Pet Sematary

This book is all levels of fucked up, I love it. Since becoming a horror fan, it's been quite rare to be genuinely scared. This book made me unnerved enough that I turned it off on my way home from work one night because I couldn't take it. I can understand why King didn't want to originally publish it.

Where to start? I guess why it's such an effective horror book: mostly coming from the connection that's built through the first half of the novel to the characters and the ridiculous level of realism the book portrays. King has such an amazing grasp on the human psyche specifically interpersonal relationships and how they operate. It's on full display in this novel. Atmospherically this book is on another level. I think the ending is quite dragged on, which is why it's not a perfect five stars but once you get to the ending, everything goes crazy.

All of that's not even to get started on the themes of the novel, the way grief is portrayed, the Wendigo being about the most terrifying creature ever written, King's commentary on death, and how different age groups try to deal with it to name a few. I mean it's all chef's kiss.

I think if I had to boil the reason I like King's work so much into one facet (which has probably been said by thousands before) I would say that everything makes SENSE in a King novel. Characters do the things they do, the way the characters interact with the fabric of the environment that King creates, and the rules of the paranormal aspects. It just makes SENSE. I find myself thinking "he makes a fictional world sound more real than my hands on the steering wheel right now." I think that's the highest level of storytelling.

If you're a horror fan, you must read this novel.