Pet Sematary
£10.40
The house looked right, felt right to Dr Louis Creed.
Rambling, old, unsmart and comfortable. A place where the family could settle; the children grow and play and explore. The rolling hills and meadows of Maine seemed a world away from the fume-choked dangers of Chicago.
Only the occasional big truck out on the two-lane highway, grinding up through the gears, hammering down the long gradients, growled out an intrusive threat.
But behind the house and far away from the road: that was safe. Just a carefully cleared path up into the woods where generations of local children have processed with the solemn innocence of the young, taking with them their dear departed pets for burial.
A sad place maybe, but safe. Surely a safe place. Not a place to seep into your dreams, to wake you, sweating with fear and foreboding.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Hodder Paperbacks, 0 edition (10 Nov. 2011) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 480 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1444708139 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1444708134 |
| Dimensions | 12.8 x 3.4 x 19.8 cm |
by loz
One of his best
by david canford
Stephen King says in the preface he intended to put this work away in the drawer and not publish – it was too scary. He writes well and it is entertaining though the central story involving a small child is quite tragic. Overall I have mixed feelings about it but maybe that’s because I’m not a huge horror fan.
by Louise Baillache
Dr Louis Creed has just accepted a new job and has found the perfect house for him and his family to relocate to in Ludlow. It’s a place where the family could settle; the children grow and play and it is surrounded by beautiful scenery (other than highway next to the house with the occasional big truck driving past). Behind the house, there’s a carefully cleared path up into the woods that leads to a Pet Sematary where generations of local children have buried dear departed pets. Their new neighbour, Jud, fills Louis in on the local legends that tell of an ancient burial ground deeper in the woods, and the talk that, if something is buried there, it will……
People say that this is one of Kings scariest books and as someone who scares incredibly easily, I wouldn’t say it’s scary at all. Words that come to mind are creepy and eerie. Pet Sematary puts you in a state of unease and dread, which builds up as the story goes on. It’s definitely slow burning, however the final few chapters are unputdownable and I was genuinely shocked at the events that unravelled. I don’t want to say too much, but if I was watching this, I’d be shouting wtf and WHY at the screen. (I don’t know if it’s just me but I personally think once things are dead, they should stay dead……..)
King writes in a way that makes you feel like you’re part of the Creed family. He goes into detail about their thought processes, their past and their relationships with one another. It’s cleverly done because at the end that feeling of connectedness to the characters makes you empathise with them on a much deeper level. Loss and grief are explored in detail in this book. Whether that’s the feeling of unrelenting grief after losing someone you love, negligence of and blame onto others and the overwhelming feeling of grief and loss that does not allow for rational thinking or good judgement. When I finished this book I just sat in silence for about an hour trying to process what I’d just read, I was so overwhelmed with all the emotions.
by Clare&Maya
You might either think this has one or two spoilers in it, or like me when reading reviews, think “he does What?! Does that really happen in it? Goodie Goodie” and be even more tempted to buy the book. Anyway, whatever, read on if you enjoy nice ramblings and a couple of spoilers…..
I finished Pet Sematary tonight, and as I neared the end of the book I was reading it brushing my teeth, reading it in the car in the works carpark if I was 5 mins early, reading it while also trying to watch Masterchef Australia…wow, I guess it must have been Good. I thought Id have a look at some peoples reviews who scored it low to see what they might have thought the less successful parts were, seen as summararily I enjoyed it so much. The main train of thought seems to be with the last couple of chapters that deal with the grand finale. And I partly agree…I thought the end seemed rushed too…when you see you havent many pages left to go you expect it all to finish with a grande finale to top all other episodes of fear and tenseness youve already experienced in the book, but the gage-zombie killing spree was a bit hurried, in a way that didnt shock so much as just leave you with a half formed image of whats just happened and with a feeling of “huh…what? Eh?”. Its great when an author successfully builds up your relationship and empathy for a character, to then all of a sudden surprisingly kill them off (or have them suffer when you really dont want them to ala the character Del’s execution gone horribly wrong in the Green Mile – ugh) as it doesnt half take you on an emotional rollercoaster with the book, but it felt like there just wasnt enough meat on the bones. For me the best part of the book was the event of Louis sneaking into the cemetary and exhuming his son – this, if i remember rightly now, seemed to last ages. There were loads of tense situations (the police patrolling in the car and he had to hide behind the tree, him nearly skewering himself on the railings and busting his knee, when he gets the grave open thinking for a second his sons head was missing, losing his car keys, the dog barking and nearly blowing his cover….) it was deliciously grisley and so tense and cumbersome you just kept thinking “doh … doh…DOH!” Brilliant! And then to blow it all with a fizzle-pop of an ending compared to brilliance of the exhumation chapter was a bit of a let down. I thought the story jud told of that other dude that exhumed his son way back when was freakier, when they all went to his house and the zombie son was staring up at the red sky and then tells them in his gritty-demonic voice their dirty secrets really made me shiver. Much more scary than the scalpel wielding gage. I wish he’d strung it out more. Even the bit at the end were Rachel comes back from the grave…would have been freakier if she’d have gently put her cold dead hand on his throat from behind rather than his shoulder to really insinuate that the horror continues past the end of the book with the assumption she will in the end kill Louis would have been spookier!! I do think that anyone that has children, especially young ones at the time of reading, would find the book particularly chilling and hard to forget after switching off the bedside light. It raises good issues of how events of the past can leave an indellible mark psychologically for later in life. Also the love for your family that questions where would you draw the line to try and protect your family or when faced with grief and an opportunity to bring a loved one back against all sensibilities, if you could, would you not also take your chance. Chilling certainly, and some parts very delicate and tough to read and face up to, but as far as down right scary, perhaps not quite so much as I had thought it would be but still a good old yarn. Should have been creepier earlier on I think.
^ Some of this might not make much sense as I started writing it as a comment for another persons review, generally agreeing and adding a bit, but a bit turned into a lot so I copied it into my own review.
For the sake of a couple of quid just buy it and make yer own mind up
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