by JENN ADAMS

The shadow of the vampire looms large in the world of horror. Tales of these night-dwelling entities date back to earliest folklore and are foundational to the genre itself. While many different takes on vampire mythology permeate the culture, Epix’s new limited series CHAPELWAITE takes the creatures back to their roots, confidently telling an old story with a terrifying new edge. Set in 1850s New England, Captain Charles Boone (Adrien Brody) moves to his ancestral home, Chapelwaite, and quickly runs afoul of a vampiric cult with apocalyptic intentions. Though the bones of the story itself are ancient, showrunners Jason  and Peter Filardi embrace the gorier details of the folklore as well as the time period’s candlelit atmosphere to create a captivating story rich with gothic American imagery.

Chapelwaite is an adaptation of “Jerusalem’s Lot,” one of King’s earliest short stories and the prequel to his second novel Salem’s Lot, itself now a cornerstone of American vampire lore. It’s the leadoff entry in his first collection Night Shift, also containing the source material for genre classics like Children of the Corn, The Mangler, and Sometimes They Come Back. Not nearly as well known as the novel it foreshadows, “Jerusalem’s Lot” is a bit of an outlier in King’s canon with an epistolary format that harkens back to Bram Stoker’s Dracula in much the same way King revisits Stoker’s vampiric themes in Salem’s Lot. 

The Filardi brothers take seeds of a story only hinted at in King’s original text and flesh them out, creating a world that lives and breathes on the screen. Preacher’s Corners feels like a fully realized village: a 19th century version of Peyton Place, the scandalous fictional town that also served as King’s inspiration. Though no direct connection is made to Salem’s Lot, seeds of the story weave seamlessly through this adaptation without ever feeling like fan-service additions. A minister quietly grows disillusioned with his faith. Parents long for lost children. And a small group of vampire hunters band together to combat an ancient evil. Constant readers will enjoy the nods to King’s larger world while newcomers will have no problem immersing themselves in the lore. 

Adrian Brody gives a haunted and heartbreaking performance as a father trying to protect his children from generational trauma and an inherited curse. The veteran actor sets a contemplative tone that enhances the show’s moonlit setting. Emily Hampshire is Rebecca, a headstrong journalist who takes a job as governess of the infamous estate while secretly writing a tell-all story for a prestigious magazine. A welcome addition, Rebecca’s presence adds depth and longevity to the series, allowing it to progress long past King’s original conclusion. Also new is the addition of Boone’s three children, Honor (Jennifer Ens), Loa (Sirena Gulamgaus), and Tane (Ian Ho). Gulamgaus in particular shines as middle child Loa, mourning the death of her mother while struggling with racial and ableist discrimination and tempted by the promise of a pain-free eternal life.

Characterizations of vampires themselves are as varied as their mythology. Through the years they have been heroes, grifters, romantics, and revolutionaries, but the vampires of Chapelwaite have more in common with those of the EC Comics of King’s childhood. They are ruthless, bloodthirsty, and violent – spraying blood as they feed and viewing humans as cattle for the slaughter. Though these vampires play mostly by Stoker’s mythological rules, King’s story also weaves in elements from Stoker’s lesser known novel, The Lair of the White Worm as well as  H.P. Lovecraft’s The Rats in the Walls. The sinister sounds of these nefarious vermin and recurrent images of worms festering in dark corners foreshadow a malevolent force that’s been haunting the Boone family for generations.

Though Chapelpwaite is set in the 1850s, in many ways it feels like a story of the moment. Traditional vampire lore carries an inherent connection to Christianity with religious faith often seen as its most powerful foe. But Chapelwaite’s characters wrestle with the strength of their convictions as long held beliefs clash against the undeniable reality of the undead. The Filardi brothers play with pious hypocrisy, cruelty, and racism, presenting characters that are frighteningly familiar today. By allowing the residents of Preacher’s Corners to fully interrogate their own ideology, Chapelwaite spins a narrative web that raises the emotional stakes of the story through relatable and often frustrating characters.

Tales of the vampire have seen many different interpretations through the years with each variation serving as a sort of timestamp reflective of its era’s values and trends. But despite the subgenre’s proliferation, classic vampire stories are relatively rare. It takes a bold confidence to tell a tale so singular without adding an updated spin, but that’s just what Epix’s new limited series does. Chapelwaite is a straightforward and heart-wrenching tale of classic vampire mythology with real bite.  

CHAPELWAITE premieres on Epix August 22nd, 2021.