Father Callahan
Gender	Male
Occupation	Priest Priest A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
Allies
Enemies	Vampires
First appearance	'Salem's Lot
Created by	Stephen King Stephen King Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...

Father Donald Frank Callahan is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 created by Stephen King

Stephen King

Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...

. He originally appeared in 'Salem's Lot and later the Dark Tower, appearing in The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla, The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and finally The Dark Tower. He is at first an alcoholic with a troubled faith, but seems to find his peace in the Dark Tower books, and his faith is restored.

Salem's Lot

Father Callahan is the local Roman Catholic priest of the small Maine town of Jerusalem's Lot

Jerusalem's Lot (Stephen King)

Jerusalem's Lot is a fictional town in the works of horror fiction writer Stephen King...

. Callahan presides over the funeral of Danny Glick, a young boy who was, unbeknownst to the townfolk, killed by a vampire

Vampire (Stephen King)

Vampires appear throughout Stephen King's fictional multiverse. They appear in the novels Salem's Lot, Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower; the short stories "One for the Road", "The Night Flier", "Popsy", and "The Little Sisters of Eluria"; and are mentioned in a number of...

. Life goes on as normal, until more and more of the populace disappear and are turned to vampires. Ben Mears, a local writer, discovers the epidemic that has been propagating during the nighttime. Joined by his girlfriend Susan Norton, local teacher Matt Burke, doctor Jimmy Cody, and the young Mark Petrie, he convinces Callahan of the vampire presence and enlists him to help.

Unfortunately, while making an attempt to slay the "King" vampire, Kurt Barlow

Kurt Barlow

Kurt Barlow is a fictional character in Stephen King's 1975 horror novel, Salem's Lot. The character is a master vampire, who terrorizes the small Maine town of Jerusalem's Lot...

, Susan is captured and bitten. Callahan leads a daytime assault to Barlow's manor, which the vampire had vacated in anticipation of their attack. However, the group uses the opportunity to slay the vampiric Susan as well as to purify the house against future vampire occupation.

His faith falters in Barlow's presence. After saving Mark Petrie from the vampire, his faith fails and he is dependent on his crucifix

Crucifix

A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....

 which soon loses its powers. Barlow tears open his own throat and forces the priest to drink his blood, taunting him by calling him 'shaman' and ultimately damning him.

Defeated, Callahan returns to his church, but burns his hand on the door and is refused entrance. Callahan leaves the town on a bus, bemoaning how "unclean" he has become.

Wolves of the Calla

Wolves of the Calla

Wolves of the Calla is the fifth book in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. This book continues the story of Roland Deschain, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, Jake Chambers, and Oy as they make their way toward the Dark Tower...

After fleeing 'Salem's Lot, Callahan arrives in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, and becomes a vagrant. Now able to sense vampires, he realizes that they live and hunt all around him. His alcoholism gets worse but after he starts working at a homeless shelter, he begins to recover. He befriends several people, such as Rowan Magruder and Lupe Delgado. Callahan later develops a deep fondness for Lupe and later admits to having fallen in love with him. He wonders if this means he is gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

, but despite a brief kiss on the cheek, nothing physical occurs between them.

Callahan learns that there are three types of vampires. The Type Ones are the most powerful ones and are almost immortal

Immortality

Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...

. They can spread vampirism to others and create Type Two vampires. Kurt Barlow was a Type One. Type Twos are more common and can create other Type Twos or Type Threes. Lastly, the Type Threes cannot spread vampirism but can spread diseases that travel by blood

Blood-borne disease

A blood-borne disease is one that can be spread through contamination by blood.The most common examples are HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and viral hemorrhagic fevers....

, such as HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

. Callahan refers to them as 'mosquitoes'. After Lupe is infected by a Type Three vampire and dies from AIDS, Callahan begins to kill vampires (mostly Type Threes). This attracts the attention of the Crimson King

Crimson King

The Crimson King, also commonly known as Los', is a fictional character created by Stephen King. He is the antagonist in the novel Insomnia the main villain due to a plot twist in Black House and one of the main villains in the latter half of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.-Fictional...

 and his soldiers, the Low Men or "can-toi

Can-toi

The Can-Toi are fictional creatures from Stephen King's Dark Tower series and related works. They are unofficially but more commonly known as low men, as in Low Men in Yellow Coats due to their often garish yellow clothing...

