I've always loved both the book and film versions of Pet Sematary, as any awesome horror fan should, but just recently I reread the book and then watched the movie again. And it's weird, but it wasn't until this last trip to Ludlow, Maine with the Creeds that I finally realized what Pet Sematary is.
On the back of my terribly tattered older copy of the book is a quote from a Publishers Weekly review that states that Pet Sematary (keep your pants on, spellcheck... the misspelling is intended) is "the most frightening book Stephen King has ever written." Truthfully, I've never agreed with this hyperbole before. I was always, like, 'What's the biggie? It's just about bringing pets and people back to life via an Indian burial ground! There's scarier shit out there than that.' But now I know - no, there's not. This book is absolutely
horrific and I can't believe it's taken this long for it to really hit me. And my revelation is probably not news to anybody else who has also read the book, but I think I had to look at it in a different context than I had before to really get it.
Pet Sematary is so frightening because it is about the complete destruction of an innocent family. Duh, right? But I think now that that is a really important fact to keep in mind when you're thinking about what's happening on screen or while you're reading the book. It's about a family being completely annihilated by horrific violence and evil. King's stories usually include ordinary people in extraordinary situations, but this is a
family.
And what really sunk this thought into my head was comparing the Creeds to my sister's family. She has two boys - one is eight years old and one is just about to turn two, the same age as Gage Creed. Having no children of my own, they're the ones I think about when I have to deal with this kind of stuff in movies or books, and thinking about the events in Pet Sematary happening to them chills me to the bone. It terrifies and horrifies me to no fucking end. Imagining my little nephew, cute as a button, running into the road, laughing his adorable laugh, not seeing a huge tanker truck barreling toward him about to end his short life? Imagining how inconsolable my sister and brother-in-law would be? Gah, I can't even think about it now.
Though the novel ends rather ambiguously with Rachel coming back to Louis from the dead, I'm not assuming any kind of happy ending here. I think it's safe to say that Rachel either killed Louis, or Louis killed her and then himself. Little Ellie is the only one left alive, but I'd say she probably lives out the rest of her days in a padded room, rocking back and forth with foam coming out of her mouth, muttering things about the Pet Sematary and Oz the Gweat and Tewwible.
King has said that many of his story ideas come from asking the question
what if? And the idea behind Gage's death came from the almost exact incident happening to King when his son was a child. The boy was playing with a kite and started running off toward the road, which had trucks constantly blazing past their house. King ran after him, hearing a truck coming not far away. His son thankfully did not get hit, but that
what if? question stayed with him. I'd always known this story and the fact that it's one of the reasons King always felt that he had "gone too far" with Pet Sematary - even he has said that the novel is the most frightening one he has ever written because the story hit too close to home.
I understand now, Stephen, I truly do. These macabre and unspeakable things are not things that you ever want to come near the people you love - the people you love more than yourself - and I'm not just talking about the gruesome idea of turning a two-year-old into a murderous zombie. No one should have to bury a child, or even a beloved pet, so far before their time. The grief that Louis Rachel, and Ellie have when Gage dies is powerful, as is the guilt that Jud Crandall has for setting all this in motion.
"The most frightening book Stephen King has ever written." I don't think it means frightening in a "Boo!" way at all, but more like an idea that scares you to the core and hits you where it hurts the most. I may have scoffed at this simple review of Pet Sematary before, but bringing this story closer to my heart, with the image of my sweet little nephew in mind, I have to say that I completely agree with the statement now.
I once loaned this to a boss who was curious about why I liked Stephen King so much. He told me he read the entire book in a single night, and was so disgusted with himself for enjoying it that he literally threw the book of a window when he had finished and had to buy me a new copy!
ReplyDeleteThe book is a horrifying one, but in rereading it a few years ago, the scenes that freaked me out the most were the scenes in which Louis hears the Manitou crashing unseen through the woods. The idea of something huge and horrifying and unknowable being close to you while you are in the forest is one that I have never been able to shake.
Great novel!
Yes! Those scenes were so suspenseful because you never knew if what Louis was hearing was actually a real supernatural monster or whatever, or just part of the "power" that surrounds the burial ground. I'm glad King didn't bring a real manitou or wendigo monster into the story though, because that would have totally cheapened what the novel was about.
DeleteExcellent post. This has always been one of my favorite Stephen King reads, but like yourself I didn't find it all that scary the first time around, which, for me, was in high school. Now, however, having had a family that I cared for deeply and knowing what it is like to suffer loss, I can better appreciate the true terror of this read. Makes me wonder what kind of emotions it will bring once I sit down to read it again.
ReplyDeleteIf you had the same kind of thoughts that I was having while reading it again, I imagine that those emotions would be pretty freaking powerful!
DeleteIt's crazy to consider the fact that Gage's death was based on a near-miss King had with his son Owen, who is now a published author in his own right. Crazy, but true!
ReplyDeleteI always wondered what Owen himself thought about the whole thing - if the idea scares him as much as it does his father...
DeleteThis post makes me wanna re-read the book immediately! *goes to book shelf, grabs the book, starts to read*
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing scarier than a "true story", or at least one based on a true incident. Love the post, uh, luv, I think I'm gonna watch the movie again...and then re-read the book!
ReplyDeleteNo no, do it the other way around - read the book and then watch the movie. Bit of a different experience.
Deleteonly about hundred pages in, but I have to admit, it's way darker than I remembered O_o
ReplyDeleteIt's totally dark, Maynard, and it only gets worse!
DeletePage 300 - I'm shocked. I completely forgot how grim Pet Sematary is. Terrifying :-O
Deletefinished it yesterday... AMAZING!!! Way, way better than Christine and Wizard & Glass which used to be my King-faves.
DeleteIt's a hell of a book, but King has always been one of my favorite authors.
ReplyDeleteWith the drive to creating an excellent work of horror fiction, this is Stephen King's best novel. He is able to leave me with a numb feeling after the novel is done and that's what horror is supposed to do. It's also supposed to keep you reading well beyond your expectations, which it surely does.
ReplyDeleteI heard the story about how Stephen King's son ran into the street as well, only I learned from the introduction of this book. King believed this was his scariest work, and for the time being, I agree with him. I also thought the content of "Misery" was a bit scary, but I'm a writer, so my reasoning makes sense.
I've always seen a difference between the approaches to scaring: short-term and long-term. This is surely long-term.
I find this story scary because it explores the human condition of grief. We don't have a way to bring people back from the dead, but what if we did? And what if they came back as abominations? If you loved someone enough, would that deter you? One thing I missed from the book when watching the movie was how much Louis think about the whole thing. How he rationalizes it over and over until he's willing to overlook the possible bad consequences that could occur.
ReplyDeleteGrief is especially interesting because nobody knows how to talk about it. Everyone copes in their own way, and there are supposed "stages" that everyone goes through, but some people linger in some stages longer than others, or just never leave. Is that natural, or an insanity all its own? We just don't talk about grief in our culture, despite how commonplace it is. And this book isn't afraid to explore it, albeit in extreme circumstances.
The book owes a debt to the subject of addiction, as well. The power that the burial ground has is similar to an addict having drugs at his disposal. An addict will come up with any reason to use. Jud explains to Louis that the secret of the ground is impossible to remain. You come up with reasons to share the secret. And once you know about the ground, the addiction grows and thus the power of the ground grows as well. One question though, did Jud kill Church to open the door to the burial ground for Louis? The book states that Louis doesn't think a truck was responsible for the cat's death. When I reread the book I always find some other theory or red herring in the pages...
ReplyDelete