; ch. 9, sec.
1).
● Susan visits Ben in the hospital (303; ch. 9, sec. 2), then
Matt at home (305; ch. 9, sec. 4).
● Mike Ryerson visits Matt Burke (312; ch. 9, sec. 5); Matt
has a heart attack (318; ch. 9, sec. 6).

7. Saturday, Oct. 4, 1975 (day)
● Danny Glick infects Randy McDougall (327; ch.
10, sec. 1); Sandy finds him (328; ch. 10, sec.
2).
● Mike Ryerson infects Carl Foreman (327; ch.
10, sec. 1).
● Marjorie Glick (333; sec. 3) and Floyd Tibbets
(326; sec. 1) are partially infected.
● Ben argues for Matt’s vampire theory to Susan
(336; ch. 10, sec. 4).
● Floyd Tibbets dies in jail (345; ch. 10, sec. 5).

8. Saturday, Oct. 4, 1975 (night)
● Ben takes Matt a crucifix in the hospital (352;
ch. 10, sec. 7).
● Reggie Sawyer catches his wife cheating with
Corey Bryant (354; ch. 10, sec. 8).
● Corey Bryant infected by Barlow (363; ch. 10,
sec. 9).
● Bodies of Floyd Tibbets and Randy McDougall
disappear from morgue (367; ch. 10, sec. 11).
● Danny Glick visits Mark Petrie and is sent away
(368; ch. 10, sec. 12).

9. Sunday, Oct. 5, 1975 (day)
● Ben and Susan tell Dr. Cody their vampire
theory (385; ch. 11, sec. 4).
● Matt Burke begins library research (452; ch. 13,
sec. 1).
● Marjorie Glick reported dead (390; ch. 11, sec.
5).
● Susan (394; ch. 11, sec. 8) and Mark (422; ch.
12, sec. 1) go up to the Marsten House; both
captured (435; ch. 12, sec. 2); Susan infected
(447; ch. 4, sec. 12); Mark escapes (448; ch.
12, sec. 4).

10. Sunday, Oct. 5, 1975 (night)
● Ben and Dr. Cody watch Marjorie Glick’s body at Maury
Green’s funeral parlor (404; ch. 11, sec. 10).
● Marjorie Glick rises and attacks Ben and Dr. Cody
(406; sec. 10).
● Ben and Dr. Cody tell Sheriff McCaslin their story about
the morgue body-snatcher (416; ch. 12).
● Father Callahan visits Matt in the hospital (452; ch. 13,
sec. 1); agrees to join the vampire hunters (466; ch. 13,
sec. 2).
● Susan, hungry, visits Mark Petrie; is turned away (449;
ch. 12, sec. 5).

11. In the end …
● Monday, Oct. 6 (morning)
● Susan and another vampire infect Homer McCaslin
(479; ch. 14, sec. 2); Susan infects Ann Norton (479).
● Jack Griffen, infected by Danny Glick, infects his older
brother, Hal (480; ch. 14, sec. 2).
● Mark visits Ben at Eva’s boardinghouse; tells him
Susan is infected (482; sec. 3).
● Ben and Mark meet Matt and Jimmy Cody at the
hospital (487; sec. 6).
● Fr. Callahan takes Ben’s confession (497; sec. 9).

12. Monday, Oct. 6, 1975 (afternoon)
● Callahan, Mark, Jimmy, and Ben buy garlic, but
not roses (501; ch. 14, sec. 10)
● Straker’s body (507; sec. 11) and Barlow’s
letter (510; sec. 13) found in the Marsten
house; Barlow is absent.
● Ben pounds a stake through Susan’s heart
(517; sec. 15).
● The vampire hunters meet Matt at the hospital
(524; sec. 17).

13. Monday, Oct. 6, 1975 (evening)
● Barlow attacks and kills Henry and June Petrie; Mark vows
revenge and escapes (534; ch. 14, sec. 20).
● Fr. Callahan loses the fight with Barlow (542; sec. 20) and
leaves ’salem’s Lot via Greyhound bus (561; sec. 26).
● Ann Norton tries to attack Matt Burke (545; sec. 21).
● Mark Petrie reveals that he has seen blue chalk on
Barlow’s hands (553; sec. 25).
● Charlie Rhodes infected by schoolchildren (564; sec. 27).
● Ann Norton dies (565; sec. 28)
● Weasel Craig infects Eva Miller (568; sec. 29); Corey
Bryant infects Bonnie and Reggie Sawyer (574; sec. 32).

