All of you want chocolate? I'll see what I can do.
Roberto! Excuse me.
Happy Thanksgiving. All the best. Happy Thanksgiving. God bless you.
Happy Thanksgiving. All the very best.
Bless you.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Get the police.
Get on the radio.
coming through!
BP's 80/40. He's already had a liter of D5w.
Happy Thanksgiving, guys. Get the priest into c, now.
- who's the perp? - Benjamin Mears, age 37. New York license.
- Hold him in A. - A, as in abused by a priest?
It hurt a bit?
well, that's nothing compared to the fires you'll face on Judgment Day.
Now, let's see what we have here.
Hey, buddy. wake up.
Yeah, that's it.
Now give me one good reason why...
...as a good christian, I shouldn't let you die right here.
Jerusalem's Lot.
No one pronounced Jerusalem's Lot dead on the morning of February 6th.
No one knew it was.
By and large, the town, not knowing it was dead...
... would go off to their jobs with no inkling...
... of what lay ahead.
Looking at Jerusalem's Lot...
... is like peering through a pane of ice at your childhood.
It's wavy and misty, but most of it's the same.
McDougall!
Lawrence Crockett is the richest man in Salem's Lot, but the IRS will never know.
Like his neighbors, he relies on the community to keep his secrets.
The social pact is the foundation of every small town.
Macy, tell Richard Straker I'll be 10 minutes late.
oh, a Mr. Mears stopped by.
- I told him you'd be out at the trailer park. - Mears?
Balls. The writer. You told him I was here?
I'm sorry, Larry. You have to tell me when you're hiding.
Larry?
Ben Mears. can I interest you in a mobile home?
Great little place to raise a family.
I'll just take the keys to the house, thanks.
- Still living in New York city? - Yeah.
I was, till I sublet my place.
I saw the Marsten house from the road. It's empty, right?
No, I sold it. I'm sorry.
Finally did. Same people who bought the Laundromat.
I have an agreement to rent that. I have the paperwork in my car.
So sue me. I'm sorry.
Look, Eva Prunier runs a clean boarding house on clift Street.
who would buy that house?
- Two gentlemen, antique dealers. - And they're aware of its story?
- I suppose. How could they not be? - But you didn't tell them.
- I don't remember. - But you remember our agreement.
what do you want me to say, Mr. Mears? The deal is done.
would you mind moving your car?
Go on, Mears. You wanna be a Bloody Pirate, don't you?
Come on, Mears. We've all been inside.
You a wuss or a Pirate?
The town has secrets, but sees through lies...
... even the ones you tell yourself.
What are you doing coming back to the place where you lived as a boy?
Trying to recapture something that was irrevocably lost?
What magic do you expect to recapture by walking roads you once walked?
They're now probably asphalted...
... and straightened...
... and litter-shot with tourist beer cans.
Do you even know?
The kids who ride Charlie Rhodes' school bus are the best-behaved in town.
In the entire school district, for that matter. Charlie Rhodes is a bitter vet...
... who runs his bus the same way he ran Kilo Company in Da Nang.
Living proof that time does not heal all wounds.
You got a lot to talk about?
Take it outside.
Don't romanticize the town because it's small.
Or because you fished its waters for pickerel and steelies as a boy.
This town knows darkness.
You can't find them, grind them.
who said that?
champ.
The town knows darkness...
... and the poor kids, like Mark Petrie...
... know more than their village peers about the darkness of the human soul.
Surprise, surprise.
Salem's Lot is an accumulation of three parts.
Ass-wipe!
The sum of which are greater than their whole.
what the hell are you two making all those signs for?
He got my hat. He won't give it back.
The town is the people, the buildings they've erected to den or do business in.
There you go. Problem solved.
And it is the land.
Screw charlie Rhodes. I'd walk every day...
...if my mother wasn't tweaked about the "preverts."
You meet a lot of preverts, Ralphie?
More than I know. Look at charlie...
...a normal jagoff, till you look under the visor of his bus.
- Shut up. - I know kids who've seen them.
- Seen what? - Pictures. Porn.
charlieprevert. com.
Dude, we gotta check this, all right?
we'll hook up tonight, see how charlie gets his rocks off.
Hey, Petrie...
The people are Scotch, English and French.
There are others, of course...
... a smattering, like a fistful of pepper thrown in a bucket of salt.
Matt Burke teaches English at the high school...
... and is a life-long bachelor.
- Morning, Matt. - Morning.
Matt's alternative life in Portland is tolerated...
... so long as he keeps it out of the classroom.
The buildings here are nearly all constructed of honest wood.
And when I was a boy, it was largely agreed that Hubie Marsten...
... built the finest home in Jerusalem's Lot...
... before going soft in the attic.
Mr. Mears?
Mr. Mears, I'm Susan Norton.
we traded e-mails a few years back. You probably don't remember.
I went to Boston University and couldn't decide between art and English.
- Please, sit. - If I'm not bothering you.
Not at all.
- So what'd you choose? - Art.
Nothing against writing.
Everyone knows you grew up here. I found it inspiring.
- oh, thank you. - I lived in New York for a year after school.
But I couldn't paint the rent. So I'm home reevaluating.
New York's for artists with generous parents.
And the Lot is for hobbyists who paint lighthouses and lobster boats.
