Pet Sematary

I can’t say that I am a huge fan of the horror genre, but I have to say this one was pretty frightening, on so many levels.  I did expect a Stephen King book to provide that for me, but was totally unprepared for the horror that was to follow.  I had never seen the movie, but when I mentioned I was reading it to others, the response back let me know this would be more than I could have expected.  And so it was…Pet Sematary made me abhor cats even more than I thought I could.  A funny aside…as mentioned in the previous blog post, I am in Abu Dhabi at the moment and there is this cat that sits outside the student residence hall.  It has been left to live by itself, seems like a kitten, super thin and sickly, but when I walked by it as I was reading the book it seemed to have those same green powerful eyes as “Church” – the cat!  I guess I’ll never look at cats the same way again!  King was influenced to write this book by his stay in Maine as a guest faculty member at U Maine, and the house and what he experienced with his young two-year old at the time gave this story life.  Imagine being a doctor, relocating your family to a home on a busy street in Maine while working at the University as a physician at the student health center (so far, ok?)… then comes the weird parts… a student is killed and brought to your health center, utters some nonsense that comes back to haunt you and your family later about your back woods – a place known to bury dead animals – after you just were there visiting with your 80+ next door neighbor.  Louis, the protagonist doctor, becomes enthralled in the new home, his old neighbor, and an allure he gains from his visit with Jud (the neighbor) and his family.  After hearing the haunting tale of the “pet sematary,” Louis’ cat is killed crossing the street (a problem that has haunted most of the locals) by oncoming trucks from the local area going too fast on the major thoroughfare.  Louis is drawn by Jud’s story and a desire not to disappoint his daughter of having the family cat dead.  Learning that other animals were “resurrected” after being buried in the back woods, Louis does so, unfortunately the cat comes back alive (but with some differences).  This book goes over the line with the possibilities of the after world.  You won’t believe how it all ends, bloodier and gorier than I could have guessed.  It keeps you on the edge of your seat.  Kudos to King, a brilliant writer.  I couldn’t put this book down!  Glad I was in a very populated hotel and not at my home in PA during a thunderstorm.  This is a thriller that is one for the ages.  I’d highly recommend this one.  I could imagine the movie is just as frightening.  Good read!