14. Tuesday, Oct. 7, 1975 (daytime)
● Mike Ryerson discovered in Barlow & Straker’s
store (580; sec. 34).
● Ben makes stakes (586; sec. 36).
● Jimmy and Mark search the town, finding the
McDougalls (588; sec. 37) and the Evanses
(592; sec. 38).
● Matt Burke dies (596; sec. 39).
● Jimmy Cody realizes Barlow is in Eva Miller’s
boardinghouse (597; sec. 40).

15. Tuesday, Oct. 7, 1975 (daytime)
● Mark and Jimmy enter Eva’s boardinghouse;
Jimmy killed by a trap (600; ch. 14, sec. 40).
● Mark tells Ben that Jimmy is dead; Ben
convinces him to keep fighting vampires (605;
sec. 43).
● Ben and Mark hear of Matt’s death (607; sec.
44).
● Ben and Mark enter Eva’s boardinghouse (615;
sec. 47).
● Barlow killed (628; sec. 49).

16. Tuesday, Oct. 7, 1975 (night)
● Ben and Mark flee ’salem’s Lot (631; ch. 14,
sec. 50) for New Hampshire (633; ch. 15, sec.
2)
● Larry Crockett infects Royal Snow.
● Mabel Werts infected by Glynis Mayberry.
● Delbert Markey infected by Carl Foreman and
Homer McCaslin.
● Milt Crossen infected by several customers.
● George Middler infects several high-school
boys (634; ch. 15, sec. 3).

17. The aftermath ...
● Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1975
● Ben burns his manuscript and smashes the snow
globe he’d stolen as a boy from the Marsten house
(636; ch. 15, sec. 4).
● Ben scatters Barlow’s teeth (637; sec. 5).
● Ben buries Jimmy Cody (638; sec. 6).
● Ben and Mark head southwest (639; sec. 6).
● Wednesday, Oct. 6, 1976
● Ben burns ’salem’s Lot (652; epilogue, sec. 3)

18. Time and the River
There are numerous references throughout
’Salem’s Lot to Thomas Wolfe’s Of Time and
the River (1935). For instance:
● Weasel Craig: “Ah God and sonny Jesus, time was
like a river and he wondered if that writer fella knew
that.” (82; ch. 3, sec. 8)
● Ben: “This town has the wrong name. It ought to be
Time.” (176; ch. 5, sec. 2)

19. Rural & non-rural population
from the time of Babbitt through The Human Stain

20. “the Lot’s knowledge of the country’s
torment was academic.” (44)
“What ’salem’s Lot knew of wars and burning and
crises in government it got mostly from Walter
Cronkite on TV. Oh, the Potter boy got killed in
Vietnam and Claude Bowie’s son came back with a
mechanical foot—stepped on a land mine—but he
got a job with the post office helping Kenny Danles
and so that was all right.” (43-44; ch. 2, sec. 4)
“‘So what’s new in town?’ Floyd asked, knowing the
answer already. Nothing new, not really.” (114; ch.
3, sec. 17)

21. (And yet, change arrives)
[Ben:] “Do you remember the Nordica
[theater]? That was right here in town.”
[Susan:] “Sure. It closed in 1968. I used to go
on double dates there when I was in high
school.” (35; ch. 2, sec. 2)
“Charles Griffen’s father had marketed his own
milk, but that was no longer practical. The
conglomerates had eaten up the last of the
independents.” (66; ch. 3, sec. 3)

22. Charlie Rhodes: “They understood each other.
They understood what was going on in the
country. They understood how the kid who had
been ‘just talking a little too loud’ on the school
bus in 1958 was the kid who had been pissing
on the flag in 1968.” (77; ch. 3, sec. 7)
“Crockett had been worth nearly two million
dollars. He had done this as a result of land
speculation in a great many neighboring towns
[…], based on the conviction that the mobile-
home industry was going to grow like a mad
bastard. It did, and my God how the money
rolled in.” (134; ch. 4, sec. 3)
Vinnie Upshaw: “Hard to tell the way things are
these days.” (155; ch. 4, sec. 8)

23. Susan, to her mother: “I suppose I bother you—
you can’t feel your job is complete until you see
me married and settled down to a good man
you can put your thumb on. Settled down with a
fellow who’ll get me pregnant and turn me into
a matron in a hurry. That’s the scoop, isn’t it?
Well, what about what I want?” (297; ch. 9, sec.
1)
Matt Burke’s thoughts: “After thirty-plus years of
teaching, he believed that nobody beat the
system or won the game, and only suckers ever
thought they were ahead.” (242; ch. 7, sec. 1)