I wish you'd been more persistent with your e- mails, Susan.
Because I'm interesting or blonde?
Because you're an interesting blonde.
- what brings you back? - work.
A new book. Boring People in the Perfect Town?
It surrounds the Marsten house, but I'm not telling anyone.
A haunted house. Not your genre.
complex characters can elevate genre.
Hubie Marsten, a respected pillar of the community until the moment...
...he blew his wife away and hung himself from a rafter.
Small-town Shakespeare.
You are the one who found them.
Yes.
- I tried to rent the place. - You actually wanted to live there?
Yeah, it's my...
...attraction-repulsion compulsion.
Kinky things went on in that place in Hubie's day.
I heard.
- You met the owners? - Two guys. I hope they're gay.
It might alleviate some of the gossip off me.
can I get you something?
Hello. I'm Susan's mother.
It's good to meet both of you.
Susan Norton, Norton's café.
I'm slinging latte here till I can move back to New York.
I think that building you mentioned might be a metaphor for something bigger in your life.
Does it always have to be something bigger?
Like a theme?
There would be if it were my book.
The land is granite-bodied.
Farming it is a thankless, miserable business.
You sure you wanna live out here, Dud? It's getting cold.
I got a stove in the shack, Mike. I'm all right.
we need the leaves and tree cutting for fill.
- Don't burn them. - I won't burn them, Mike.
- what you got there? - He must have got thirsty.
- Hey, put that down. - It's for my girlfriend.
You got a girlfriend now? who?
Let's go, gimp!
- who? - I can't say!
okay, Floyd!
You better toss it away anyway. She'll think you're a freak!
The Rogers family ran a dairy here for generations till Dud was born.
It was sold to the town, which built the hospital Dud needs...
... but can't visit without insurance.
- Royce, could you excuse us, please? - why?
This is what Sandy McDougall gave up high school for.
Your son has a significant contusion.
I wanna talk to Sandy about it...
...alone.
A winter malaise is epidemic in small towns.
Dr. James Cody fights it with fine dining and new clothes.
Others self-medicate with alcohol and television.
Little Roy hasn't had breakfast.
what happened, Sandy?
I turned my back for a second, and he fell off the changing table.
It's the truth.
Sandy, how long have you been married, now?
Six months.
Still live in crockett's trailer park?
Not having money doesn't make us bad parents.
No, of course not.
Sandy, I'm required by law to report this type of injury.
- It's not what you think, Jimmy. - It's not?
Sandy, was it Royce?
Look, this marriage isn't all I thought, but little Roy's okay.
we had some fun times didn't we?
Dancing? New Year's at Dell's?
Please, don't report it. Give us a chance.
Bring the baby back tomorrow.
You're a good man, Jimmy.
And a good doctor.
If I'd been a little smarter...
...or drunker that New Year's...
...who knows?
You stay because a small town knows you...
... and thereby owns you. Sure as the bank, the car dealer and the Sears in Livingston.
The kitchen is available to all guests from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Fresh sheets are provided weekly...
...and rents are negotiable for those who wanna work.
Do you have a room with a view?
oh, yes, I do.
would you believe it's my hardest room to rent?
Ed, a moment please. Mr. Mears will be staying with us.
- For a few weeks. - Pleasure.
Most tourists leave soon as their tank's full.
I grew up in the Lot as a child with my Aunt cynthia. cynthia Stowens.
I knew cynthia.
- You're her nephew? - That's right.
- The boy who was in the Marsten house? - I am.
You're the one who found Hubie and his wife, Birdie?
Goddamn. You were a ballsy little fella.
Please, come and look.
Some of the men are building me a rec room:
Gentlemen, this is Ben Mears.
Mr. Mears used to live in the Lot.
I know Mr. Mears.
You ever write a book about Afghanistan?
- I did. - waste of paper, that was.
- oh, Mr. Blair. - That's okay. I'm glad somebody read it.
civilian casualties aren't avoidable in combat. I was in the corps '64 to '70.
Tourists like yourself writing about war...
...are naive, dangerous, borderline traitorous.
- what do you think about war crimes? - war crimes, my ass.
There's three good Marines rotting in Leavenworth right now...
...because of Mr. Ben Mears.
Beneath the postcard camouflage, there's little good in small towns.
Mostly boredom, interspersed with a dull, mindless, moronic evil.
I love them.
I just love these brick walls.
Lawrence, son...
...I called you over an hour ago.
My secretary screwed up.
Fire her. She makes you look bad.
Thanks.
The shop looks good, Mr. Straker.
well, the truth be told, we don't really need it.
Ninety-five percent of our business is done online.
well, that explains opening in November.
weather is regional. we are global.
Madam!
what a beautiful-looking letterbox.
My father made it by hand.
well, your father is a fine craftsman.
I will give you...
...10 dollars to keep it.
You just turn around and take it back.
But if you insist, I will buy that box from you for...
...$60, and I will find a good home for it.
I need the money.
well, there you have it. Thank you very much. Do come back again.
There's another chore I need you to do for me, Lawrence.
You'll need a large truck. Be at the Portland docks tonight, 7:00 sharp.
- okay. - There are a dozen crates to be picked up.
All save one are to be brought here to the shop.
The largest contains an extremely valuable sideboard...
