Season 2 of Hulu horror anthology series Castle Rock will expand the scope of its Stephen King source material to include Jerusalem’s Lot, the setting of vampire novel ‘Salem’s Lot. The upcoming season will begin a new story, starring Tim Robbins, Garret Hedlund, and Elsie Fisher, with Lizzy Caplan playing infamous fangirl Annie Wilkes from King’s novel Misery.
Castle Rock isn’t based on any one King novel in particular, but is instead an original work based around the idea that there is something fundamentally wrong with the titular town (which has featured in several of King’s works), and that’s why so many unsettling and evil things happen there. In season 1, a skeletal man (played by Bill Skarsgård) was found living in a cage in a dilapidated wing of a prison, and criminal attorney Henry Deaver (André Holland) was called home to Castle Rock to represent the young man - and figure out where exactly he came from.
According to the Greenfield Recorder (via ComicBook), Castle Rock season 2 has now begun filming in the town of Orange, Massachusetts, and the nearby town of Gardner will serve as the set for Jerusalem’s Lot. Hulu spokeswoman Yasamin Azarakhsh said that season 2 will involve a conflict between the two towns - something that sounds typical of King’s works, which often feature small-town pettiness escalating into horror and violence. According to Azarakhsh, season 2 sees Annie Wilkes getting “waylaid” in Castle Rock, which leads to animosity between the two towns boiling over.
‘Salem’s Lot was the second of King’s novels to be published (Carrie being the first), and like the first season of Castle Rock it follows a man returning to the town he grew up in and uncovering dark goings-in - specifically, residents of the town being turned into vampires. That’s not to say that we should expect vampires to be a major feature of Castle Rock season 2; while anything’s possible, it doesn’t sound like that’s the direction the story is heading.
Tim Robbins - who played the lead role of Andy Dufresne in another King adaptation, The Shawshank Redemption - will play junk shop owner Reginald “Pop” Merrill, and Hedlund will play his nephew, John “Ace” Merrill (both are characters from King’s works, with Pop appearing in the short story “The Sun Dog” and Ace appearing in the novel Needful Things). The main conflict of the show will be between the Merrill clan in Castle Rock, and the Somali community in Jerusalem’s Lot. Meanwhile, Elsie Fisher will play Annie Wilkes’ daughter, Joy, who has concerns about her mother’s sanity.
Castle Rock season 1 was a fascinating slice of slow-burn horror that was full of interesting connections and Easter eggs for King fans. With a rich new cast of characters, season 2 will hopefully prove to be a worthy follow-up.
More: Castle Rock Finale Review
Source: Greenfield Recorder (via ComicBook)
