I'll be the first to admit that Lisey's Story is difficult to get started. King moves repeatedly from the past to the present and from the real to the imaginary and until you get used to the pattern it can be a little disorienting. However, the ending result is a beautiful allegory tale about love, loss, and "the place where we all go down to drink," the imagination and creative process. The characters of Lisey and Scott (although dead) are extremely real, if not a little unusual. The book isn't necessarily scary, but it is dark. But there is also an incredible source of light which is the love between Lisey and Scott, not to mention Lisey and her sisters. It took me awhile to finish, but when I finally did I had a smile on my face. Always a sign for me that a book has really touched me. All in all an excellent read; just stick with it!