...a Hepplewhite.
That is to be taken to my house.
The movers will recognize it by its size.
Yes, sir.
They can leave it in the foyer. The front door will be open.
Got it.
when do we meet your partner, Mr. Barlow?
In his own good time.
This is fancy. Is it valuable?
It's an 18th-century harmony pin.
Belonged to a whoremaster's mistress.
Take it, Lawrence.
Take it...
...for services rendered.
Back it up there, Floyd.
Yeah.
what are you doing?
Give it here.
Give me that.
Get off my property.
He didn't mean anything by it.
I know what he meant. Get him out of here.
Larry, Dud's harmless.
I'll put him on another route. He's like a brother.
what if I find another trash service and landscaper, huh?
- How about I pull all my accounts, Mike? - Don't say that.
- I'm more than saying. - Maybe you should talk to your daughter.
one more crack like that and you're both through. Finito. Do you understand?
- Is that yours? - I threw it out. It's too small.
- You can't encourage that retard. - Like I would. He's disgusting.
I've got 12 crates arriving at the Portland docks tonight I need picked up.
Antiques.
- Stay out of there. - I need money.
- Do you wanna make some money or not? - Look, I'll help with the crates.
- call me later. - Finders keepers.
How does it look, Daddy? Is it too trashy?
- what? - Nothing. I was just thinking.
So, what were you saying about expression?
Graffiti is a condemnation of architecture.
Kids create on top of buildings because they don't see the expression within.
what is the expression of a building?
lts soul, its ambiance, a byproduct of design.
or events within.
Back to the Marsten house?
Sorry.
we can talk about your work.
we can talk about the dog.
I'm glad you called.
Get off the stage, boy.
Ben, found an old friend of yours.
- Ben Mears, welcome back. - Hey.
- Hello, Susan. - Mr. Burke.
I don't expect you remember your 8th- grade teacher.
oh, no, I do. He was the tough guy who taught for three reasons.
June, July and August. Right. I was being facetious, Ben.
I teach high-school English now.
can you find time to share your success with my class?
It's more of a working vacation.
- You sure? - Yeah.
I'm disappointed.
we can talk all night. The kids want celebrities.
when was the last time you saw a kid read a book?
All I see are headphones and cell phones.
You're right, weasel. Literature's become elitist.
It's like black-and-white photography.
You know, Ben, I half expected that cynicism from you.
- It's there between the lines. - I like Ben's work.
- come on, we're just drinking here. - It's okay.
Are you one of the few in town who read the book?
or did you just skim the reviews?
I read Damage Control and Marching in Heels.
well, don't hold back.
The world acknowledges your talent as a writer.
I might argue your work is antagonistic when it needn't be...
...emotionally detached and lacking a moral center.
If that's the way you speak with your English class...
...I would be honored to visit.
champ!
come on, boy!
champ!
I'll be lookout.
Panties a little tight?
All right.
- He's coming. - Get out. Get out. Get out. Go. Go. Go.
- catch you tomorrow. - All right.
champ!
what'd you see?
Dead soldiers. Their eyes are poked out. Their ears are missing.
A soldier feeding pizza to a lady's head!
You're a douche bag, Ralphie.
wait!
- where are we? - It looks like...
Mark?
It has to be Mark.
Mark?
wait. I can't breathe.
Danny!
No, no!
Danny! Danny!
No!
I think Susie wants out.
She's always e-mailing other guys, old teachers, old boyfriends.
well, how do you know?
I set up a computer for her and her mother.
- So of course I got the passwords. - Floyd.
Floyd.
- You set up my computer. - Relax. I don't know your business.
I don't want to. what? You have nothing to worry about.
- Nothing's wrong with surfing The Barnyard. - You son of a bitch!
Yeah, I bet you felt real sorry for that dog.
I can't believe you!
You could get that.
- Hello. - Mrs. Petrie.
Hi, I'm Marjorie Glick. we've never met.
Look, are my boys still at your house? If so, could you send them home, please?
one second, Marjorie. It's Mrs. Glick. She thinks her boys are here.
- They went home. - Mark says they went home.
- They must be on the way. - Does he know what time they left?
- I didn't see anybody. - we were outside. They left at, like, 8.
Mark says the boys left around 8, Marjorie.
- okay. Great. It's getting late. - It is.
- would you like to speak with Mark? - No.
No. No, I guess not. Thank you.
- we'll have to meet some time. - That would be nice.
Not in this life.
- Danny? - I found him lying in the road.
My God, is he all right?
- where's Ralphie? - call an ambulance.
Hubie?
Birdie?
It's Floyd.
Forgot to pay your electric.
Hey, you gonna give us a hand here, Hubie Jr.?
crockett's paying us 100 bucks to deliver this crate.
If I said to you, Mike...
...I'll pay you 200 bucks...
...to come into the Marsten house alone at night...
...would you do it? - Hell, no.
Me neither.
I find that humorous.
This place used to keep me up at night.
As a kid, I could see it from my bedroom window.
I wouldn't be able to sleep unless my mother pulled the shade.
where are you going?
I wanna see Hubie's bedroom.
And the bathroom where Birdie...
Straker?
Let's get out of here.
You better get back in there. Birdie needs a boyfriend.
- You heard footsteps. we both did, right? - I heard squealing.
