I haven't read Dead Zone (shock! A King book that I haven't read!
) but I just wanted to comment on that 'Salem's Lot was one of the first books that King wrote; well, among his earlier work anyway, and like any writer he obviously improves as he produced more work. Even he says that he looks back at 'The Shining' and cringes when he reads it, mainly because he can see his young author's arrogance running through it, (that was also one of this earlier works, it's been a fair few decades since he wrote it) so I guess it's like any writer when they come across an old piece of work.
The things that I love about King's books is that they centre around very normal people who get pulled into things that they don't understand or like but have to involve themselves in just in order to survive. He also tells the story in a 'normal' way, in that descriptions concern everyday things that we all know and can relate to. And especially I love the grittiness with King -- there's very little reprieve with this guy and you don't often get a happy ending; even when it seems the character's life is getting back on track, there's an underlying tension, something still hanging around. But I love that. Hell, I love King.
I'm glad you're enjoying his work. Another one for the Cult of King perhaps? Another, as King himself says, Constant Reader?