Night Shift

“Jerusalem’s Lot,” a prequel to King’s second novel ’Salem’s Lot (1975), is set in Maine in 1850. The narrative is epistolary and unfolds through a series of letters predominantly from Charles Boone to his colleague, Bones. The letters begin on October 2, 1850. Boone and his attendant, Calvin (Cal) McCann, arrive at Chaplewaite, which is Boone’s ancestral summer home. Locals believe that Chaplewaite is “bad” and that anyone who willingly lives there is “either a lunatic or run[s] the risk of becoming one” (5). Inside, Boone is disturbed by noises that he believes are rats in the walls. Tidying the house, McCann finds an old map to an abandoned nearby village named Jerusalem’s Lot. Intrigued, McCann and Boone set out to survey its remains.

When they arrive, Boone and McCann investigate a “spiritually noxious” church that leaves both men repulsed. The altar’s gold cross is upside down, an indication of Satanism, and there is an obscene painting of a Madonna and child. Boone discovers an ancient book bearing Latin and Druidic runes, entitled De Vermis Mysteriis, which translates to “The Mysteries of the Worm.” When Boone touches the book, the pulpit beneath it shakes. He senses something huge “turning” beneath him.