I think that was you.
Hey, Mike, what do these Beemers run?
Hurry up.
I told you it was Straker.
Just spread out.
No sign of the Glick boy.
- find evidence of the boy.
Mark, what were you boys doing on this side of town?
we were just playing flashlight tag.
charlie Rhodes lives just over the hill. Did you hear about his dog?
Yeah, I heard it died.
Mrs. Glick says you and her boys had some trouble with charlie on the school bus.
You got him angry. Did you see charlie last night?
No.
Shut up, cujo! Quiet!
Hi.
Mr. Mears. Surprised to see you this morning.
A child won't last long in this cold.
These Norton girls are angels, Ben. Before them it was Eva Prunier.
You may not see it, but our landlady was the prettiest in the county.
Eva's still pretty. I can see it.
what I see in Eva, it's magic.
careful, Ed. Mr. Mears will turn your heartbreak into a bestseller.
our secrets are safe.
Ben's working on a piece of historical fiction.
Yeah, I heard.
- Marsten house? - who told you that?
Little bird in the library.
what was it like in the house? Tell us about when you found her.
You'll have to wait for the book.
come on. Give us a preview.
I was 9 years old, living out on Burns Road with my aunt, cynthia.
I went in on a dare from the Bloody Pirates.
was Hubie already hanging, or did you see him do it?
I saw.
I spent the whole night in there until a friend finally got my Aunt cynthia.
Terrible place, looking down on this town like a dark idol.
- There's a quote for the liner jacket. - we need some more water.
Yeah, I'll help.
what about Ronnie Barnes?
Did you see him too?
No.
No, I never did.
I'm so embarrassed.
I know you didn't want people to know what you're writing.
I went to the library. I mentioned your name to Loretta Starcher.
Now the whole town knows. I was trying to help.
- It's okay. - I was researching the Marsten's for you.
I wanted it to be a nice surprise.
- Are you mad? I would be. - Ben Mears.
Didn't mean to interrupt. May I speak with you?
I'll call you.
I know you're on to something with this book.
- Never thought we'd see you again. - It's nice to see you too, chief.
So give me an alibi.
I was having drinks with Susan till 9.
Matt Burke says you left Dell's at 8 because you wanted to work.
It might have been 8.
Did you see any children on your drive?
- Any flashlights in the woods? - No.
Anything unusual? Maybe a van parked alongside the road?
No.
All right. I do appreciate your help today.
That dog in the cemetery, who found it first?
I did.
okay.
Floyd, everything work out last night?
He paid me, Larry. Thanks for the job.
Pocket money. Keep your lady happy.
well, what can I do you for?
You heard about the missing kid?
A parent's worst fear.
well, while we were up at the Marsten house making that delivery...
...I looked in the back of the new owner's car.
I saw a plastic bag in the back seat.
It was leaking.
was it little-boy-sized?
It was head-sized.
The new owner is Richard Straker.
You think he killed the missing Glick boy and kept the head?
I'm not saying all that.
what will that do to his antique business?
- It was leaking all over the leather seats. - Did you tell Mike what you saw?
No. I didn't think much of it at the time, until today.
So why tell me? Go tell Parkins Gillespie, if you think it's important.
I'm telling you because you know him.
Relax, Floyd.
Straker called me this morning, excited about tackle and shacks.
Seems he tried his hand at ice fishing and finds it relaxing.
Ice fishing.
Maybe he bagged a tuna or cod, whatever you swamp Yankees pull out of these lakes.
Ice fishing.
well, that's a relief.
I was driving myself crazy.
I understand...
...but we have to be careful, Floyd.
Loose talk can ruin people.
My first suspect was the other new guy in town. Some hotshot writer.
- what writer? - Mears.
Nice enough, but a city guy. A bit abrasive. You know him?
Ben Mears.
I know of him.
I better get back to work.
Hey, thanks for last night.
And thanks for coming to me first on this.
Bishop's Lake.
That's the best spot for ice fishing.
I'll tell Straker.
You're on my short list, buddy.
Dud.
I'm sorry, Dud. I can't use you today.
what? why not?
Ruth crockett. You shouldn't have been messing with her, Dud.
Now Larry's threatened to pull all the accounts.
well, I can't put you on the truck, Dud. I can't afford it.
But we're friends, Mike. we're best friends.
I know. I know.
we still are.
what will I do?
I don't know.
You know, I'll help you find another job.
Until then, look, just take this...
...to hold you over, all right.
It's not your fault, Dud.
whatever you did, it was just, you know, misunderstood.
I'm sorry.
Danny, can you hear me?
Danny? can you hear me?
If you can hear me, blink your eyes.
He's in acute mental shock.
Maybe from excessive fear, grief...
...or some sort of emotional trauma.
Excuse me.
He's getting worse.
Marjorie.
I believe this is Danny's.
- Yes, doctor. - Doctor.
Sometimes the power of prayer and local facilities have limits.
It's shock, Father. Your car didn't hit him.
He'll snap out of it.
Stop it.
Hi. How's little Roy today?
He's fine, Jimmy. See for yourself.
Hello. Hi. How you doing?
I really appreciate your help, Jimmy.
Maybe after you finish with Roy, I could buy you lunch.
You know, I usually have my lunch in the cafeteria, Sandy.
well, little Roy and I could join you.