". The Hitler Brothers, two hoodlums who murder Jews, black people and homosexuals and carve swastika

Swastika

The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...

s on their victim's foreheads, are hired to find Callahan. They torture Rowan Magruder, who later dies of his wounds, in hopes of finding him.

They later find and attack Callahan, and carve a cross

Cross

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...

 on his forehead, intending it to become a swastika. But before they can finish the swastika, Callahan is rescued by Calvin Tower and Aaron Deepneau, two men who figure prominently later in Roland's quest. The Hitler Brothers flee, and are later killed by the Low Men. Callahan is later lured into a building by Richard Sayre, a Low Man, and several vampires. Rather than being infected, he jumps out a window committing suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

.

After his death, he wakes up in the Way Station, where he encounters Walter o'Dim who gives him Black Thirteen, one of the "Bends" in the Wizard's Rainbow

Wizard's Rainbow

The Wizard's Rainbow , are a group of magical objects that play an important role in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. It is made up of 13 talismans , twelve representing the Twelve Guardians of the Beams, the last representing the Dark Tower...

. Walter apparently does so in the hopes that it will kill Roland Deschain

Roland Deschain

Roland Deschain of Gilead is a fictional character, the protagonist and antihero of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. He is the son of Steven and Gabrielle Deschain and is descended from a long line of "gunslingers", peacekeepers and diplomats of Roland's society...

 later in his journey. It transports him to the Doorway Cave outside Calla Bryn Sturgis

Calla Bryn Sturgis

Calla Bryn Sturgis is the fictional locale of the first major battle that Roland Deschain's ka-tet faces on their journey to the Dark Tower, in Stephen King's epic series...

, where he leads a new life and over the next five years attempts to teach the locals his religion.

Roughly every twenty-three years, the Callas are raided by Wolves, which turn out to be robotic soldiers serving the Crimson King. These Wolves steal half of the Calla's children, who return a few months later "roont". "Roont" (ruined) children are sterile, mentally handicapped, grow to be larger and stronger than other children, and die painfully at a younger age. When Roland and his ka-tet arrive, Callahan seeks their help to defeat the Wolves. During their stay, he shares with them his story since the events of 'Salem's Lot. The Wolves are defeated with the help of the ka-tet, but Susannah becomes possessed by the demon succubus known as Mia and escapes via the Doorway Cave. There, Callahan discovers a copy of the novel 'Salem's Lot, in which he is a major character, causing him to question his reality.

Song of Susannah

Song of Susannah

Song of Susannah is the sixth novel in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2005.-Plot summary:...

Immediately after the events of the previous book, the ka-tet regroups in Callahan's house, where they lay down their plans of action; Roland and Eddie would follow Susannah to New York while Jake and Callahan would be sent to Maine, in order to visit Calvin Tower (the man who saved Callahan from the Hitler Brothers) as well as Stephen King, in order to ensure that the remaining books are written. While there, Callahan planned on questioning King about his existence, but something goes wrong when the door is opened. The group is uncontrollably sucked through and separated, with Roland and Eddie ending up in Maine and Jake, Callahan, and Oy landing in New York City in the year 1999.

The trio lands violently in the middle of a busy street, and Oy is very nearly run down by a speeding cab. Preventing a potentially deadly response from an angry Jake, Callahan beats down the aggressive driver and bribes him (before Jake had the opportunity to shoot him), and they remove themselves from the scene.

Thanks to Jake's psychic connection with Susannah, they find the hotel where Susannah/Mia left Black Thirteen. They attempt to remove it safely, but it awakens and forces them both to their knees, urging them to murder each other. They nearly succumb to the suicidal whisperings, but Callahan uses his restored faith to silence the orb, putting it back into its slumber and saving their lives.

In search of a safe storage place, he and Jake move Black Thirteen to a long-term storage locker underneath the World Trade Center

World Trade Center

The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...

, with the hope that either it will stay dormant or Roland will at some point come to destroy it. (Rather aptly, they comment on how a building falling on it might destroy it

September 11, 2001 attacks

The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

, foreshadowing that the future terrorist attack will be the end of the crystal ball.

They go to the Dixie Pig, the restaurant stronghold of the Low Men and vampires where Susannah is being held, where they prepare to ambush the unknown forces within.

The Dark Tower

Jake and Callahan burst into the Dixie Pig, where they are greeted by a preponderance of Low Men and lesser vampires, as well as a gathering of "Type One" vampires (of which there are only a small number in existence).

