Jerusalem's Lot, Maine

Jerusalem's Lot (or 'Salem's Lot or simply the Lot) is a town in Cumberland County, Maine that has served as a nexus for paranormal, supernatural, and metaphysical events.

History

The town was incorporated in 1765, before the U.S. existed and Maine became a state. The town gets its name from a myth about one of the earliest town residents, Charles Belknap Tanner. He raised pigs, one of which was named Jerusalem. One day, Jerusalem escaped from her confines into a nearby forest, and became aggressive and wild. Mr. Tanner began warning young children who trespassed on his property to "Keep 'ee out o' Jerusalem's wood lot," lest the pig devour them. Eventually, the phrase "Jerusalem's Lot" was adopted as the town name.

'Salem's Lot

Sometime between the town's incorporation and 1850, the Lot was abandoned. When aristocrat Charles Boone and his manservant Calvin McCann moved into a nearby house, known as Chapelwaite, in 1850 and went looking for the town, they found it deserted. There was evidence of a cult of witches in the town as well as a cult centered around Yog-Sothoth; Boone and McCann found a copy of De Vermis Mysteriis ("the Mysteries of the Worm"). Upon entering the town church they claimed to have found a gigantic wormish monster, hinted to be an incarnation of the Cthulhu Mythos deity Shudde M'ell, which kills Calvin. Boone manages to make the monster flee by burning the book, but flees himself when he sees the corpse of his great great grandfather crawl out of the hole left by the worm's departure. In the letters Boone writes to his friend describing these events, he states that he intends to kill himself in order to end the Boone line and end the evil in Jerusalem's Lot.

For an unknown reason, people began inhabiting the town again after the supposed encounter with the monster. The exact date at which people began inhabiting the town again is unknown, but it is known that the town had a representative named Elias Jointner in the House of Representatives by 1896. Jerusalem's Lot has most often been identified as a residence for great and mysterious evil, particularly vampires.

Castle Rock (TV Series) 

In the series, Wendell Deaver drops by into the town's bus stop when he comes in from a bus he took from Castle Rock. A sign nearby indicates that the town is 24 miles from Castle Rock and 57 miles from Augusta. 

Appearances

• "Jerusalem's Lot"
• 'Salem's Lot
• "One for the Road"
• Castle Rock (TV Series) 

Mentioned

• The Shining
• The Dead Zone
• The Body
• Pet Sematary
• Dolores Claiborne
• Dreamcatcher
• Wolves of the Calla
• Song of Susannah
• The Dark Tower
• It
• Dr. Sleep