That wouldn't be a good idea.
- what would your husband say? - "order a salad. Your ass is fat."
That was a joke.
Most doctors love kids. They have pictures all over the office.
It helps the patient relax.
They figure, "This doctor's so busy thinking about his kids...
...he's not thinking about my naked body."
Yeah, well, I love kids, you know. They're great to work with.
They have this, you know...
...way to thank you with their eyes.
Yeah, but you love your toys too. I mean, look at this car.
- Still a player. - Player?
- You think this car's too dope for Doctor c.? - Maybe.
I only said "player" because I know how you were at Dell's.
- I danced with you, remember? - oh, yeah. I remember.
would you pull over? I have to check on little Roy.
Sure.
I can't.
You're still a nice guy.
You are.
If I could have chose everything in my life...
...I'd have chose a man like you.
The more interesting items are in the store.
I'm sorry. I was looking for a local boy who's missing.
I don't think you'll find him here.
No.
I'm Ben Mears, Mr. Straker. Been anxious to meet you.
Richard.
You and your partner took the house I was interested in.
You comfortable up there?
well, it's a handful, Ben.
I hope you find the little boy.
Somehow, I don't think we will. Not alive, anyway.
How's your alibi?
Excuse me?
The police spoke with me today. we're both new in town.
we're not even new. In a small town like this, we're strangers the first 20 years.
well, I happen to like it here, Ben.
And your partner?
- Mr. Barlow? - You a reporter?
writer.
- critics call me "typist." - "Typist"?
Typist.
well, if you're curious about the house...
...come up and have a drink one night.
The truth is the place scares me.
well, then you never intended to take it, did you, Mr. Typist?
- It's Romeo. - More like Hannibal.
Ruth!
- can I talk to you? - Send him for pizza.
- Hey, go wash my car! - Shut up.
I got fired, Ruth.
Mike said I shouldn't have been messing with you.
I was thinking maybe you could talk to your father so I can get my job back.
It wouldn't do any good. He's mega-protective.
- I hate my father more than you do. - Really?
well, I still like you, Ruth. I really do.
You seem like a nice person, Dud.
But that stuff at my house was just to make my father mad.
- But, Ruth... - I'm sorry, Dud, but you gotta get real.
Get out of here, gimp!
You're not my best friend, Mike.
Not anymore.
Dump's closed, mister.
I'm just watching the fires.
It scares the animals away.
Just the rats.
Smokes them from their holes.
Yeah. where will they go?
I guess they'll find another hole.
You from around here?
Yeah, just over the hill.
- what are you writing there? - Nothing.
I lost my job.
Mike was my best friend since junior high.
It's his backhoe.
- I'll wash it off. - No, leave it.
I didn't do anything wrong.
I was just talking with Ruth crockett, my girlfriend...
...and her father got crazy...
...and told Mike he had to fire me or he'd lose all his work.
Yeah, that's too bad.
Say, aren't you one of the fellas that bought the Marsten place?
- Very good. - Are there any ghosts in that old house?
Ghosts?
No.
- No ghosts. - I didn't think so.
well, anyway...
...it's always nice when someone comes down to, you know, shoot the breeze...
...but the dump closes at 6 and it's half past 9 now, so...
Dud...
...I noticed your limping.
curvature of the spine?
- Does that bother you? - Nope.
I can work fine.
I meant in other ways.
No.
well...
...girls.
Just girls.
Their boyfriends, the other kids?
Sometimes they laugh.
what were you to say if I gave you a chance...
...to be equal to those boys and girls?
or maybe even a little more. would you take it?
Equal?
Danny.
Danny?
come on, Danny, it's me...
...your brother, Ralphie.
Remember?
You left me in the woods.
Ralphie?
- I'm just messing with you, Danny. - Go away.
Danny, I'm not mad.
Danny.
I knew you were scared.
cripes, I was scared too.
But not anymore.
Danny...
...I'm messing with you, Danny.
I ain't scared at all.
Let me in, Danny.
Don't let Mom and Dad blame you.
Let me in, Danny.
All right.
You went to lunch with Sandy McDougall?
- what's wrong with that? - oh, nothing.
She's 19, married, barely educated. what else is right?
what's going on here?
Now, who remembers the Morris chair?
This.
Such an excellent example.
Very popular in Berkeley.
Look at that leather.
Please be kind enough to tell your friends we're open...
...and that our prices are so very reasonable.
Madam...
...this drop-leaf table would look beautiful in a foyer...
...or in a servants' entrance.
I am the only servant in my house.
And I am Richard Straker.
Eva Prunier. I own a boarding house on clift Street.
Eva Prunier.
Your name is familiar.
And your accent.
Excuse me?
Tell me, Eva...
...of all the old parlor games, which one do you miss the most?
As you may share a little morphine avec his little friend.
I am jealous.
You must have been so young at that time then.
All you little village girls, what, 16 years old? Fifteen?
Did you give to Hubie...
...what I think you gave to him?
oh, I knew it.
- And did you wear his goat's-head mask? - Stop it!
I taught Ben Mears in the eighth grade. He survived.
Since then, he's had a distinguished literary career.
In 2001, he was captured by Taliban troops...
...while reporting the Afghan war.
