A Quokka Dreeds its Weird

It's been a long time since I read this book, and I didn't reread it. But I'd say it's not faith in the movies so much, as movies, but as a genre -- salem's Lot is the opposite of "Nobody in Dracula knows they're in Dracula." Mark knows he's in Dracula, and because he knows about trashy genre vampire movies, he knows the Lore and can see the actual threat. The "vampire lore" which is half rumours and half superstition and mostly unproven is right out of Dracula, only by Mark's time it's been codified like articles of faith. Dracula is all about modernity and new-fangled technology and at the end, someone points out that they don't have any evidence -- just Mina's typewritten record. But technology is what saves Mark, in the form of movies. King is being rather sly here and having the lifesaving ability to identify and fight evil be based on....fannish knowledge about schlock. It's not just that, it's tie-in merchandise to schlock. It's very funny when you compare it to the original and Helsing's emphasis on "science" and evidence, supported by Seward. This approach is common now (Buffy, Lost Boys, Scream, Cabin in the Woods, &c &c) but King was one of the pioneers.

....also I just realized that if this book is drawn-out and then all climax like Dracula is, Carrie is mostly made up out of the "documents" that the people at the end of Dracula lament is all they have. Heh.