24. Narrative speed
● Larry Crockett, thinking back to pre-spring, 1975:
“Then things began to happen.” (101; ch. 3, sec.
11)
● Ben, October 5: “Things have developed.” (376; ch.
11, sec. 2)
● Ben, October 5: “Things were going very fast now.”
(391; ch. 11, sec. 5)
● Mark, October 5: “It will go fast, now.” (428; ch. 12,
sec. 1)
● Fr. Callahan, October 6: “If only things weren’t
going so fast, if only he had time to think.” (540; ch.
14, sec. 20)

25. Fear and horror
“If a fear cannot be articulated, it can’t be conquered. And
the fears locked in small brains are much too large to pass
through the orifice of the mouth.” (315-16; ch. 9, sec. 6)
“There is no group therapy or psychiatry or community
social services for the child who must cope with the thing
under the bed or in the cellar every night, the thing which
leers and threatens just beyond the point where vision will
reach. The same lonely battle must be fought night after
night and the only cure is the eventual ossification of the
imaginary faculties, and this is called adulthood.” (373; ch.
10, sec. 13)
Ben: “That word can’t blocks up everything.” (337; ch. 10,
sec. 4)

26. Susan: “some fears were larger than comprehension,
apocalyptic and nearly paralyzing. This equation was
insoluble.” (432; ch. 12, sec. 1)
“There was nothing else to say. The essential and defining
characteristic of childhood is not the effortless merging of
dream and reality, but only alienation. There are no words for
childhood’s dark turns and exhalations.” (449; ch. 12, sec. 4)
“And it came to him [Fr. Callahan], in this moment of the most
extreme terror he had ever known. It was the face of Mr. Flip,
his own personal bogeyman, the thing that hid in the closet
during the days and came out after his mother closed the
bedroom door.” (537; ch. 14, sec. 20)
Ben, on his confession to Father Callahan: “There was no
sense of catharsis—only the dull embarrassment that came
with telling a stranger the mean secrets of his life. […] There
was something medieval about it, something accursed—a
ritual act of regurgitation.” (498-99; ch. 14, sec. 9)

27. The town of Jerusalem’s Lot
“The town is an accumulation of three parts
which, in sum, are greater than the sections.
The town is the people who live there, the
buildings which they have erected to den or do
business in, and it is the land.” (321; ch. 10, sec.
1)
“The town cares for devil’s work no more than it
cares for God’s or man’s. It knew darkness. And
darkness was enough.” (327; sec. 1)
Susan: “’Salem’s Lot is my town. […] If
something is happening here, it’s real. Not
philosophy.” (342; ch. 10, sec. 4)

28. Jimmy Cody: “It’s a bedroom town for Portland
and Lewiston and Gates Falls, mostly. There’s
no in-town industry where a rise in absenteeism
would be noticed. The schools are three-town
consolidated, and if the absence list starts
getting a little longer, who notices? A lot of
people go to church over in Cumberland, a lot
more don’t go at all. And TV has pretty well put
the kibosh on the old neighborhood get-
togethers, except for the duffers who hang
around Milt’s store. All this could be going on
with great effectiveness behind the scenes.”
(392; ch. 11, sec. 7)

29. Ben: “A person from out of town could drive
through the Lot and not know a thing was
wrong. Just another one-horse town where they
roll up the sidewalks at nine. But who knows
what’s going on behind the scenes?” (393; ch.
11, sec. 7)
“Tourists and through-travelers still passed by
on Route 12, seeing nothing of the Lot but an
Elks billboard and a thirty-five-mile-an-hour
speed sign. Outside of town they went back up
to sixty and perhaps dismissed it with a single
thought: Christ, what a dead little place.” (634-
35; ch. 15, sec. 3)

30. Barlow, on why he chose ’salem’s Lot
“‘I might have bypassed such a rustic
community as this […] I might have gone to one
of your great and teeming cities. Bah! […] What
do I know of cities? I should be run over by a
hansom crossing the street! I should choke on
nasty air! […] How should a poor rustic like
myself deal with the hollow sophistication of a
great city … even an American city? No! And no
and no! I spit on your cities!’
“‘Oh yes!’ Corey cried.” (362; ch. 10, sec. 9)

31. “‘The folk here are still rich and full-blooded, folk
who are stuffed with the aggression and darkness
so necessary to … there is no English for it. […]
The people have not cut off the vitality which flows
from their mother, the earth, with a shell of concrete
and cement. Their hands are plunged into the very
waters of life. They have ripped the life from the
earth, whole and beating! Is it not true?’
“‘Yes!’ […]
“‘You are a good boy. A fine, strong boy. I don’t
think you want to leave this so-perfect town, do
you?’
“‘No...’ Corey whispered. […]
“‘And so you shall not. Ever again.’” (362-3; ch.
10, sec. 9)