11. The Antique Business

King's choice to have Straker and Barlow open up an antique shop is a very interesting occupation for a vampire. In the beginning, I kept wondering why anyone would open an antique shop in a small town like 'Salem's Lot. First of all, the prices were probably really high and no one in the town would spend the money on anything. Second, if they did buy anything, they probably wouldn't buy another item in the near future. And there couldn't have been enough people traveling through the town to help their business either.

After I read the following passage where Straker is speaking with Parkins Gillespie, things started to fall into place a little better:

pg. 115

"'We have worked together in both London and Hamburg, This' - he swept his arm around him - 'this is our retirement. Modest. Yet tasteful. We expect to make no more than a living. Yet we both love old things, fine things, and we hope to make a reputation in the area...'"

It made sense at that point in the novel that Barlow and Straker's antique business was not just a cover-up for the reason why they moved into 'Salem's Lot. They didn't care if they made any money. The antiques were symbolic of their own lives as vampires. Barlow and Straker were just as unique and worldly as the antiques were. The way Straker noted that he loved old things and fine things, he was actually speaking of himself and what he brought to the town. As far as making a reputation, the only reputation Straker was referring to was creating a colony of more vampires.