It's funny, because King goes to such lengths to disguise whats going on that you really don't know for sure whats up until at least a third of the way through, yet, despite this, you can't really describe the book without somehow mentioning Vampires.
Other odds and ends I'm noticing: this makes two for two books where King very effectively uses a small town as a canvas for something awful. It's cliche as can be, but he puts it to effective use because he's so good at capturing the essence of the small town. It works because its so functional and real.
Going hand in hand with his portrayal of the small farm town is the visiting Stranger, novelist Ben Mears. The citizens of the Lot are instantly distrustful and always watching. At one point, it's stated that Ben could probably live here for the next 20 years and still be the outsider because he wasn't "from" here. Having lived and worked in my share of small rural communities for most of my life, I can testify how accurate this is.
This town is unique because it has its own ghost story/scandal. And it all involves the Marsten House. Old Hubie Marsten murdered his wife in that house before taking his own life. Nobody has lived in the house since that happened 40 years ago. Ben Mears, who had spent a few years living in 'salem's Lot as a kid, had a traumatic experience with the Marsten House back then and has come back to write a horror novel about it. He had planned on doing the craziest thing ever: rent the Marsten House and live there while he wrote the novel. He knew if the house was still standing, it would be vacant. Because nobody would be so insane to live there.
So you might say he was a trifle surprised to find out shortly after his arrival that the house has been sold. And that someone actually plans to live there.
Just who is that mysterious person who plans on living there? What could it all mean?
Hint: IT'S VAMPIRES!
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