Going into Pet Sematary I actually had no idea what it was about. I mean, obviously I knew it was about a pet cemetery but I had no clue what made it special, why it was classified as horror etc. All I knew was it was Stephen King and so it was going to be about things beyond my wildest imagination. Except…. it wasn’t.
It starts off with the Creed family moving into an old house and there’s the old lovable neighbor (Jud) who knows everything about the town. Behind their house is a path which Jud says goes to the pet cemetery. Kids from around town have been coming to bury their pets for decades. It turns out there’s a cemetery past the one the kids use which brings things buried in it back to life. Dun Dun Dunnnn…….
Quick rundown of the characters: Louis is the dad, Rachel is the mom and Gabe and Ellie are the children. Church is their cat.
The first half was amazing. I was constantly waiting for jump scares and eternally waiting for something new to happen. The characters were well developed and they were true to themselves. You got the perfect sense of premonition and some gore-filled scenes. I had this impending sense of doom and it was fantastic. I thought Church was going to be the creepiest character in the book.
And then came the second part. There was a King Spoiler at the very end of the first half of the book. And I instantly knew exactly what was going to happen for the majority of the rest of the book. There were some bits I wasn’t expecting but I also wasn’t surprised when they happened. I knew when I was supposed to be scared and when I was supposed to be wondering how they’ll get out of this but instead I was just scolding Louis in my head.
King has this way of creating the most vile characters that will make your skin crawl. Rachel’s dad is one of them. He despises Louis, to the point he had offered to pay him to not marry his daughter. This actually strengthens their relationship, even though Rachel doesn’t know about it.
Basically I was disappointed when I look at the book in its entirety but it had some redeeming qualities.
In other news: I’m in the middle of my 10th King book!
J. K. I'm Exploring! 
I read this book when I was a teenager. I remember liking it, but now that I’ve read a lot more King, I realize that it’s probably not his best work. Great review!
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I read it as part of a read along on Instagram and everyone else was saying how scary it is and how its one of their favorite King books and I was just sitting there like “….really?” The more I read the more I can decide if I like them or if they’re just okay. I haven’t hated any of his yet 😊
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I haven’t read Pet Sematary yet, but I have seen the movies multiple times and absolutely loved them (and am still terrified of them to this day, lol). I’ve always wanted to read the book, though. Have you read anything by Bentley Little? He’s a fantastic horror author. I love The Association, The Store, and The Mailman.
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I haven’t read this book yet, actually I’ve only read Carrie from Stephen King, but I really want to read more! I’m sorry this one disappointed you! Hopefully your next read will be much better! Lovely review ❤
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I’m reading another King book right now (Finders Keepers) and I’m loving it!!! Misery was a really good one on horror/twisted aspects and 11/22/63 is good time travel by him!
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I haven’t seen the movie yet! And I haven’t even heard of Bentley Little!!! I’ll look into him! I need more horror besides King!!
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In my opinion this novel is almost, almost perfect and possibly one of the big mans best. It’s an intimate journey into madness and grief and denial. I love it.
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