Long before "True Blood" or "Twilight" brought vampires to small-town America, horror writer Stephen King imagined the creatures invading his backyard in rural Maine (technically, a fictional place called Jerusalem's Lot).

Based on King's 1975 book of the same name — his sophomore novel after 1974's 'Carrie' — 'Salem's Lot' is streaming Thursday, Oct. 3, on Max

The vampire movie, which starts streaming Thursday on Max, was shot on location in Ipswich and several towns in Worcester County.

Generations are still traumatized by King’s book and its 1979 TV adaptation. Now, a new movie is here to traumatize you, should you dare press play.

Stephen King has shared his enthusiasm about the upcoming Salem's Lot adaptation in the best way possible. "My and my friend the Count await the premiere of the latest 'SALEM'S LOT, October 3, HBO Max ," he wrote on Twitter, along with a photo of him with a framed poster of the movie, holding a Dracula figure – perfect for a vampire movie.

Despite Stephen King’s prodigious output of fiction and the 50-odd movie adaptations of his work, he remains a tough nut to translate. The argument could be made that the only filmmakers to capture the delicious dread lying under the skin of the creepier King story have been Brian De Palma (“Carrie”) and Stanley Kubrick (“The Shining”),

Exclusive: Salem’s Lot stars Lewis Pullman, Alfre Woodward, and Makenzie Leigh explain how they honored author Stephen King in the new adaptation despite storyline changes

Dauberman assembled a killer cast for Salem’s Lot, including Pilou Asbæk, Bill Camp, Alfre Woodard, and Lewis Pullman (soon to be seen in Marvel’s Thunderbolts*), but the hard work of slimming down one of King’s lengthier books was still a challenge.