Reviews - Pet Sematary | The StoryGraph

11.1k reviews for:

Pet Sematary

Stephen King

4.01 AVERAGE

meunoalsilencio_'s review against another edition

4.0

dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

hotandbothered's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I only made one journal entry (at the 310 page mark) while reading this book, which simply said, "Don't do it, Louis." Alas, Louis did not listen to my sage advice and so caused an absolute shit storm, which I mostly read about between my fingers.

King's storytelling is so compelling that I struggled to tear myself away from this book, instead simply coping with the enormous unease I felt watching an entirely predictable car crash unfold in slow motion and being utterly helpless to prevent it. I think that is what makes this such an effective horror story. It isn't just about the lengths an average person would go to to defeat their unbearable grief; it's also about what an average person would do to satiate their own morbid curiosity.

We all instinctively know not to mess about with things we don't understand as the consequences could end up being beyond our control - but what if the potential pay-off is irresistible? One has to speculate to accumulate, after all.

Be honest with yourself: if you had a mystical burial ground within walking distance of your house

that you knew to be capable of resurrecting the dead

, would you be able to resist the temptation to see if it's the real deal, even if you've seen Jurassic Park often enough to know that playing God will have terrible consequences? Once that seed has been planted, it is nigh impossible to uproot it again. The yield is too seductive.

Content Warnings

allit's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

book_nerd87's review against another edition

3.0

At some points I found when it slowed down, it REALLY slowed down and took a while to pick back up again. The ending was still really good though, and had me creped out. I'd say it's one of his better scary novels. Stephen King himself said this was the book he almost didn't publish because it scared him too much. It can get pretty scary, depending what scares you, but the ending will surprise you...

nastylilhobbitsis's review against another edition

5.0

Upon reading the introduction and King’s thoughts that he had gone too far with this book I thought I was prepared. Unsurprisingly, the depths of darkness and insanity were throughly explored through the experience of the Creed family. The storyline was a tense build as the readers put together the horror in their own mind’s eye. The layout of this story was so well done that I was both begging for the book to end and for it to never end.

The moment an ancient Indian burial ground was mentioned, I was wary that the same tired cliche would eventually make its rounds. However, I was both pleasantly and gruelingly surprised. If you are looking for a well spun story with spine chilling suspense, you have picked up the correct book.