'Salem's Lot

Early edition cover
Author	Stephen King
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Horror
Publisher	Doubleday
Publication date	1975
Media type	Print (hardcover & paperback)
Pages	439 pp
ISBN	ISBN 0385007515
Preceded by	Carrie
Followed by	The Shining

'Salem's Lot is a horror novel by Stephen King, written in 1975, and was King's second published novel. The story revolves around a small New England town that slowly becomes infested with Vampires. The title King originally chose for his book was Second Coming, but he later decided on Jerusalem's Lot. The publishers, Doubleday, shortened it to the current title, thinking the author's choice sounded too religious. Image File history File links Salemslothardcover. ... For other persons named Stephen King, see Stephen King (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Country (disambiguation). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... “Horror story” redirects here. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... Doubleday is one of the largest book publishing companies in the world. ... See also: 1974 in literature, other events of 1975, 1976 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Hardcover books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth, heavy paper, or sometimes leather). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... ISBN redirects here. ... Carrie (1974) is Stephen Kings first published novel. ... For other uses of this term, see Shining. ... “Horror story” redirects here. ... This article is about the literary concept. ... For other persons named Stephen King, see Stephen King (disambiguation). ... Further reading Christopher Frayling - Vampyres: Lord Byron to Count Dracula 1992. ... Doubleday is one of the largest book publishing companies in the world. ...

The novel was adapted into a 1979 TV miniseries of the same name, starring David Soul and James Mason (a sequel, Return to Salem's Lot, was made in 1987, although this is widely disregarded as it was not based on King's original source material and has virtually no link to the original 1979 miniseries). The novel was also adapted in the mid-1990s by the BBC as a seven part radio play, and was then adapted once again and remade as another television miniseries by the TNT channel in 2004, this time starring Rob Lowe, Donald Sutherland and James Cromwell. Salems Lot was a 1979 tv mini-series based on Stephen Kings vampire novel, Salems Lot. ... David Soul (born August 28, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor and British citizen and singer best known for his role as the seat-of-the-pants California police detective Ken Hutch Hutchinson (opposite co-star and long-time friend Paul Michael Glaser) in the cult television program... James Neville Mason (May 15, 1909 – July 27, 1984) was a three-time Academy Award nominated English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. ... A Return to Salems Lot (1987) is an unofficial sequel to Salems Lot, a vampire novel by Stephen King which had previously been filmed by Tobe Hooper. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Salems Lot was a two-part miniseries adaptation of Stephen Kings classic vampire story Salems Lot. ... For other persons named Robert Lowe, see Robert Lowe (disambiguation). ... For other persons named Donald Sutherland, see Donald Sutherland (disambiguation). ... James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940), sometimes credited as Jamie Cromwell, is an Academy Award-nominated American television and film actor. ...

Plot summary

Ben Mears, a successful writer who grew up in the (fictional) town of Jerusalem's Lot, Cumberland County, Maine (or “The Lot”, as the locals call it), has returned home following the death of his wife. Once in town he meets local high school teacher Matt Burke and strikes up a romantic relationship with Susan Norton, a young college graduate. Cumberland County is a county located in the state of Maine. ...

Ben plans to write a book about the “Marsten House”, an abandoned mansion that gave him nightmares after a bad experience with it as a child. The Marsten House was the home of '30s Gangster Hubert Marsten. Hubert, or "Hubie" was a hitman who specialized in rather unsavory hits. Hubie's profession intersected with his personal life and after his suicide, it was discovered he was responsible for the deaths of several children. Unbeknownst to Ben and his new friends, the Marsten House is about to be inhabited by the vampire Kurt Barlow. It is later revealed that Hubie Marsten had in fact communicated with the erstwhile Barlow, and that in the course of their correspondence Marsten may have extended to Barlow the necessary invitation to come to 'Salems Lot. For other uses, see Gangster (disambiguation). ... A hitman (alternately, hit man), also referred to as a contract killer, is a hired assassin, usually in the employ of organized crime. ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ... Philip Burne-Jones, The Vampire, 1897 Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings that subsist on human and/or animal lifeforce. ...

Mears discovers that the Marsten House has been bought by a Mr. Straker and a Mr. Barlow, appearing as a pair of businessmen who are also new to the town, although only Straker has yet been seen. Their arrival coincides with the disappearance of a young boy, Ralphie Glick, and the suspicious death of his brother Danny. Over the course of the book, the town is slowly taken over by vampires, reducing it to a ghost town by day as they sleep. Philip Burne-Jones, The Vampire, 1897 Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings that subsist on human and/or animal lifeforce. ... For other uses, see Ghost town (disambiguation). ...

