11.1k reviews for:

Pet Sematary

Stephen King

4.01 AVERAGE

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

not explicitly scary, but one of the best horror books i’ve read cause of how real/plausible it is made to be
mysterious sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
halleelu's profile picture

halleelu's review

3.0
mysterious slow-paced
syd_o's profile picture

syd_o's review

4.25

My first Stephen king !!! I was expecting tons of gore, but I found this book to be more philosophical and creepy/chilling than gory. It was so good and it think there’s a lot to unpack. 
challenging dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Re-read. I originally read this back when I was 12 or so, and I distinctly remember it giving me nightmares. On this reading many years later, I can still understand why! This book presents a truly terrifying scenario, and I can only imagine what it must be like to read as a parent. I'm in the midst of a project of reading all of King's work in publication order, and this is probably tied for first place at this point with The Stand. The only two characters that are really developed at all are the main guy Louis, and his old neighbor Jud, with everyone else in the book being basically set dressing. But these two are all that's needed to really set the whole horror show in motion. As usual with King's best work, it's all about the characters, their motivations, their internal monologues. And this book of course has the truly creepy titular place, the Pet Sematary. Love this one. Highly Recommend. Maybe not for parents of toddlers. At least until they are grown up a bit.

siovannie's review

5.0
dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

if it's got a ramones song written about it, chances are the material is 5 stars

The plot is well-knit and has a pulsating quality - alternating between tense buildups and then stages of homeostasis. The gradual tension creeps up on you and can have a far deeper affect on your mind than you’d initially realize while reading it. Definitely a must read for horror and suspense lovers.
challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

I wish something more had been done with the wendigo in the end. I loved the lurking just beyond the characters vision. Wish there had been more