Chapter 1 Summary

In 1975, a vampire comes to the small town of Jerusalem's Lot, Maine. He converts some of the people to vampires, and they transform others into vampires, until almost the whole town is undead. Two people eventually kill the head vampire and they flee, leaving a town full of vampires behind.

A tall man and a boy are taking a road trip across the country. The man is a writer, and he sends an outline of a book to his agent, who expresses interest in the book, but he will not give the tall man an advance to write the book. The tall man decides to write the book, anyway. Though the boy is polite, both the man and the boy are sullen, and they seem to be traveling away from something they fear. The man buys newspapers from Portland, Maine, and reads them...