Pet Sematary

by Stephen King

Book Overview

""Sometimes dead is better...."" When the Creeds move into a beautiful old house in rural Maine, it all seems too good to be true: physician father, beautiful wife, charming little daughter, adorable infant son -- and now an idyllic home. As a family, they've got it all...right down to the friendly cat. But the nearby woods hide a blood-chilling truth -- more terrifying than death itself...and hideously more powerful.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451132378
• ISBN13: 9780451132376
• Release Date: November 1984
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 411 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Exactly what I wanted

I see many of the reviews are upset they didn’t get the correct book or they got a damaged book but I got the correct book undamaged so that’s a plus. On the book itself, I love Stephen King books and his movies and reading this book put the new movie to shame. I love the grief you can feel through the book and the panic and the way it makes you want to keep flipping the pages. However, that’s expected with a Stephen King book. Loved this read.

For a book in “very good” condition…

This book looks like a dog got ahold of it. There is scratch marks and the corner is ripped out of the first 11 pages. This is a disgrace. I will need to borrow a copy from someone till I get through the first 11 pages.

Better then the movie!!

This book was good and scary! Had stuff in it I did not know until I read it. I rather the book then the movie!! Best book ever!

This book is in disgusting condition

How the hell can they say this is acceptable?! This is disgusting and strained. No dust jacket either. This is absolutely appalling.

Phenomenal story... Book quality lacking (twice)

I love this novel. 10/10 horrific story that makes you think about life & death. I recently purchased a "Like New" copy and I received a beat up copy missing the dust jacket. If you want to read the book, take a chance and buy it. If you want to display a nice copy... I'd look elsewhere.

Too long and drawn out

The way this book is talked about, I was expecting so much more. The story itself is great. It’s such a creepy concept. The story is way too long and drawn out with little horror and talk of the cemetery. I expected more horror and creepiness. I expected to be scared. This was my first time reading this book and I have not seen the movie.

You have one job.

The book is probably good but I wouldn't know because I received a book on the guide to birth.

I received a different cover than I ordered and paid for.

This has nothing to do with the book itself I was just really looking forward to the cover I ordered. The copy I received isn’t terrible but I paid for a different copy. I’m really disappointed. Again, it’s not the book itself, it’s just I really loved the cover I ordered.

Bad copy it is advertised as good it’s not even acceptable

This book is in bad shape . I ordered a copy and was so angry and I refuse to read the copy that I now own. It came with no dust jacket and it’s battered and dirty. Literal dust balls are on it.

Better then the movie

Love this book

I planned & thought I was ordering this book for my daughter but when it arrived, it was an older bo

I thought I was ordering pet sematary for my daughter but when it arrived, it was an older book called hungry Hill. So she bought pet sematary brand new.

My book was labeled “good condition but the first 30-50 pages looks like a cat or dog got a hold of

Will not be buying from you guys again.

"Hey Ho, Let's Go"

When unthinkable circumstances start happening to Louis Creed, he must make decisions and live with the consequences. It is easy to see why this is what King considers his most terrifying story. It will frighten those with children of their own most, I believe. I love the way King handles the topic of death and how people deal with it differently. Louis Creed is very easy to relate to. I loved getting to know the Creeds and Jud Crandall from across the street. The story unfolded to reveal secrets no one in their right mind would want to know. Definitely one of King's best books and it was written from his personal nightmares of "what-ifs" which adds so much feeling.

A semetary you don't ever wanna have to visit.

Pet semetary is one of the more popular novels by stephen king and it's easy to see why, It's brillant. Alot of people think that this was the last truely great novel he wrote. I don't share that opinion, in mine that position is reserved for his 1991 novel needful things. With that said pet semetary is original, intelligent and scary. By the late 80's king's ideas were virtually untouchable. No horror writer could test his imagination. I give pet semetary my highest reccomendation as it easily earns a spot in my top 10.

The Real Horror Is How Close Each Of Us Would Come To Doing The Same Thing As Louis

How far would you go to protect someone you love? That, not cemetaries, cats, or scary shenanigans, is the true horror of Stephen King's "Pet Sematary". Basically, with no major spoilers, the plot centers on a young family, the Creeds, who move to Maine for a new start. Shortly after the move, neighbor Judd Crandall shows Louis Creed (the father) a rather supernatural place that can perform miracles beyond human comprehension. However, when a tragedy rocks the Creeds and Crandalls to the very core of both families, Louis must make the horrible decision of whether or not to use that magical power (which also contains some rather unfortunate consequences for the user) for his own personal gain. As is typical with King, the entire book (when not developing the characters, which is also quite important and interesting) is a morality play between "man" (which should represent good, but often does not) and "evil" (a dark force as old as time). What really will stick with you after you finish reading the novel, though, is how close you might come to making the exact same choice that Louis Creed ultimately does. The lines between what is "right" and what is "wrong" are blurred enough that each scenario could produce both "good" and "bad" consequences. I am currently working my way through all of King's novels (in no particular order), and it never ceases to amaze me how he uses the same basic themes (man's struggle against evil) to create exciting fiction. I guess part of it has to do with the interesting characters he creates, which holds true in his book. Each character seems to add a new dimension to Louis' "big decision" towards the end of the book. Thus, King fans can expect the same masterful story crafting in this novel, while newcomers to the master of suspense will find that the true horror of King is not in the physical/spiritual realms, but in the psychological thought processes we all have.

