Stephen King

When a little boy's pet dies, and he persuades his parents to bury it in an old Indian cemetary, reputed by legend to house restless spirits, a nightmare of death and destruction begins as deceased animals come back to life, in a new edition of the best-selling novel, featuring an introduction by the author. Reprint. 30,000 first printing.

Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary. Movie Tie-In

Alexandra Michlikova

Eileen fall from swing and hit a rock whit her knee, Louis and take the first aid kit, she started scream louder 'No! Not the stingy stuff! I don't want the stingy stuff, Daddy! No—' 'Eileen, it's just mecurichrome and it doesn't sting—''Be a big girl' Rachel said. 'It's just—' ' No-no-no-no-no—' 'You want to stop that or your ass will sting' Louis said. ' She's tired Lou,' Rachel said quietly. 'Yeah I know the felling. Hold her leg out.' then the gege started screaming Rachel give gege to Louis, he saw a bee his daughter started shouting bee she tripp over the rock before a sat down hard and began to cry again in pain, surprise, and fear. I'm going crazy, Louis thought wonderingly.

When a little boy's pet dies, and he persuades his parents to bury it in an old Indian cemetary, reputed by legend to house restless spirits, a nightmare of death and destruction begins

Colton Ray

I'm on a Stephen King kick now, and I plan to read at least one of his books per month for the rest of the year. This was my September read.

I was not expecting this to be such a dark, emotional read. The titular Pet Sematary is one of the coolest, creepiest settings King has imagined up, and it makes for a lot of weird, mystical moments. The characters are very well-drawn, so when bad things start happening to them, you really feel like you're watching a trainwreck in slow motion. Characterization has always been his strong suit, and this is no exception. I think this is also some of his best writing that I've read yet. It's a pretty brutal read, but compelling. In fact, I think I'd say this is probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite of his that I've read.

Ashley hartkorn 

I’m so conflicted 3/4 of the book I was wrapped up in every detail really wanting to know what was going on. The last 1/4 kind of lost me. I’d still suggest it to others, and I’m glad I challenged myself to get outside of my typical authors… but I’m left wishing the last 1/4 was as descriptive as the first 3/4. I listened to Steven kings explanation of the book and that he had to give the publishing company a book before he left them and this one was in a drawer. I feel like I can tell that he started writing it wi to passion and most likely didn’t have an ending until he needed to give it to the publisher because the end to me is just blawh.

Daniel Spruill

another King classic that took over my life. King is masterful at character and the small moments in this novel are really what it’s about. It is so, so much more than a dead cat and murderous child.

a Shakespearean tragedy masked as a horror novel. It’s a bummer that— like most of the adaptions of his work— it hasn’t been adapted to the level it deserves. The sequence on Christmas Eve is so damn gorgeous and patient. I dunno, give me a seven episode adaption of this that actually dives into the grief and supernatural aspects of this book that it hinges on. There’s so much to be said for this one, but, just read it.

”Darling,” it said.

A Novel

chloe rae

*3.5

Reading this was a JOURNEY.
I started out strong; I was interested, enjoyed the set up and characters. But then I got bored and from that point just started falling in and out of the story. I feel like nothing really exciting happened until the last 100 pages which were GREAT. This book was just so long winded, which I've heard is a theme with Kings works. It should not have taken me a month to read this. I was definitely busy, but not THAT busy.
This was my first Stephen King that I've finished and I'm glad to have read it! I'm excited to pick up The Shining and Misery in the future, but I definitely need a break from his work. I also didn't find this all that scary? It was eerie and nice reading for the month of October, but I was definitely not blown away like I wanted to be. Intrigued to see what I think of his other novels. I just really hope I get scared!

Heather

Liam Ellul

This was recommended to me years ago by a friend.

It’s the first King book I’ve read from his works of horror. 

I usually never read horror. I think this might be the only horror book I can remember reading. 

It was fantastic, really made me cringe and it developed at a pace that was foreboding and bleak. 

I much more respect the craft of producing stories like this and how immersive they are when you’re in it.

chloe

woahluv

there was so much set up for like 20 pages of nothing to happen lol... meh af. felt like he had such a great start and then the publishing company demanded an ending by tomorrow and he wrote out the first thing he could think of to end it quickly. if u want to read stephen king, dont start here like so many say. start with somethng like carrie

Pet Sematary (Signet Books)

Really enjoyed it! Very familiar with the story but as everyone says, the book is way better than the movie. 

