Stephen King's vampire novel. Has many of Stephen King's usual themes (teams & teamwork, good versus evil, an aged dying sage, a young warrior, a writer trying to find himself, faith/belief, rationality versus the supernatural, evil taunts, dying places, & axes crashing into doors) that would be developed further in later books (The Stand, It, Dark Tower, The Shining). Didn't have some of King's other trademarks (parentheses, italics, parentheses). Also reminded me of some small towns I have visited. Could be seen as an allegory of the death of small town America, but I think it's more like a thought experiment asking the question "what would Vampires do if they moved into a small town, America".