Ben and Susan are joined by Matt Burke and his doctor Jimmy Cody, along with a young boy named Mark Petrie and the local priest, Father Callahan, to stop the vampires from dominating the town. When Mark Petrie and Susan break and enter into the Marsten House, they are found and taken prisoner by Mr. Straker. Mark is able to fatally wound Straker (who is eventually killed by the master vampire Barlow for failing his duties), but Susan is captured by Barlow before Mark has a chance to rescue her. When Mark returns to the others, the characters begin to run into several unfortunate tragedies. Susan, while held hostage by Barlow, becomes a vampire herself, and Ben has to resort to killing her with a wooden stake. Then, Father Callahan is caught by Barlow, and Barlow forces Callahan to drink blood from his own neck, transforming Callahan into a dazed and confused human being, soon to take a bus ride out of town- his motives remaining unknown. Finally, Jimmy Cody is killed when he falls into a dark basement and is impaled by knife traps set by Barlow, while Matt Burke dies suffering from heart attacks in the nearby hospital.

In the end Ben and young Mark Petrie succeed in destroying the master vampire Barlow, but, lucky to escape with their lives, are forced to leave the town to the crop of newly-created vampires. The novel's prologue, which is set shortly after the end of the story proper, describes Ben and Mark's flight across the country, ending in a seaside town in Mexico.

An epilogue has the two returning to the town a year later, intending to renew the battle, but allusions in King's later writings leave it an open question as to just how successful they are. Ben, from what we learn, sets some underbrush on fire, hoping that the resulting forest fire will spread down to Jerusalem's Lot and drive the vampires out of town. The House serves as an eventual pyre when it is burned down by Mark Petrie and Ben Mears. An Ubud cremation ceremony in 2005. ...

Background

While teaching a high school Fantasy and Science Fiction course at Hampden Academy, King was inspired by Dracula, one of the books covered in the class. "One night over supper I wondered aloud what would happen if Dracula came back in the twentieth century, to America. 'He'd probably be run over by a Yellow Cab on Park Avenue and killed,' my wife said. That closed the discussion, but in the following days, my mind kept returning to the idea. It occurred to me that my wife was probably right — if the legendary Count came to New York, that was. But if he were to show up in a sleepy little country town, what then? I decided I wanted to find out, so I wrote 'Salem's Lot, which was originally titled Second Coming".^[1] This article is about the novel. ... This article is about the state. ...

King expands on this thought in his essay for Adeline Magazine "On Becoming a Brand Name" (Feb 1980): "I began to turn the idea over in my mind, and it began to coalesce into a possible novel. I thought it would make a good one, if I could create a fictional town with enough prosaic reality about it to offset the comic-book menace of a bunch of vampires."

Political influences of the time were very heavy on King's writing of the tale. Corruption in the government was a significant factor in the inspiration of the story. "I wrote 'Salem's Lot during the period when the Ervin committee was sitting. That was also the period when we first learned of the Ellsberg break-in, the White House tapes, the shadowy, ominous connection between the CIA and Gordon Liddy, the news of enemies' lists, of tax audits on antiwar protestors and other fearful intelligence. During the spring, summer and fall of 1973, it seemed that the Federal Government had been involved in so much subterfuge and so many covert operations that, like the bodies of the faceless wetbacks that Juan Corona was convicted of slaughtering in California, the horror would never end . . . Every novel is to some extent an indavertant psychological portrait of the novelist, and I think that the unspeakable obscenity in 'Salem's Lot has to do with my own disillusionment and consequent fear for the future. The secret room in 'Salem's Lot is paranoia, the prevailing spirit of those years. It is a book about vampires, it is also a book about all those silent houses, all those drawn shades, all the people who are no longer what they seem. In a way, it is more closely related to Invasion of the Body Snatchers than it is to Dracula. The fear behind 'Salem's Lot seems to be that the Government has invaded everybody."^[2] Samuel James Ervin Jr. ... Daniel and Patricia Marx Ellsberg - 2006 Jacob Appelbaum Daniel Ellsberg (born April 7, 1931) is a former American military analyst employed by the RAND Corporation who precipitated a national uproar in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, the U.S. militarys account of activities during the Vietnam War... The Watergate tapes, also known as the Nixon tapes, are a collection of conversations between President Nixon and various White House staff members, recorded on the White House taping system and White House dictabelts. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... George Gordon Battle Liddy (born November 30, 1929) was the chief operative for President Richard Nixons White House Plumbers unit that broke into the Watergate complex in 1972 and led to Nixons resignation in 1974. ... Juan Vellejo Corona (born 1934) is an American serial killer who murdered 25 people in 1971. ... Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1956 science fiction film. ...

King first wrote of Jerusalem's Lot in a short story of the same title, penned in college (but published years later for the first time in the anthology collection Night Shift). Jerusalems Lot is a short story by Stephen King, first published in 1978 in the compilation Night Shift. ... A night shift is either a group of workers who work during the night, or the period in which they work. ...

