“Chapelwaite”: a creepy gothic horror miniseries based on the work of Stephen King
Stephen King he is the undisputed master of horror in literature. And for more than forty years now, his works have shone in film and television adaptations. Chapelwaite it is one less known than its great classics, but it is connected with one of them.
Chapelwaite is a prequel to the hour of the vampire (Salem’s Lot1979), a two-episode miniseries based on King’s novel, starring David Soul Y James Mason. Although at that time a television production had less prestige than a feature film, this adaptation was all the rage at the time.
It is, as its year indicates, one of the writer’s first stories adapted to the screen, just before the wave of film versions in the 1980s. If this miniseries managed to put Stephen King in the great universe of vampires but in a modern version, Chapelwaite takes up the gothic universe to which these creatures of the night belong.
The story is set in 1850 in Preacher’s Corners, Maine, and its protagonist is Charles Boone (Adrian BrodyOscar winner for The pianist), a ship captain who, after his wife died at sea, goes with his children to settle in a house that belongs to his ancestors. But there is a tragic history in that place full of violence and everyone in the town thinks that its inhabitants were cursed, so the arrival of Charles Boone and his family is received as a bad sign, as the return of evil itself.
The ten-episode miniseries premiered in hbo max it is a perfect example of gothic horror and has all the necessary ingredients of the genre. A house with creaking boards, a gruesome crime, paintings of sinister relatives on the walls, a terrified town that is carried away by intolerance, a protagonist who must fight his own demons while protecting his family. The lighting, the soundtrack, and some moments of real terror make it a welcome 19th century horror story.
Those who have seen the 1979 miniseries will already know where the series is going with the passing of the episodes, for others it will be a path to discover. There were other versions of the same book but none like the first. This prequel is up to the task, although with a much higher budget, typical of current productions. One more series in the long list of good Stephen King adaptations.
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