Jerusalem's Lot by Stephen King (short story horror)

This story was one of the short horror stories in a book titled Night Shift. I have read some horror stories from time to time, mainly back in my youth when I could handle reading them. Call me chicken but I can't handle reading them too much these days. This story, however was not that bad and what I liked most was that it was short.

This story is a series of letters that this Charles writes to his friend Bones about his life at this house in inherited from his cousin. The story is set back in the 1850s. Charles discusses his health, which apparently was not well, this is not greatly discussed in the letters. At random times he would talk about his fever returning and his lungs healing, I kind of got the impression he had lung cancer or something. Charles notices that people in the town fear him for some reason but he can't figure out why. He has hired some ladies to clean the house for him and one of them Mrs. Cloris knows why people fear him. He finds out that some family members of his seemed to have "cursed" the home, yet he and his helper Calvin discover that it lies deeper than just a curse inside the home. They hear noises in the walls and in rooms, curiosity getting the best of them they discover what the noises are and why. They also find out that some of Charles' family members were into satanic rituals.

I liked this story because it wasn't gross scary, you know the kind of scary that keeps you awake at night or causes you to see things while you sleep. I found it interesting how Stephen King wrote this as a letter, I felt it made it easier to read and made me feel less tense while reading it. There are 20 other stories within this book, not sure I'll read them. Even though I didn't find this story scary, I just don't think I'll continue in reading horror stories.

Recommended Fiction:
I do recommend reading more Stephen King books. He's a great writer who has been around for a long time. However, I'll recommend 2 other books that I think would be great reads.
Song of Kali by Dan Simmons
I am Legend by Richard Matheson

Recommended Non-Fiction:
Readings on Stephen King by Karin S. Coddon
On Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association