For me - this is the scariest book ever written

Different people have different ideas about what is "funny" - same with "scary". If snakes or spiders or great-white sharks scare the peedoodle out of you, then your reaction to a story about them might be different than it might be for, say The Crocodile Hunter.Stephen King is prolific beyond belief. He is sometimes redundant. In Pet Sematary he wrote a story so compelling that I literally could not put it down, yet at the same time so horrifying that I practically screamed at myself NOT TO TURN THE NEXT PAGE!!!!King knows a thing or two about humans and human relationships, and in Pet Sematary he creates a realistic family that you care about.... then he does absolutely TERRIFYING things to them. Without giving anything away - I have to say that one of the reasons that this book affected me so deeply is that I had recently become a Dad back when this book first was released, and this book hones in on a new parent's worst nightmares, then just gets worse and worse and worse. If you like being scared by a book, and you can't think of anything worse than seeing your child killed - this book might hit you like it hit me. I repeat: This is the scariest novel I have ever read.As an aside: The "scariest book ever" was turned into a fairly cheesy movie. I give the book a solid 5 stars, but wouldn't rate the film any higher than 2 or 3. Another aside: My personal choice for "scariest movie" is "The Exorcist", while I found the novel of "The Exorcist" fairly bland and not paced well enough to scare me.

King's darkest

Early publicity for Pet Sematary stated that the novel, which King had written but not allowed to be released, was his scariest novel ever. King and his wife, Tabitha, agreed that this was no mere hyperbole. In a Fangoria interview conducted around the time of Pet Sematary's release, King said that he showed the manuscript to his wife, and she couldn't finish it. "It was too... effective." Eventually, in 1983, the novel did see print. Was it as horrifying, as gruesome, as dark as all the hype purported it to be?Thankfully, yes. This book is a runner-up for King's scariest novel (losing only marginally to The Shining), and it really is his darkest. It is a book about loss, and greif, and, simply put, death. Death, the great unknown; death, the all-encroaching. But, as the characters of Pet Sematary discover, there are things worse than death.King himself has said that Pet Semetary is in his opinion his most frightening novel. While I may not agree with that entirely, it certainly is a story that's as creepy as they come. First the cat dies, and then the story of the old Indian cemetery comes out, and next thing you know, the dead cat is alive - if not a bit odd. Voila - the big can of worms is open. It's a can of worms that ultimately plummets this likeable family into the depths of Hell. The cemetery, against all laws of nature (but in keeping with the laws of Stephen King) appears to be able to resurrect dead animals. Could it also work on humans? Dr Louis Creed tries to postpone death by prolonging life. This is the story of a man who forgets that he can't play God. It is a disturbing novel, the kind of subversive, realistic scary story that exemplifies great horror fiction.Despite a slow start, Pet Semetary picks up speed and pulls the reader into a terrifying conclusion. It is a dark, unforgiving novel dealing with the very nature of death and greif. It never gives up, just hacks away at sanity and rationality until nothing is left. In the world of Pet Sematary, death begets death, lunacy begets lunacy, and the examination of terror is an exercise in darkness, in which no light can be seen.

One of his best--but very, very dark.

I first read this book as a teenager--God, was it really 15 years ago? Loved it then, like it now. I must've reread it a dozen times, because the characters caught hold of me. King sketches his characters broadly but carefully, making their dialogue come alive--Jud Crandall is particularly likeable in this regard--and making their emotions ring true... Which is what makes the horror so unsettling. This is one of King's darkest works, as it deals not simply with supernatural terror, but REAL terror, like the death of a child, or the realization that people can be cruel and evil with little provocation, or the guilt that comes with hiding things. One of the effective ways King achieves his horror is in having Jud Crandall tell his stories about what happened many years before in the town of Ludlow. God, those stories, of Timmy Baterman, of Jud's own dog, wreaked havoc on my imagination as a teen; one of the very few times that simply reading has induced in me the feeling of physical fear, as if I myself might be in danger. I've read countless horror novels, and this was one of the few books to do that to me! It's not really fun. Still, I recommend "Pet Sematary" highly. It's dark and somber and very real--King playing for keeps.