In his non-fiction book, Danse Macabre, King recalls a dream he had when he was eight years old. In the dream, he saw the body of a hanged man dangling from the arm of a scaffold on a hill. "The corpse bore a sign: ROBERT BURNS. But when the wind caused the corpse to turn in the air, I saw that it was my face - rotted and picked by birds, but obviously mine. And then the corpse opened its eyes and looked at me. I woke up screaming, sure that a dead face would be leaning over me in the dark. Sixteen years later, I was able to use the dream as one of the central images in my novel 'Salem's Lot. I just changed the name of the corpse to Hubie Marsten." Danse Macabre is a nonfiction book by Stephen King on horror fiction and United States pop culture. ...

In a 1969 installment of "The Garbage Truck", a column King wrote for the University of Maine at Orono's campus newspaper, King forshadowed the coming of 'Salem's Lot by writing: "In the early 1800s a whole sect of Shakers, a rather strange, religious persuasion at best, disappeared from their village (Jeremiah's Lot) in Vermont. The town remains uninhabited to this day."^[3] UMO redirects here, but this abbreviation is also used informally to mean the Mozilla Add-ons website, formerly Mozilla Update Should not be confused with Université du Maine, in Le Mans, France The University of Maine, established in 1865, is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

In addition to Dracula, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and Grace Metalious' Peyton Place are often cited as inspirations for 'Salem's Lot. Shirley Jackson (December 14, 1916 [1] – August 8, 1965) was an influential American author. ... Grace Metalious (1924 - 1964) was an American author, best known for the controversial novel Peyton Place. ...

Links with King's Other Works

"Jerusalem's Lot" and "One for the Road", from Night Shift, 1978 Jerusalems Lot is a short story by Stephen King, first published in 1978 in the compilation Night Shift. ... This is the title of a short story written by Stephen King and published in his Night Shift collection. ... Night Shift is the first anthology of short stories by Stephen King, first published in 1978. ...

• These two short stories act as a sort of bookend for 'Salem's Lot. "Jerusalem's Lot", written early in King's career, takes place in the 19th century and provides a back-story for the later novel, dealing with the underlying source of the evil in Jerusalem's Lot and the Marsten House. "One for the Road" was written after 'Salem's Lot and takes place after the events of the novel. Both stories were published in the Night Shift collection.

• Matt Burke brings up the disappearance that is explained in "Jerusalem's Lot" during a conversation with Ben about the strange history of the town.

Pet Semetary, 1983 In narratology, a back-story (also back story or backstory) is the history behind the situation extant at the start of the main story. ... This is the title of a short story written by Stephen King and published in his Night Shift collection. ... This article is about Stephen Kings horror novel. ...

• The exit sign for the town off Interstate 295 (now part of I-95), is noticed by characters driving past it.

It, 1986 Interstate 95 is 305 miles long in the state of Maine, running from the New Hampshire border at Kittery to the Canadian border at Houlton. ... It is a horror novel by Stephen King, published in 1986. ...

• To keep his concentration upon the visitation of Danny Glick, Mark Petrie repeats certain rhymes--ending with 'He Thrusts His Fists', which became a major factor in Bill Denbrough's survival in It.

Dreamcatcher, 2001 Dreamcatcher (2001) is a novel written by Stephen King. ...

• Deep Cut Road, which features prominently in 'Dreamcatcher', plays a role here: The McDougall family lives in a trailer along this road, which means that it continues from 'Salem's Lot

(however far out from the township) north, past Derry and into the hills where Dreamcatcher occurred.

• As in Pet Semetary, the exit sign to the Lot is seen from the highway.

• In the Dark Tower Saga, the main characters meet Callahan in a town called Calla Byrn Sturgis, and it is revealed that Callahan traveled to New York City after drinking the blood of Barlow, and was transported to Mid-World after his death at the hands of the vampires and low men. He died for the second (and presumably final) time in the Dixie Pig, where he committed suicide to avoid being turned into a vampire.

For other uses, see The Dark Tower. ...

Limited/illustrated edition

'Salem's Lot: Illustrated Edition

In 2005, Centipede Press released a deluxe limited edition of 'Salem's Lot with black and white photographs, the two short stories "Jerusalem's Lot" and "One for the Road", and over fifty pages of deleted material. It weighed over 13 pounds, was 9 x 13 inches and over 4 1/4" thick. A trade hardcover edition with a preface by King was later released. Image File history File links Salemslottrade. ... Image File history File links Salemslottrade. ...