He was rescued from certain death by U.S. Marines.
on the return trek...
...Ben's Marines killed 10 Afghan villagers.
Damage Control is a factual account of the incident.
Three Marines were court-martialed and imprisoned.
Ben received the Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Mears is in town researching his new book...
...on the Marsten house.
Mr. Mears, should anyone in their right mind trust an author?
A good author illuminates truth.
- Yes. - what's the truth about this town?
I used to think nothing happened here.
But the truth is everything happens here.
one has to look close in a small town.
The beauty is in the details.
You have all the horror of Qalai Janghi prison right here in one battered child.
All the beauty of Michelangelo in the alabaster calf of one...
...shoulder-high waitress.
The longing you feel for the boy or girl in the next row...
...is equal to or greater than what your favorite musician feels...
...for his favorite supermodel.
Never minimize your feelings.
or this town.
what's the truth about the Marines that saved you in Afghanistan?
I'm not a waitress or shoulder-high.
- Let me checked those Michelangelo calves. - It was metaphors on the fly.
- what do you want from me? - Proof.
And they really liked him?
I'll say they warmed up to him.
The boy went from mental shock to extreme anemia overnight.
what our grandfathers would call wasting away.
That poor family. Two sons.
can you imagine?
The red-cell count on a 14-year-old boy should run between 85 and 95 percent.
Danny's was 45.
- How long until people make a connection? - Here it comes.
come on. Ben, the whole town's talking.
The house.
It's like a curse.
Did you know that Hubie Marsten's trucking firm in Boston was a front?
Hubie was questioned twice by police. once in Boston, and once in Malden.
The Malden thing was for the murder of an 11-year-old boy.
Hubie and his wife moved to the Lot in 1958.
Between '58 and '74, five children disappeared.
But we've had no missing kids since Hubie died. Not one.
Now the house is occupied and we have one boy missing and another one dead.
So the house is a beacon for evil men.
It attracted you.
Ben, I'm sure what you saw there as a boy still haunts you.
- You think? - It stayed in the town's consciousness too.
Not just because tales of nastiness do, but I think because of location.
It looks down on us...
...like it's judging us.
or it's the mirror by which you judge yourselves.
we have to go up there.
Introduce ourselves to the new squire?
- on behalf of the town, of course. - I've met the squire.
- It's research. - Susan, stay away from there.
Ben, you're committed to the truth.
why don't you tell us why you're really here?
You're not writing a book on the Marsten house. Right?
No. No, I'm not.
what do you mean?
- Ben? - The book is a non- fiction look...
...at the roots of domestic evil.
You're writing about us?
- of course he is. - You lied? To everyone?
Haunted houses are not my genre.
So we're evil. we're a small town, small-minded and evil?
- I won't be a character in your stupid book. - Hey, Susan!
You will find evil if you want it, Ben.
Racism, greed, envy.
But we have heroes here too.
- I'm sure. - If you're gonna look at this town...
...look fair and throw away your preconceptions.
I've seen the good, and it far outweighs any bad.
we're wrapping up for the night.
Eva?
You all right?
No, I don't think so.
what is it, Eva?
That house.
It haunts me.
I used to sneak up there with Eva werts and Loretta Starcher.
we were young, bored.
Hubie and Birdie Marsten were alive.
I'm ashamed of the things we did.
You were just a kid.
I used to write letters in French for Marsten, to a man in Marseilles.
Marsten admired this man, said he was beyond good and evil.
Horrifying, sublime.
I'm thinking about the missing boy and his brother, Ed. I feel terrible.
I feel as though the invitations that I wrote...
...are somehow being answered.
- After 50 years? - well, suppose he had a partner or a son?
No, no.
Eva...
...you know how I feel.
I liked your husband. I respected him.
But I love you now.
And these last 10, 15 years of our lives...
...they can be great together.
This loving you from afar was killing me.
Mom?
It's Danny.
I found Ralphie.
Go away. Stop it.
who is this?
I wish you'd told me earlier about the dog, Michael.
I'd have postponed the funeral.
It was dead, Father. It was hanging on the fence.
Yes, but now all this land has got to be reconsecrated.
Technically speaking, we're standing on unhallowed ground.
"Jerk."
It's Dud. Should never have fired him.
where's he been hiding?
when tragedy strikes in a family, there's a safety net.
It's the safety net of community, of which we are all a part.
However, when tragedy reaches out and touches us all...
Sticking to the anemia, Jim?
The family refused an autopsy.
It may have been anemia. I'm not sure.
whatever killed Danny Glick is being buried in that grave.
Ben Mears was in a motorcycle accident three years ago. A girl was killed.
Mears was cleared of all blame.
Kurt Barlow, antique dealer. That's all they found on him.
- That's it? - On him.
Richard Thomas Straker, born in Tampa, Florida.
Expelled from UF in 1966 for selling MDMA.
Charlie Rhodes is clean. The big surprise is the boy's father.
Tony Glick filed for bankruptcy in 1990 and left a lot of people in Nashua on the hook.
Thanks, Nolly.
- Your daughter called from Florida. - Danny!
Congratulations, boss.
- Stop this nonsense. - Aren't you young to be a grandfather?
Ed...
...I wanna pay my respects to Jack.
I feel guilty about last night.
I was upset and did something I shouldn't have.
