A Deadly Week in Salem: Hostages, Secrets, and a Villain’s Return Shake the Town

This is the week Salem loses control. The latest Days of Our Lives preview for December 8–12 unleashes a wave of kidnappings, betrayals, and dark revelations that leave no character safe.

Hostages multiply, old villains return, and one terrifying truth becomes unmistakable: someone is targeting the DiMera family with surgical precision.

The chaos begins quietly, with EJ DiMera and the mysterious Cat Green sharing a charged, intimate moment. It looks like temptation—but feels like danger.

The spell breaks when Susan Banks walks in and instantly senses something is wrong. Her intuition rarely fails her, and Cat’s presence sends every alarm in her body ringing. But the real threat isn’t Cat…it’s the shadow lurking beneath the mansion.

While wandering the DiMera home, Susan hears a metallic echo from the tunnels. Out of the darkness steps Dr. Wilhelm Rolf — alive, unbothered, and clearly up to something.

Rolf never appears without purpose, and the fact that he allows Susan to see him means his return is intentional. Whatever he’s building beneath the house is already in motion.

Across Salem, tragedy strikes the Carver household. Abe receives a frantic call about Theo — cut off mid-sentence — and instantly knows something terrible has happened.

His fear becomes reality when Theo wakes up in the DiMera crypt, surrounded by Kristen, Tony, and Chad…all abducted, exhausted, and terrified. They have no idea who took them. They only know the kidnapper is methodical and far from finished.

Then the most chilling image of the week hits: EJ DiMera, unconscious and hooded, dumped into the crypt beside the others. This isn’t random violence. It’s a coordinated attack on the DiMera bloodline — one hostage at a time.

Meanwhile, a separate storm brews as Jeremy Horton erupts in anger when Maggie gently confronts his recent behavior. His cold fury makes him look suspicious, but his meltdown may be a deliberate red herring. Because another name emerges from the shadows — one longtime viewers will never forget.

Owen Kent.

The deranged stalker from Stephanie Johnson’s past is reportedly returning, and the clues fit too perfectly: the threatening letters, the watching from afar, the attacks on her loved ones. Steve Johnson senses it immediately — the pattern, the obsession, the danger resurfacing after years of silence.

By week’s end, the board is set for one of Salem’s darkest arcs in years.

• The DiMera crypt is overflowing with captives.

• Rolf is back in the tunnels, likely working for someone far more dangerous.

• Abe and Paulina spiral as Theo disappears into another nightmare.

• Jeremy’s rage misleads the town.

• And Owen Kent prepares to reclaim the woman he once terrorized.

This isn’t the conclusion — it’s only the first move. Salem has no idea what storm is about to break loose.