Pet Sematary
Stephen King
I know this is a repeat from a recommendation I’ve made on LitStack before, but when I think of the book that has scared me the most, the creepiest book that I’ve not been able to get over, the book that most embodies horror to me, it’s undoubtedly Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary”.
So, this being the month of Halloween, and since I’ve been recommending spooky books all month, I thought that the best recommendation for this week would be the one book that scared the living daylights out of me. In fact, it’s a book that scared me so bad when I read it, that I refuse to go back and read it again, even years later. Yup, it’s that “bad” (so bad it’s good): “Pet Sematary.”
There’s a problem with doing this, though. Because I read it so long ago, and because it scared the afore-mentioned living daylights out of me, I can’t really recall the details of the plot of the book. I mainly remember the central horror that set it off for me: the reincarnation of the family cat (run over by a truck on Thanksgiving) after being buried in a remote pet cemetery (misspelled “Sematary” on the childish sign erected at its entrance). I love my pets, and the specter of such an unholy rising… well, it scared the living daylights out of me. I finished the book, but I’ve never been able to cast aside the heebie jeebies that even looking at a rendition of the cover gives me. Even just bringing it to mind in order to write this evokes a very visceral reaction from me.
And even though I feel I have an obligation to do the best job in everything I do for you, our readers, and the lovely folks at LitStack, I cannot and will not go back and read the book. It scares me that much, still.
Happy Scary October, everyone!
—Sharon Browning