John Vetter

Sebastian Bejarano

Perfect. The way Louis get's crazy it's just incredible. Every time you read his thoughts, you feel his agony and sadness. Best of King.

Elizabeth Nolan

Wynter

Kind of a cross between The Monkey's Paw and Poltergeist, and super creepy. Zombies that are actually scary. The sacred Indian burial ground plot that still feels fresh. There is a lot going on that's worthy of praise and admiration. King is just that... a king of his craft. Wouldn't expect any less of him.

Michael Springer

This is the creepiest Stephen King book I've read. OOooooh....very creepy.

Brittany Levely-Connolly

Have you ever read a book where the words begin to form images in your head and they scares you so badly you throw it across the room? Well this is the book that did it for me. As a avid horror fan, I would like to be able to say that many books have scared me in this way. In reality this is the only one in which I was scared well reading. It didn't just haunt me in the dark with my eyes closed, I became terrified of waking up to my cat sleeping on my chest. Pet Semetary is a horror novel about just how far we will go to keep our loved ones in our lives and the horror that occur when the boundaries between living and dead are crossed in order to selfishly keep those we love well beyond their time. Beware the Pet Seminary may bring you loved ones back physically, but are they really your loved ones.

Joey Baker

Yeah, bretty gud. 

Not much here that the movie was missing, other than the Wendigo and the severity of Gage's mutilation. Also you get more of an explanation as to why they continue to go to the burial ground, despite knowing better. The Wendigo helps explain away the overpowering desire to try burying there. 

I really appreciated that, at least at the beginning, there's a theme of the cruel inevitability of death and passage of time. Something I struggle with more and more every day. 

And can I just point out how fucking good that original movie is? Watch it now, and it still holds up so well. When reading the book, I wasn't even fighting my minds placement of Fred Gwynne as Jud. Matter of fact the whole casting of that movie is what played in my imagination during the book. Rachel seemed to drift between the original movie, and just a generic brunette (remake rachel). Even Louis, despite making more of an effort to imagine someone else, was that curly-haired actor. Maybe Ellie I pictured as more of the remake casting. 
But Goddamn that movie rules. Think I'll try to find our VHS copy of it. 
Thinking of the good heart of Judson Crandall all over made me tear up at the beginning. I love that character and love Fred Gwynne as that character. 

Still, despite there already being a pointless remake, I would like to see a movie version that fully includes the Wendigo and the effects of a 2 year old with a splintered, nearly decapitated head.

Prashanth Srivatsa

Bone-chilling, if you read it slowly and carefully, absorbing King's mastery over simple words. The story, as with most horror, deals with a family that has moved in to a new home and discovers a mysterious cemetery in the woods behind. What follows is a downward spiral into despair and darkness, where King's ability to entrance you in the plot's eeriness makes you condone the absolute stupidity of his characters. A grotesque, unforgiving ghost ride.

Beatriz Aguiar

4.5
it starts off slow and it feels aimless (?) but then the cat happens and you start getting an idea but you still have no clue. basically this book grips you and folds you into the story in a crescendo.
it felt real, it was creepy and it was heartbreaking.
Stephen King calls this his scariest novel and I understand why.
the lunacy really shows through and even you start to feel the grief and your mind slipping away and wandering and reaching weird places. 
the stumbling, the falling, the weird ramblings, it all added to a scary creepy atmosphere that had you gripped particularly in the last 200 pages. 
(wish i hadn't read the last part at night but i couldn't stop)

 (view spoiler)[ i loved Louis and Jud and Ellie and Gage and i only realised that when it was too late - was that purposeful from King or a coincidence? was it an effort from King to discuss how you often realise you loved people more than you thought when they're gone?  (hide spoiler)]

Rebecca Shaffer

I wasn’t sure if I’d like this one, but thought I’d give it a try after 2 King-head friends & countless rankings of King’s novels list it toward the top. While I loved the Shining more, I think Pet Semetary may be the scariest book I’ve ever read. 
It’s definitely a bit dated in terms of how the men relate to the women in their lives, and the women are pretty flat characters. That being said, the development of the male characters made the Semetary feel so real, and I cared so much about Louis & his family. May have had trouble sleeping a few nights, fair warning!

lily

my second King book ever, after what became my favorite of all time; It. i thought it would be hard to go from such a legendary story that i adored with every piece of me, to this more obscure book that i hadn’t heard much of, but i adored every bit of it, despite its dramatic decrease in length. 

the book is only about 300-400 pages, so i got through it pretty quickly, as with all King books i’ve read so far, i couldn’t put the book down. i actually read Pet Sematary at the same time as my first reread and annotation of It, and i found myself almost just as eager to read the former as the latter. 

