Pet Sematary by Stephen King was published on Nov. 14, 1983. This is said to be one of the scariest of Stephen King’s books. When I received this information, I immediately knew I wanted to read it.

The book follows the Creed family, which undergoes a series of events. The book begins with the Creed moving into a new home and being ready to create their new life there. They settle comfortably, with the neighbor becoming Louis Creed, the father of the family and a close friend. However, there is a peculiar kick to their living space. The neighbor, an older man named Jud Crandell, revealed the secrets of their neighborhood to Louis when the family cat was accidentally killed.

The family was welcomed upon their arrival by the landscape. They found that the local children collectively created a cemetery for their pets. But there was a secret much deeper in the woods with the actual pet, Sematary (as referenced in the title).

Jud Crandell walked with Louis up there on a gloomy night without either of their wives’ knowledge. Jud insisted that Louis bury the family cat the night it died immediately in this sematary without any explanation.

The next morning, they are woken to a grisly surprise. The cat had been revived, but something was completely off. The cat was no longer cat-like. Instead, the cat was clumsy and seemed to become dense. And, worst of all, the cat was covered in dirt with a nasty smell.

The rest of the family had no idea that the cat had been revived or was ever dead at all, except for Louis. Yet they picked up on the fact that the cat was definitely off.

Despite the strangeness of the pet “sematary”, this was not the last use of it for Louis.

This was a slow-burn book, and I’ll admit I found myself losing patience in the middle. I felt that the book was focused more on the character development of the family rather than the actual horror. But, once this was over and the writing jumped into the actual horror, it was very appealing. The way that Stephen King writes the unraveling of it all was very well done, and it all gradually descended, pooling into an unsettling ending feeling.

This horror novel was thrilling. This book left me uncomfortable, but in the best way a horror book could do so. Given that I haven’t read a ton of Stephen King’s books, I am not sure where I would place this book on the level of scariness compared to his other books. However, Pet Sematary was scary, and I rate this book an 8/10.