Jerusalem's Lot (Stephen King)

Jerusalem's Lot (Stephen King)

Jerusalem's Lot (often shortened to 'Salem's Lot or just the Lot) is a fictional town in the works of horror fiction writer Stephen King. The town first appears in the novel 'Salem's Lot, then in the prequel short story "Jerusalem's Lot", and then in the sequel short story "One for the Road". It is then subsequently mentioned in passing in The Shining, The Dead Zone, The Body, Pet Sematary, Dolores Claiborne, Dreamcatcher, and the last three books of the The Dark Tower series (Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower). It is also mentioned in Alan Moore's comic The New Traveller's Almanac.

In adaptations, it appears in the 1979 Salem's Lot miniseries and its 1987 sequel A Return to Salem's Lot, the 1995 BBC radio drama, and the 2004 Salem's Lot miniseries.

Together with Castle Rock, Maine and Derry, Maine, it is one of the principal towns in King's fictional Maine topography. In 'Salem's Lot and "One for the Road", it is described as being located in Cumberland County, between (or including parts of) the towns of Falmouth, Windham, and Cumberland, near the southern part of the state about twenty miles north of Portland; however, on the map of Maine at Stephen King's official website, it is placed considerably further north, approximately in Northwest Piscataquis.

King himself has publicly conceded that ‘Salem’s Lot was his own personal favorite of books he has written. In his Playboy interview, the interviewer wrote that King was planning a sequel, but more recently his official website states he has finished the story thread in Wolves of the Calla and Song of Susannah.

The town is mainly prototypical to later King towns, such as Derry and Castle Rock, and is not a commonly used setting for his stories.