King’s writing, as per usual, is haunting, and Pet Sematary has a very chilling conclusion. but as a horror lover, it checks all the right boxes and had me eager to get my hands on more of King’s books by the time i was finished. definitely recommend this book, especially if you’re someone who wants to dip your toes into horror with something not as gory/intense as some of King’s most horrific novels (however still not for the faint of heart)

Ryan LaFerney

Dr. Louis Creed has landed a new job, which takes his family from Chicago to the rural town of Ludlow, Maine. Their new house is located in a quiet section of the town and seems to be the perfect place for the Creed family to start over. The only thing they don’t love are the eighteen-wheeler trucks that fly down the road outside their new home. The Creed’s know these trucks are dangerous, but the makeshift burial ground for lost pets located in the woods behind their home truly shows how many lives those trucks have taken.
There’s something strange about that burial ground and it’s not just the fact that it’s filled with all of the neighborhoods lost pets or that children will go their alone or with friends to bury their lost furry companions. There is a sense of unease Louis can’t quite shake and once he learns the truth, his life will be changed forever. There is more than just death there. Something powerful lies beneath the surface...reminding him that "Sometimes dead is better".................
KING calls Pet Sematary his scariest book, and I can understand why. It is a bit of twist on Frankenstein and the notion of resurrection. It is super creepy and super "shocking" where he takes the reader - to the depths of delusional grief. It's also a book about rationality versus irrationality, faith versus the modern world. 
Pet Sematary is a harrowing tale about death, the afterlife, loss, and grief. It's sad, sick, dark, and disgusting with more than one horribly "shocking" event that will blow your mind, but it's harrowing because King's characters are so easy to sympathize with. You want Louis to remain a rational man in the midst of pain but the spiral is too much for him and the temptation too pressing. 

I think this is King's scariest novel because it truly explores the depths of humanity and perhaps our greatest fear: death.

Mert Günçiner

I liked this book but in my opinion, this book has more effective fear elements that can work on children.

Kirsten Simkiss

My first exposure to this book was actually through a radio play. As such, I knew a fairly close version of the book from that. So, really, this felt like reading it through a second time. However, this was, in reality, only my first time reading it through. This was also my first Stephen King story that I was ever exposed to. As such, it holds a special place in my horror-loving heart.

It's a great concept. Much like the story of the monkey's paw, it plays on human nature and how human nature is fallible when presented with the opportunity to bring someone back from the dead. But, like the monkey's paw, it isn't what you'd wish for. The story, the build up, the characters' relationships - all of it is well formed to craft the narrative. I particularly enjoyed Jud and Louis's friendship throughout the book.

I only have two complaints. 

The first is that the book is a little one-note. Because of the nature of the book, it's very hard to get comfortable. You know something bad is going to happen from the jump and so you're always looking for hints that something will go wrong. And it does. Of course it does. But King also keeps you uncomfortable by making the characters fight or giving Louis cold chills and bad episodes. There's one point where the family does seem really happy, but it's one of those moments where you're just waiting for the hammer to drop. 

The other thing that bothers me is Stephen King's use of the wendigo. From my knowledge of Native American lore, the way the wendigo is described is far different from actual lore. This appropriation of Native American culture, and the wendigo in horror especially, has become more and more common. More often than not, the mythology is changed to suit whatever purpose the writer has in mind. And, unsurprisingly, these writers don't reach out to actual Native Americans to learn and represent this creature of famine and greed accurately. The use of the wendigo in this story is bizarre. It doesn't fit any description I've ever read of wendigo, nor does it make sense in terms of the effect it has on Jud and Louis. What's more is that I don't even think it was really necessary for the story. Having the cemetery in the woods be a place of evil would likely have been enough. It could also have just been some kind of nameless demon. 

Overall, it is a good story. As I said, it's a great study of human nature when given unusual opportunity. The best horror story ever written? No. But it's a decent read.

As one would probably guess, this is not a book for kids. A teen interested in horror would probably do fine, but obviously don't let your elementary schooler read this.

Rebecca Self 

The only complaint I have about this book is the super long build-up to the climax. It was definitely suspenseful, which I loved, but the build-up does last for a good majority of the novel. Everything else - perfect! Incredibly chilling and the ending leaves you with enough to make your own conclusions about what happened past the book's finality. A definite read for a lover of horror.

Pet Sematary

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