Lust Quotes in 'Salem's Lot

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

"I was attracted to him in a mildly sexual way, I guess. Older man, very urbane, very charming, very courtly. You know looking at him that he could order form a French menu and know what wine would go with what, not just red or white but the year and even the vineyard. Very definitely not the run of fellow you see around here." (9.157)

Susan is sexually interested in Straker because he's a sophisticated outsider. Perhaps she's also attracted to Ben because he's a sophisticated outsider. And then there's Barlow, yet another sophisticated outsider. Susan likes these sophisticated outsiders… and she gets turned into one herself, more or less (though vampires don't drink wine).

Quote #8

"It's such a lovely dream, Tony," she said, speaking against his throat. The movement of her lips, the muffled hardness of her teeth beneath them, was amazingly sensual. He was getting an erection. (10.74)

Leave it to Stephen King to turn nursing a child into erotic lust. Vampires are often linked to incest themes here. When Barlow bites Susan, for example, he makes her his child and simultaneously has sex with her. The "lovely dream" here could be seen as the dream of all sorts of lust and illicit sex.

Quote #9

Something in her face—not stated but hinted at— made Jimmy think of the young Saigon girls, some not yet thirteen, who would kneel before soldiers in the alleys behind the bars, not for the first time or the hundredth. (14.327)

Vampiric Susan is compared to underage prostitutes. She's sexually corrupt in a way that the male vampires don't seem to be (none of them are compared to underage prostitutes, anyway). You also have to wonder if it's Barlow who's corrupted her, or if she was doomed as soon as Ben slept with her. This town, you might say, has some issues with female sexuality.