Seeing the overwhelming odds against them, Callahan sends Jake on ahead to rescue Susannah while he draws their attention. After dispatching several Low Men and Type Ones, he is goaded to toss away both his cross and the sigul of the turtle (the magical ornament that incapacitates the Low Men). At this point Callahan realizes what he did not understand while facing Barlow in 'Salem's Lot; the power of his faith transcends such objects.

Eventually, once Jake reached relative safety, he was overwhelmed and swarmed by the vampires. Before the beasts can assault him, he once again escapes their clutches by shooting himself under the chin. Before taking his own life, he converses briefly with Roland, who bears witness to the scene across time and space. His final words to Roland and in life were a benediction to the Gunslinger: "May you find your Tower, Roland, and breach it, ...and may you climb to the top!"

Jake in particular was disturbed by his death, and the ka-tet mourned the loss of their friend and compatriot. When Roland finally made it to the Dark Tower, Callahan's is one of the names shouted by Roland as he walks through the field of roses, showing Roland's respect and love for the redeemed Priest.

Deleted Scene

The original draft of "Salem's Lot" originally depicted a different fate for Callahan. Rather than forced to drink Barlow's blood and leaving town damned, he marks the vampire with a knife before committing suicide. Furious, the vampire desecrates the priest's body, decapitating it and hanging it upside down. This scene was changed by King before he originally published the story, though it was included in a section of deleted scenes featured in the deluxe limited edition released by Centipede Press in 2005 and the later trade edition.

1979 Miniseries

In the "1979 Salems Lot

Salem's Lot (1979 TV mini-series)

Salem's Lot is a 1979 American television adaptation of the novel of the same name by Stephen King...

" miniseries, Father Callahan is featured only as a minor character. He is played by James Gallery. Callahan is first briefly seen officiating at the funeral of Danny Glick. Later, Ben Mears and Susan Norton have a brief interview with him where they try to convince him to join them against the evil in the town. Callahan is skeptical and makes a brief comment on how the Church's view of evil has changed. Soon afterwards, Callahan is at the Petrie house to talk to Mark and his parents about Mark's nocturnal experiences. Abruptly, with a surge of electricity and a tremor, the vampire Barlow enters, kills the Petrie parents, seizes Mark and challenges Callahan. The exchange, although shortened, is much the same as in the original novel, only with Straker, now also present, interpreting for the more monstrous and less articulate Barlow. Barlow lets Mark go in order to confront Callahan, who falteringly hold on to his crucifix while facing the vampire. Barlow plucks the Crucifix from the priest's hand, and Callahan is not seen again, presumably killed.

1995 radio drama

In the (1995) BBC radio-dramatization

Salem's Lot (radio drama)

This article is about a 1995 BBC radio-dramatization of Stephen King's horror novel 'Salem's Lot. For the 1979 TV mini-series adaptation, see Salem's Lot . For the 2004 TV mini-series adaptation, see 'Salem's Lot ....

of the 'Salem's Lot novel, Callahan was voiced and played by Nigel Anthony

Nigel Anthony

Nigel Anthony, is a British theatre and television actor, who has also worked notably in radio with many broadcasts to his credit He is married to the actress Kate Binchy and is also an accomplished drummer with a wide knowledge of jazz.His theatre work includes The Taming of the Shrew, Happy...

.

2004 Miniseries

In the 2004 Salem's Lot miniseries, Father Callahan was portrayed by James Cromwell

James Cromwell

James Oliver Cromwell is an American film and television actor. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe , for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Star Trek: First Contact , L.A...

. The beginning of the film shows an event taking place after most of the story; Ben Mears enters a homeless shelter and sees Callahan giving out food.

Mears confronts Callahan and chases him up some stairs where they struggle. Mears pushes Callahan out a window; the two of them land on a police car. The rest of the film is told in flashback as Ben explains to a hospital orderly why he attacked Callahan.

Callahan is generally portrayed as in the novel (although there is a scene with him browsing what could be a Satanic porn site), but after Barlow forces him to drink his blood, Callahan does not leave town in shame. Instead, he takes Straker's place as Barlow's slave. Callahan later visits Matt Burke in the hospital and impales him with his cane.

As Ben Mears tells his story to the orderly, Callahan is suffocated with a pillow by Mark Petrie in the hospital.

These events contradict the last three Dark Tower books, which feature the return and redemption

Redemption (theology)

Redemption is a concept common to several theologies. It is generally associated with the efforts of people within a faith to overcome their shortcomings and achieve the moral positions exemplified in their faith.- In Buddhism :...

of Callahan.