Jerusalem's Lot
| "Jerusalem's Lot" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stephen King |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Horror short story |
| Published in | Night Shift |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Publication date | 1978 |
| Followed by | "'Salem's Lot" |
"Jerusalem's Lot" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in King's 1978 collection Night Shift. The story was also printed in the Illustrated Edition of Salem's Lot.
"Jerusalem's Lot" is an epistolary short story set in the fictional town of Preacher's Corners, Cumberland County, Maine, in 1850. It is told through a series of letters and diary entries, mainly those of its main character, aristocrat Charles Boone, although his manservant, Calvin McCann, also occasionally assumes the role of narrator.
Charles Boone, in letters addressed to "Bones", describes the arrival of himself and his manservant, Calvin McCann, at Chapelwaite, the neglected ancestral home of Charles's estranged dead cousin. Calvin learns that many people in the nearby town of Preacher's Corners think Charles and Calvin are insane because of their decision to live in the mansion. The house is said to be "a bad house", with a history of sad events, disappearances, and mysterious noises which Charles attributes to "rats in the walls". Calvin finds a hidden compartment in the library. It contains an old map of a deserted village called Jerusalem's Lot, a mysterious area the townsfolk avoid. Their curiosity piqued, Charles and Calvin set out to explore the village.
The two men find a decayed Puritan settlement. Nothing has set foot in the town since its abandonment, including animals. As Charles and Calvin explore a church they find an obscene parody of the Madonna and Child and an inverted cross. At the pulpit, they find a book filled with Latin and Druidic runes entitled De Vermis Mysteriis, or "The Mysteries of the Worm". When Charles touches the book, the church shakes and the two men sense something gigantic moving in the ground beneath them. The evil of the place overcomes both men, and they quickly leave the town.
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