WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Salem’s Lot (2024)!Max has a new streaming horror hit on its hands with the 2024 adaptation ofSalem’s Lot, which shares a subtle connection to Mike Flanagan’s 2019 adaptation of Stephen King’s bookDoctor Sleep. Stephen King’s books are known for often holding Easter eggs, implicit links, or direct connections to his other stories, with many of his Maine-set horror novels being related through references to characters and local events. One frequent source ofconnections for his stories is the location of Jerusalem’s Lot, which is known to house various evil entities and supernatural beings.
TheMax Original movieSalem’s Lot, which became the streaming service’s top-trending movie after its premiere, is the latest take on King’s 1975 same-named book, which explores the titular town as it becomes overrun with vampires. Some ofSalem’s Lot’s characterseventually appeared in other King stories, such asThe Dark Tower, but other links to his universe are more subtle. For instance, while 2024’sSalem’s Lotmovie doesn’t address this link due to its earlier timeline, the titular location becomes important to the villainousTrue Knot cult in King’sDoctor Sleepnovel, which was adapted by Mike Flanagan in 2019.
Doctor Sleep’s Vampiric True Knot Cult Has A Safe Haven In Jerusalem’s Lot
The Psychic Vampires Are One Of The Many Evils That Inhabit Salem’s Lot
Led byRebecca Ferguson’s villainous Rose the Hat inDoctor Sleep, theTrue Knot is a sinister cult from Stephen King’s 2013 novel that murderously siphons the “steam” of childrento make themselves powerful and youthful. The villains are considered Shinevampires, as their Shine-sucking powers and mode of killing operate similarly to a vampire sucking the blood from a human. The 2019 movie, which serves as a sequel to Stephen King’sThe Shiningstory, follows a grown-up Dan “Danny” Torrance as he battles the True Knot and tries to protect Abra, a powerful young girl with the Shine.
Though this reference isn’t made clear in the 2019 film,Stephen King’sDoctor Sleepbook reveals that the True Knot has a safe haven in Salem’s Lot. The 2024Salem’s Lotmovie as well as King’s 1975 novel frequently discuss the evils that have been attracted to the small town in Maine, so it makes sense thatDoctor Sleep’s vampire-like True Knot group would feel comfortable in a location already overrun by bloodsucking vampires. While it’s unclear when the True Knot first came to Salem’s Lot, it was seemingly after the events of the vampire Kurt Barlow’s attack in 1975.
Salem’s Lot Vampires Explained: Origin, Appearance & Powers
While it’s hard to know exactly what the vampires will be in the new Salem’s Lot adaptation, Stephen King’s book and previous miniseries offer clues.
Doctor Sleepdoesn’t actually venture into Jerusalem’s Lot throughout its story, but the references to the area are a reminder of the many other evil supernatural forces that lurk throughout Stephen King’s fictional universe. The 2019 movie largely takes place in New Hampshire before moving back toThe Shining’s Overlook Hotel in Colorado, sothere isn’t any known direct overlap between Danny, Rose the Hat, and the vampires ofSalem’s Lot. Still, it’s likely that Rebecca Ferguson’s Rose the Hat and her fellow True Knot members went there after the time ofSalem’s Lot’s ending.
Doctor Sleep’s Connection To Salem’s Lot Highlights A Harsh Reality About Mark & Ben’s Cut Ending
Ben & Mark Returned To Battle Salem’s Lot’s Vampires A Year Later In The Book
ConsideringDoctor Sleep’s book picks up nearly 40 years afterSalem’s Lot, with the movie adding another six years onto that, the True Knot’s choice of location for their safe haven highlights a sad reality about the town. After Ben Mears and Mark Petrie escaped Salem’s Lot, the town remained infested by vampires and evil entities, despite the fact that they successfully killed Kurt Barlow. Additionally, Jerusalem’s Lot still being inhabited by vampires and the True Knot decades later is worse with the knowledge of the book’sepilogue that was cut from 2024’sSalem’s Lotmovie.
The duo decide to battle the vampires yet again, devising a plan to start a brush fire in the woods outside town, draw the vampires outside their hiding places, and kill as many of them remaining as they can.
