Pet Sematary was originally published in November of 1983.Warning, this review does contain spoilers.
Life changes dramatically for Louis Creed when he moves from the big city of Chicago to the small Maine town of Ludlow. Louis befriends his elderly neighbor, Jud. Jud takes Louis and his family on a walk behind their property. They come across a burial ground for the town's pets with a sign misspelled "Semetary".
Jud's wife Norma suffers from a heart attack and Louis is there to save her life. Jud tries to return the favor when the Creed's cat is run over by a car. He takes Louis to the hidden graveyard past the pet semetary. This graveyard was supposedly used by the Micmacs and was the source of special powers. They bury the cat there. The next day the cat returns back home alive, if somewhat different. The cat now chases birds and dismembers them without eating them, as if for fun.
Tragedy strikes the family when their young son, Gage, is struck by a speeding tractor trailer in front of their house. The family is obviously devastated by the loss. Remembering the burial of the cat, Louis buries Gage in the hidden grave yard. When he comes back he is not himself. He kills Jud and his mother Rachel. Louis kills Gage with a lethal dose of morphine. He then buries Rachel in the graveyard, thinking that he had waited too long with Gage and that accounted for his evil return. The book ends with Rachel entering the house.
This book is pretty scary. Now that I have a little one, the whole scene with the tractor trailer is something that haunts my dreams. Add the idea of people and animals returning from the dead with bad intentions and you have a scary book. I also love that he left the ending open for you to imagine what happens next.
This novel was made into a movie, but I have to admit that I have never watched it. Having seen so many bad adaptations, I guess I never bothered with this one.
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