Ben Mears attacks priest Donald Callahan in a homeless shelter in Detroit, and they fall out a window.

He tells Susan Norton, a waitress and former art student, that when he was a child he entered the house of Hubie Marsten, a Prohibition-era gangster.

Thirty years later, Ben plans to rent the house to find catharsis and gather material for his novel, but discovers it has been sold by Larry Crockett to antique dealers Richard Straker and Kurt Barlow.

Salem's Lot is rife with dark secrets: Crockett is an immoral businessman who sexually abuses his teenage daughter Ruth.

Eva Prunier, proprietor of the boarding house where Ben stays, played evil games with Marsten when she and her peers were teenagers.

Becoming a vampire, he tempts gay high school teacher Matt Burke, who repels him but suffers a heart attack.

Ben and Mark set the Marsten House afire, and during a chase with the vampiric Charlie, a gas station explodes.

In February 2003, it was announced TNT had cast Rob Lowe as the lead in a new adaptation of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot with Peter Filardi writing the script and Mikael Salomon directing.

[2] In his memoir, Love Life, Rob Lowe stated that he had a difficult time working with Rutger Hauer.

Lowe said, "I once starred in a big miniseries that culminated with the villain giving a two-page monologue trying to goad me into killing him.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Salem's Lot is a bit anemic due to a dearth of proper scares, but its effectively creepy atmosphere and solid performances make for a respectable adaptation of Stephen King's revered novel.

"[4] On Metacritic, the miniseries has a score of 65 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews"[5] The broadcast of Salem's Lot drew 5.9 million viewers upon its debut, making it the number 1 longform program on basic cable for the year.