At the end of King’s 1975 novel, an epilogue reveals thatBen and Mark return to Salem’s Lota year later. The duo decide to battle the vampires yet again, devising a plan to start a brush fire in the woods outside town, draw the vampires outside their hiding places, and kill as many of them remaining as they can. Subsequent Stephen King storiesimply that Ben and Mark were successful in killing many of the vampires, but that some would always remain.
Given the fact thatDoctor Sleep’s True Knot later established a safe haven, it’s more upsetting thatBen and Mark’s plan didn’t work to truly keep evil out of Salem’s Lot. Not only would bloodsucking vampires remain in town, but new evils like the psychic vampires would move in to join them, leaving Jerusalem’s Lot a cursed location.
Why Salem’s Lot Attracts So Many Evil Groups & Species
Salem’s Lot Has A Dark History That Predates The Vampire Attack
Even before Kurt Barlow arrives at Salem’s Lot in the 2024 movie,it’s established that the town has always been home to sinister events and evil forces. The town’s attraction to evil forces is greatly symbolized by theMarsten House inSalem’s Lot. The location was originally the home of former hitman Hubert “Hubie” Marsten, who killed his wife before taking his own life many years before the movie’s events. However, evil still finds comfort within those walls, and it’s where Kurt Barlow chooses to reside and begin his vampiric terrors in 1975.
Only three Stephen King stories are either fully or partially set in Salem’s Lot:Salem’s Lot(1975),One for the Road(1977), andJerusalem’s Lot(1978). However, the town is referenced by several other stories, such asDoctor SleepandThe Dark Towerseries.
From the time of its early colonization,Salem’s Lot has had a history of cults, supernatural activities, occult interests, and mysterious events. In the late 1700s, a preacher found a book about the occult in town, which was followed by him and his followers mysteriously vanishing from Salem’s Lot. It seems that the dark history of Salem’s Lot and its unexplained supernatural occurrences have simply attracted evil forces as a location where groups like vampires and the True Knot can more freely engage with their sinister practices. Perhaps, some forces on its land even make their evil more powerful.
Salem’s Lot 2024 Mirrors The Darkest Moment Of Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep Movie
Ralphie Glick’s Agonizing Death Is Reminiscent Of Bradley Trevor’s In Doctor Sleep
In addition to the more direct connection of the True Knot having a safe haven in Jerusalem’s Lot, Mike Flanagan’s acclaimedDoctor Sleepmovie and Gary Dauberman’sSalem’s Lotmovie both feature gruesome child death scenes. Arguablythe most difficult-to-watch scene inDoctor Sleepis the excruciating murder of Bradley Trevor (Jacob Tremblay), a young kid who was captured, tortured, andkilled by the True Knot for his “steam” after his baseball game. The blood-curdling screams of Tremblay make the scene incredibly disturbing and agonizing, emphasizing the truly vile and sickening nature of Rose the Hat and the True Knot.
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WhileDoctor Sleep’s child death scene is more graphic and intense,Salem’s Lothas a similar moment toward the beginning of the 2024 movie. After Kurt Barlow is first brought to Salem’s Lot, Richard Straker brings the vampire the young boyRalphie Glick as a human sacrificeto begin his reign of terror.Ralphie is then brought before Kurt Barlow, with the young boy horrifyingly screaming as the vampire tears him apartand blood is seen spattering on Straker’s face. Both Stephen King adaptation moments are extremely disturbing starts to the Jerusalem’s Lot-rooted villains’ horrific takeovers.
Salem’s Lot
Cast
Salem’s Lot is a 2024 remake of the movie of the same name released in 1979. The latest adaptation of Stephen King’s 1975 novel stars Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, and Bill Camp, with Gary Dauberman writing and directing the Max original film. The plot revolves around a writer who discovers a vampire in his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot upon returning home for inspiration.
Doctor Sleep
Doctor Sleep, set decades after The Shining, follows Dan Torrance as he confronts his traumatic past at the Overlook Hotel. He encounters Abra, a teenage girl with powerful extrasensory abilities called the “shine,” who enlists his help in battling sinister forces.
