March 22 - "Jerusalem's Lot"

Sundays with Uncle Stevie“Jerusalem’s Lot”
by Stephen King
Night Shift (1979)

* * * * (Great) Supernatural

A correspondence of letters tells of the mysteries and horrors Charles Boone encounters upon taking up residence at Chapelwaite, near the deserted, evil town of Jerusalem’s Lot in 1850.

In a change of format and style, King provides the history behind the town of ‘Salem’s Lot, the setting of his wonderful novel of the same name. Having read some stories from the 1800’s, King does an adequate job of capturing the cadence of the time through the voice of Charles Boone in his letters to close friends. There is the trademark suspense and tension that builds as Boone investigates the “bad house” and the tales surrounding the deserted town close by. The story’s only fault comes at the end, where things begin ape the Cthulhu mythos (maybe respectfully so, but I am not a fan – yet – of the Lovecraftian old ones), complete with conquering worms. As a fan of the novel, 'Salem’s Lot, I was curious throughout, wondering how this story fit with the novel’s larger world. It acts as prequel, setting up the horror of the house in which the vampire resides. It is a nice little Easter egg of information that adds a new level of story to an already dense and defined work.