In 'Salem’s Lot, the writer who returns to town is Ben Mears.
Ben Mears is the protagonist of Stephen King’s 1975 horror novel. He returns to Jerusalem’s Lot, Maine—usually shortened by locals to ‘Salem’s Lot—after having lived there as a child. He plans to write about the Marsten House, a place associated with a disturbing childhood memory, but finds that the town is being overtaken by vampires.
Ben’s profession matters because the novel is partly about confronting the past through storytelling. He is not simply visiting a random setting: the town and its history are tied to his own memories, fears, and attempt to understand what happened at the Marsten House. His return also gives readers an outsider’s perspective on the town’s increasingly strange events.
Several other names in the question are important characters, which can cause mix-ups. Matt Burke is a local teacher, Father Callahan is a priest, and Mark Petrie is a young ally. None is the returning writer; that role belongs to Ben Mears.