Deleted material

• Different names for the town and the vampire; 'Salem's Lot is called "Momson" (mentioned in the final text of the book as a Vermont town whose residents mysteriously vanished in 1923), and Barlow is called "Sarlinov".
• A conversation between Ben and Susan about the true nature of evil.
• An extended version of the scene in which Straker delivers his "sacrifice" to his "dark father."
• A scene in which after being pronounced dead, Danny Glick's vampirism is foreshadowed much more prominently.
• Barlow's letter to the protagonists is instead a cassette recording. A vampiric Susan is with him.
• A more gruesome fate for Dr. Jimmy Cody. In the original manuscript, he is impaled by knives in a trap set by the vampires. Here, he is devoured alive by rats.
• More scenes of vampires causing chaos; Sandy McDougall is bitten by her infant son Randy, Dud Rogers bites Ruthie Crockett. Later, the aforementioned McDougalls are slain by Jimmy Cody.
• Father Callahan, the town's troubled Roman Catholic priest, meets his end differently. Rather than being forced to drink Barlow's blood and leaving town damned, he marks the vampire with a knife before committing suicide. Furious, the vampire desecrates the priest's body, decapitating it and hanging it upside down.
• Barlow is killed by sunlight rather than a stake through the heart. More rats are present in the final showdown as well.

This article is about the U.S. state. ... Father Callahan from Wolves of the Calla. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...

Legacy

'Salem's Lot was the first of King's books to have a huge cast of characters, a trait that would appear again in later books such as The Stand and It. The town of Jerusalem's Lot would also serve as a prototype for later fictional towns of King's writing, namely Castle Rock, Maine and Derry, Maine. The Stand is a post-apocalyptic Horror/Science Fiction novel by Stephen King originally published in 1978. ... Look up It in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Castle Rock, Maine is part of Stephen King’s fictional Maine topography, and as such serves as the setting for a number of his novels, novellas, and short stories. ... Derry, Maine is a fictional town used by Stephen King as the setting for a number of his novels, novellas, and short stories. ...

King revisited the character Father Callahan, the local priest whose faith falters in the dreadful presence of Barlow, in his The Dark Tower series. He appears in Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower, and provides insights into his experiences after being exiled from 'Salem's Lot. In addition, the central characters of the Dark Tower books acquire an actual copy of 'Salem's Lot at the end of Wolves of the Calla, which leads them to seek out King himself in one of the many alternate realities featured in the series. Father Callahan from Wolves of the Calla. ... For other uses, see The Dark Tower. ... Wolves of the Calla is the fifth book in Stephen Kings The Dark Tower series. ... Song of Susannah is the sixth and penultimate novel in Stephen Kings Dark Tower series. ... The Dark Tower is the seventh and final book of novelist Stephen Kings Dark Tower series, published September 21, 2004 (Kings birthday) by Donald M. Grant Publishers, and illustrated by Michael Whelan. ...

'Salem's Lot was also the first novel by King in which the main character is a writer, a device he would use again in a number of novels and short stories.

At one point, Mears explains his experience in the Marsten house, including seeing the body of the dead previous occupant. Mears describes it as being a leftover or a remnant of what had happened there, just like the haunting of the Overlook Hotel in King's The Shining. For other uses of this term, see Shining. ...

'Salem's Lot is referenced in the Nirvana song "Serve the Servants", off their final album In Utero. This article is about the American grunge band. ... Serve the Servants is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. ... In Utero is the third and final studio album by the American grunge band Nirvana, released on September 21, 1993 by DGC Records. ...

Salem's lot is also referenced in the Eminem song "Lose Yourself". Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known as Eminem or Slim Shady, is a Grammy and Academy Award-winning American rapper, record producer and actor from the Detroit, Michigan area. ... For the sense of losing oneself, see Flow (psychology). ...

Salem's Lot is also referenced in the Gravediggaz song "Bang Your Head".

Media adaptations

• Salem's Lot (1979)
• Salem's Lot - BBC radio production (1995)
• 'Salem's Lot (2004)

Salems Lot was a 1979 tv mini-series based on Stephen Kings vampire novel, Salems Lot. ... This article is about a 1995 BBC radio-dramatization of Stephen Kings horror novel Salems Lot. ... Salems Lot was a two-part miniseries adaptation of Stephen Kings classic vampire story Salems Lot. ...

Editions

• ISBN 0451150651 (paperback, 1976)
• ISBN 0450031063 (paperback, 1982)
• ISBN 0606024344 (prebound, 1990)
• ISBN 0385007515 (hardcover, 1990)
• ISBN 0816156867 (library binding, 1994, Large Type Edition)
• ISBN 0671039741 (mass market paperback, 1999)
• ISBN 067103975X (paperback, 2000)
• ISBN 0385516487 (hardcover, 2005)

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... A Prebound book is a book that was previously bound and has been rebound with a library quality hardcover binding. ... Hardcover books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth, heavy paper, or sometimes leather). ... ... Categories: Stub | Books ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

'Salem's Lot

• Salem's Lot (1979) at the Internet Movie Database
• A Return to 'Salem's Lot at the Internet Movie Database
• 'Salem's Lot (2004) at the Internet Movie Database

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...

References