It's my fault.
I'm sorry, Ed.
- Hi, doctor. - Hi.
- I'll see you later, Matt. - I can't believe it.
- I used to babysit Danny Glick. - Yeah. oh, how's the baby?
Poor little boy has a chest cold.
I don't have the car, and Roy says doctors don't make house calls anymore.
- He says they're on a pedestal. - I didn't say that.
well, I wouldn't say a pedestal, but I guess I could make a house call.
Ruth?
Ruth.
It's freezing in here.
I came home from school.
what's wrong, honey?
Are you sick?
why don't you let me take that necklace off?
No.
I had the strangest dream.
I was married to Dud Rogers.
He took me flying over town, and I saw a big fire.
- I saw you yelling up at me. - Dud Rogers? The cripple?
Sounds more like a nightmare.
You had Dud fired.
- That job was all he had. - The guy is a menace.
can I get you something?
No.
You sure?
- Nothing? - Not that!
can't you see I don't feel good?
Floyd?
You there, Floyd?
come on.
come on, we'll get you inside. It's too cold, too cold.
It's okay, it's okay.
what?
Mike.
- Mikey? - Are you staring at me?
Mikey.
Your eyes are poked out.
Ears are missing.
Stop staring at me.
Damn you.
You will shut those eyes!
Damn you, shut those eyes!
I'm a working mother. I can't drive Mark to school. I need him on that bus.
I understand.
I spoke with charlie Rhodes, and he seems to think...
...Mark knows a lot more about the dead dog than he's saying.
He also thinks that Mark may be selling pot on the bus.
- That's bull. - Is he crazy? My God.
what's the problem between you and charlie?
what, besides the fact I don't have a father to kick his ass?
Maybe I can speak to the principal at Mark's school.
Maybe she can broker a truce.
You know what? Don't bother. The guy's a moo-goo- gai maniac anyway.
what?
You know, like, Vietnam, the...
charlie was there. He shows us pictures on the bus.
He thinks he can, like, impress us or something.
Don't lie about this, Mark.
He keeps them locked in his glove compartment.
Royce!
Royce, no!
You're going to die. Are you ready to die, doctor?
Is my wife a whore? If not, you think you can pump her for free?
- No, no. - No, because she is a whore.
- Royce, baby, please... - Shut up, Sandy. Shut the hell up!
That's a $ 10,000 whore you just rolled off. You understand?
Ten thousand tomorrow, or I pull this trigger.
who'd blame me? who'd feel sorry for a dirty doctor?
okay! okay.
- Shut that thing up! - It's okay, Roy. It's okay.
- Shut that thing up! - what? Royce, no!
- Here you go. - Thank you.
- Hi, guys. what can I get you? - Hey, Susie, take a seat.
I'm pretty busy now, Floyd.
Hi, Mike. How are you?
- well, I'm fine, Susan. Thanks for asking. - So where you been, Susie?
working.
can we talk about this another time? Soon?
- I think we have some things to talk about. - we do.
oh, that was good, Floyd, but I think we can push a bit further.
My point being is, why doesn't anyone here just, I don't know, say the truth?
what's wrong with you?
- He doesn't feel well. - come on, Floyd.
Tell her you're pissed.
She got dumped by the writer...
...and she's crawling back to homeboy.
- Knock it off. - what's he saying?
Floyd, tell her to kiss off, or tell her you love her.
At least say something real.
Look, this... This isn't fair, Susie.
Are you with me or with him?
- Neither. - who is this writer guy anyway?
come on. He's the one you been reading about on her e-mails.
- I said, shut up! - what e-mails?
- Shut up, Mike. Shut up! - Hang on, now. You two are friends.
- what kind of junk are you on, Mike? - Nothing.
I'm just sick. Sick of all that bullshit, anyway.
You upset about the funeral?
I came back after everyone left.
I waited around a long time, and that's when I must've started to get sick.
Everything after that is gone.
what do you mean?
I saw my mother's eyes...
...which is pretty weird, because she's dead.
My mother's eyes watching me drown.
It was a pretty crazy dream.
why do you say it was a dream?
Look at my clothes, Mr. Burke.
- I must have fallen asleep in the dirt. - come on, we'll get out of here.
- You can sleep in my guest room. - I can drive.
Listen to your old teacher. You're either sick or high.
So if you're not better in the morning, I'll drive you to the clinic.
Susan.
could I speak to you for a minute, please?
- I've said all I have to say... - But I haven't.
- Please. - I think we've had enough for one evening.
Mom, I'll be right in.
I'm not gonna stop writing the book, but I can change the name of the town.
I could change the state. The town was only meant to be a metaphor anyway.
- Then why choose Jerusalem's Lot? - Because this is the town I know.
It's a town you think you know...
...and a town that thought it knew you.
He'll be gone in a day, Susan. You'll see.
Now that the truth is out.
Dud?
Hey, Floyd.
- where you been, gimp? - I don't limp anymore, Floyd.
And why not?
Because I'm different.
You were always different, Dud. where you going?
I'm going to see Ruth crockett.
Do yourself a favor. Stay clear.
clear of them all. Bitches ain't worth it.
I need some food, Floyd.
For Ruth.
I don't know what the hell you're talking about, Dud.
If you're pissed with anyone, it should be Larry crockett.
