Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Pet Sematary

This is the first Stephen King book I’ve read (well, listened to) and I can see why he’s so respected in the genre. What a novel!

It’s impossible for me to separate my review of the novel from my review of the audiobook. Michael C Hall’s performance is incredible. I'm not speaking figuratively when I say that it's the best audiobook performance I've ever heard. If you're on the fence about reading this novel, then listen to the audiobook and thank me later! It's that good.

Onto the story itself. This is definitely a slow-paced book, and had I been left to my own devices to read it on my own, I'm not sure I would have finished it. The audiobook, however, kept my full attention.

The novel is broken into three parts. The first part is very character-driven. We are introduced to Louis Creed, his wife, and his two children. We are walked through their daily lives, their motivations, and their internal struggles. Of course, there's foreshadowing of what's to come. But King definitely takes his time in getting to the action (most of which is in Part 2 and Part 3). The result is that by the time you get there, you know these characters. You're invested.

Despite that, Part 2 and Part 3 lagged a bit for me and I kept waiting to get to the really scary stuff. The whole book is infused with dread, tension, and low grade horror. There are certainly some parts that might be triggering to folks. But I personally didn't find it super frightening. That's probably a good thing for me, but if you want a *scary* book, I don't think this is it.

My only real complaint about the book is the ending. To keep it spoiler-free, I will say that there is a build-up of tension that doesn't really get released at the end of the novel. It's like when you're reading an essay or article and the writing is really resonating with you, and then you read the last two paragraphs and you can tell the writer just chucked something in there to meet their word count in advance of a deadline. That's how the ending felt to me and I really hated how weak it was. But, aside from that, good book, good experience, and would definitely listen to Michael C Hall perform it again.

Content Warnings

afelice's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

When I started my research into which horror novels - King specifically - would be best to read, “Pet Semetary” came up in almost every list. After finishing the book, I can see why it’s at the top of everyone’s list. This book was….dark. It was scary, but not in the way I expected. It was emotional and it was sad. I follow a reviewer on YouTube and he mentioned how he read PS as a 15year old and then again as an adult with children and he mentioned it was terrifying at both readings for different reasons and that makes so much sense. As someone without kids, the lore and the “beings” in this book can be terrifying, but as someone who is around kids a lot, I can see how it’s even more terrifying given what events transpire in parts 2 and 3.

I will say that the first part is kind of slow and is really focused on character development and building the mystery behind the Pet Semetary and the beings that may be around the surrounding woods; however, part 2 and 3 take off and you are pretty much white knuckling it the rest of the way.

Outstanding read! Also….I read about half of the book on my own and listened to half in audio book form and I cannot recommend the audio book enough. Michael C. Hall does an amazing job narrating the story - he really added to the overall atmosphere. 5/5 AWESOME!

Content Warnings