Salems Lot
by
Stephen King

Illustration by David Loew

Salem’s Lot is a horror novel by Stephen King, written in 1975. It was King’s second published novel. The book was adapted into a 1979 TV movie of the same name, starring David Soul and James Mason. A sequel to that movie, A Return to Salem’s Lot, was made in 1987. A TV movie was made in 2004, starring Rob Lowe, Andre Braugher and James Cromwell.
The title King originally chose 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.
In a 1999 preface to the book, King discussed the importance of Dracula and formulated a theory that The Lord of the Rings was “just a slightly sunnier version of Stoker’s Dracula, with Frodo playing Jonathan Harker, Gandalf playing Abraham Van Helsing and Sauron playing the Count himself.”