Mike and I always been good to you.
Especially Mike.
Dud?
You seem a lot better now.
Yeah, the fresh air must've sobered me up.
I have a sweatshirt for you, and sweatpants.
That door leads to the bathroom.
Thanks.
That...
...bruise looks painful.
oh, yeah. You should've seen the other guy.
well...
...you should get it taken care of.
- Good night, Mike. - Good night.
Ralphie?
Ralphie, where have you been?
Yes.
Yes, of course you can come home. Please come home, Ralphie.
Mike.
Hello?
Thank you for coming.
I'm surprised you called me.
what you write is the least of my worries.
well, is he alone?
- He is now. - Maybe it's an intruder.
- Did you call the police? - No.
Not yet.
- I want you to see the body first. - The body?
- You said he was acting strange. - He's not moving.
Did you go in there?
I peeked in, briefly.
was he dead?
- I don't know. - Matt.
what the hell is going on here? You didn't kill him, did you?
No. of course not.
Mike?
Mike Ryerson?
You see? Nothing.
Look at his chest. Loot at the bruise.
- There's no bruise. - I saw it. It has to be there.
He might be G'd out on some designer drug.
call an ambulance, the police and a lawyer, if you have one.
Hang on, hang on. Mike buried Danny Glick today.
There was a bruise on his chest. I saw it!
I heard talking in this room. I heard him open the window. I heard laughing.
I should have come in, but I was too scared.
Your intruder would have to be a fireman to climb up.
Ben, I know what I heard.
I wanted to tell you before everyone starts calling me crazy.
okay, let's get this done.
Handsome corpse. You sure he's dead?
Atypical lividity, but he's dead all right.
- Sorry to drag you into this. - Don't be.
- I don't know why you did, though. - If I told you, you'd have me committed.
Maybe we should move down the hall a bit. could be some kind of contagious disease.
Is it similar to what killed Danny Glick? Acute anemia?
we'll leave that for the lab coats, but there's no immediate sign of foul play.
As for that intruder you heard...
- You have a 12-foot ladder in your garage? - No.
You heard Mr. Ryerson's voice and some laughter.
- could it have been his laughter? - It sounded like a child.
You said he slept here because he was acting loopy and started a fight.
- Yeah? - Some people laugh when they're drunk.
They'll run some toxicology tests on his blood.
How did you get involved in this, Mr. Mears?
Matt called me.
close friends?
Literary men.
See, most people find a body, and they call the police. You called a writer.
I should've pulled that trigger. You're finished, Cody.
Banks don't open until nine, Royce.
- Look, I'm with a dead body here, okay... - You're gonna be the dead body.
My wife came to you professionally!
- I'm calling the medical board! - Don't call the board.
Don't call the board.
That's not gonna help anybody. I need time to shift some funds.
I just bought a car.
You'll have your 10 grand by tomorrow.
You okay?
Pupillary contraction. Gets me every time.
- were you waiting for me? - No, sir. Run along, Mark.
Anything unusual? A van parked along side the road?
oh, Ben, I heard about Mike Ryerson. what happened?
- Nobody knows. - Ann Norton called.
She has some things to say about the book.
- I don't have to look for a new room, do I? - No, no. You could write a chapter on me.
Thanks.
Ed, where were you all night?
Blowing off steam. Hope I worried you sick.
I've been thinking about us, Ed.
Is that right? what have you been thinking, Miss Prunier?
weasel, got some beer, if you give me a hand.
Breakfast of champions.
Parkins, I want my phone call!
Let me out of here!
- Let me out of here! - Shut up!
Do you think these bars will hold me, Mears? I'll see you tonight!
Yeah, I'm really scared! why don't you bring your rubber gloves?!
No wonder she broke up with you!
If that's what you wear to a fight, what do you wear to bed?!
who do you think was in the room with him?
I have my suspicions.
I'm holding back, lest peop...
call me crazy. There's someone upstairs.
You're sure?
I know my house. There's someone up there.
You hear?
call the police.
- Matt. - Not yet.
Start talking. About anything.
well, you won't get any argument from me. I completely agree.
You hope he gets run out of town?
You're totally right. He can't be trusted.
He did deceive you. He deceived all of us.
- and then they just turn out to be someone completely different.
Mr. Burke.
Mike.
- what happened to you? - Look at me.
Mr. Burke. Look at me.
- I know why you invited me here. - Go away, Mike.
- I can feel the way you look at me. - I revoke your invitation to this house.
Mike, in the name of God Almighty...
...leave.
wouldn't it be a relief to touch me, just once?
Then I can touch you.
- Look at me. - You're dead, Mike!
- what happened to me? - You died, Mike. You died.
You died yesterday.
You're a monster, a nightmare...
No. No, that can't be.
Go away, Mike. Go away.
No!
Matt?
Matt!
No, no! No!
- Lights out. - Let me out of here! Let me out of here!
- what am I being charged with? - Drunk and disorderly.
Mears.
oh, Mears.
- You wanna finish this, Mears? - Go to sleep...
...before I charge you with assault. - You're a coward, Mears.
You'll never be a Bloody Pirate.
what did you say?
You'll never be a Bloody Pirate.
Marjorie...
Ralph!
Mark.
open the window.
come on, Mark. open the window.