OH NO! Tiddles is scratching at the door... (Pet Sematary - Stephen King)

Member Name: salgirl

Product:	Pet Sematary - Stephen King
Date:	31/03/01 (144 review reads)
Rating:

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Pet Sematary is a bit of a strange old book, and that's saying something for a Stephen King story. On one hand it's a good and scary basis for a spine-chilling tale, on the other you can tell what's coming from a mile off which nullifies the suspense aspect somewhat. However, without further ado, here is the basic plot, cut cruelly short before you get to spot the awful inevitability.

Dr. Louis Creed moves with his family from the Windy City of Chicago into the rural setting of Maine. He's pleased with the choice. This is somewhere safe for their children to play and grow. Plenty of places to explore. Especially the wood just tucked up behind the house. There was even a cleared path into the thick of it, flattened by the feet of local children who have taken the lifeless bodies of their beloved pets to their special place. The burial ground.

Here the innocent and sad headstones mark the graves of their animals, who were loving placed into the hallowed ground with that certain pomp and ceremony that children bring to such occasions. They know this is a special place. A very special place.

Louis' family are about to find out how special...

As I said before, this storyline has a tremendous potential for being terrifyingly gripping, but I just knew what was going to happen. The twist in the middle of the story DID catch me sickeningly unawares, and from that moment on, I read this with an awful dread.

I'm guessing that that is what spoiled my "enjoyment" of this horror story, I was really, very uncomfortable with it. I know that Stephen King would be rubbing his hands at the very thought, but I prefer just plain scared to the fear that this particular tale brought me.

I couldn't say whether the film does this book any justice, because I couldn't bring myself to watch it.

As far as the book goes, it's written to his usual excellent standard, it certainly al
lows you to suspend your disbelief, the characters (especially the old man that they befriend, Jud Crandall) are hugely likeable and very believable, and it found yet another raw nerve in my psyche (biological mix of metaphors, but I'm sure you get my drift) that I previously hadn't considered.

Yet another to add to the list of an excellently scary read.

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