When asked what he thinks is among his scariest books, Stephen King has often pointed to "Pet Semetary." It's an early work in his career, and yet it's one that seems to capture his curiosity. What is it about dead pets that speaks to the master of horror? Why is this the novel among the few dozen masterpieces that has stuck in his mind?
From a reader's standpoint, the answer becomes very clear very quickly. Before King was forced to overcomplicate his premises to keep from repeatinng, he was able to turn the simplest concepts into nightmare fuel. For most people, losing a pet is a devastating experience. Nobody wants to lose an innocent animal that brings up a sense of joy and innocence in one's lives. However, the idea of seeing the rotting corpse of that points to a mortality that is horrifying, especially for those younger and less jaded by the torments of time. What King achieves over the course of the novel is elevate the kooky premise into something that aches at the very soul of the characters as well as the reader. It's a discussion of mortality and decay that not only happens beyond the afterlife, but also in the moment.
Something that puts King in a league of his own is his ability to key in on the morbidity of everyday life. Beyond the supernatural elements, he's got a gift for making the reader contemplate the pains of humanity. In this case, his ability to focus on horrifying medical stories makes the reader immediately understand the larger point. Life is a thing that can be taken away at a moment's notice. Accidents will happen and everybody cannot be saved by the doctors. It's horrifying for the patient, but given that he's also focusing on the staff, he's able to show the insecurity with failure, where a small godlike decision could save somebody's life. What happens when that fails?
It's easy to get caught up in "Pet Semetary" as a story about dead pets, but it's very much about acceptance of death in the world. By having a youthful family move to a barren Maine town where the neighbors are themselves geriatic, there is this implicit recognition of a world that is fading. The older couple have seen a lot of death in their lives, meaning they are more blase to fate. They are simply waiting for the moment to come. Even then, there's the hope of outrunning death. Maybe someone can call a mulligan and life can be given a second chance.
Along with his brilliant, taught writing that makes something as banal as climbing a hillside to the titular cemetery into nail-biting page turners, it's a human story that asks some very real questions. Yes, the imagery he paints is provocative and builds to a horrifying third act worthy of his best work. However, it's how he seeds this insecurity in the reader that makes it a very rewarding experience. By then, the reader has experienced the depths of mankind and are more willing to embrace the darkside. There is, more than anything, a desperation for hope that may or may not come. Death is so ingrained in the text that one has to wonder if everything will be okay.
Thankfully, there are moments of levity and this isn't completely torturous. King ultimately works because he is sentimental enough and believs in the potential of the future to be better. The ending may be alarming in the ways of the best puply fiction, but it's not without a deeper meaning. This book ranks among his best as much because it's just a great premise as it is a wonderful cast of characters who navigate a world that is cruel while trying to fill it with some hope. Even if it fails, the guilt of the self cannot be fully there. They are fighting to keep the world alive, and that's what makes the story haunting. It's an attempt to lose faith and holding on at any cost. It just so happens to also have some crazy corpse cats along with it.
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