How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Being in the town is prosaic, sensuous, alcoholic. And in the dark, the town is yours and you are the town's and together you sleep like the dead, like the very stones in your north field. There is no life here but the slow death of days, and so when the evil falls on the town, its coming seems almost preordained, sweet and morphic. It is almost as though the town knows the evil was coming and the shape it would take. (10.2)
King explicitly says that the community and the evil are the same—and that they both include the reader. Everyone, whether writer, reader, or townspeople, is in a conspiracy to get those vampires up and out so that all can enjoy the delightful shivers.
Quote #8
"I might have bypassed such a rustic community as this," the stranger said reflectively. "I might have gone to one of your great and teeming cities. Bah!... What do I know of cities? I should be run over by a hansom crossing the street! I should choke on nasty air!.. How should a poor rustic like myself deal with the hollow sophistication of a great city… even an American city? No! and no and no! I spit on your cities!" (10.330)
Barlow is paraphrasing the words of King's wife, who said that Dracula wouldn't do well in a big city (see "Brain Snacks"). Barlow is a stranger, but he's a stranger who has connections to this community, both because of his past (via his correspondence with Marsten) and because of affection. He's kind of like Ben Mears: they're both outsiders who want to be part of the community.
Quote #9
"My town is disintegrating almost before my eyes and you want me to sleep?" His eyes, seemingly tireless, flashed out of his haggard face. (14.600)
Mabel may be the town, but Matt is one of the few characters who seems to have a love for the place. He cares about his former students and current students—and he's lived there a long time. It's also notable that he basically dies when the Lot does. It's like his heart was in it and couldn't go on when the town died.