Several editions of the Stephen King novel “Pet Sematary” had an intro where the author explains how the book came about. It related to a family cat that died, as well as a pet cemetery located in the woods behind his home in Orrington, Maine. However, King himself found the story to be too dark, darker even than many of his novels. He put it aside for a while, taking his time in pushing the book.

As a brief synopsis, "Pet Sematary" is about a pet graveyard where the dead can be reanimated. When the family’s cat gets hit by a vehicle on the road in front of their home, Church is brought back to the living, but is not the same.

The story continues with a grieving father, whose toddler son gets killed in the same way, and from there, according to King, it “spirals down into darkness.”

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, King added that the story appears to say that “nothing works and nothing is worth it.” That is something the horror author doesn’t really believe.

‘Pet Sematary’ is a hit with Constant Readers

According to the author, if it wasn’t for the fact he had to publish to finish off a bad contract, the novel would still be in a drawer. However, while King himself is not fond of the story, it is a favourite among his Constant Readers. When it came to the 1989 Film adaptation, King wrote the screenplay but was unimpressed with that film.

Stephen went on to say that he listened to the audiobook of “Pet Sematary” while walking on a beach in Florida with his dog, Molly (aka the Thing of Evil).

The audiobook was voiced by Michael C. Hall ( of “Six Feet Under” and “Dexter” fame) and King was curious to hear it after 20 or 25 years. But as he listened to the audiobook he thought how awful and dark it was. While he was writing the story, he had a great time, but later he realised how “awful” the story was, because it involved the death of children, and because of his own kids.

New remake of ‘Pet Sematary’

As noted by AV Club, we need a spoiler alert here, but if you have watched the latest trailer, you already know it. When asked about the new movie adaptation of the story, King praised Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer for their approach to the story, where they choose to kill of pre-teen Ellie and reanimate her instead of toddler Gage.

Talking of Molly, King recently sent a funny tweet relating to the story.

According to King, the way they have approached the story is different and they have done a good job.

He did say he was amazed by everything posted online about the major change to the story. Fans were upset. However, he does himself understand the change as it is easier to work with a little girl who turns into a zombie than a little toddler.

The new film adaptation of “Pet Sematary” is set for release in cinemas on 5 April 2019.
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