Pet Sematary

Inhoud

The house looked right, felt right, to Dr. Louis Creed. Rambling, old, unsmart and comfortable. A place where the family could settle the children grow and play and explore. The rolling hills and meadows of Maine seemed a world away from the fume-choked dangers of Chicago. Only the occasional big truck out on the two-lane highway, grinding up through the gears, hammering down the long gradients, growled out an intrusive note of threat. But behind the house and away from the road: that was safe. Just a carefully cleared path up into the woods where generations of local children had processed with the solemn innocence of the young, taking with them their dear departed pets for burial. A sad place maybe, but safe. Surely a safe place. Not a place to seep into your dreams, to wake you, sweating with fear and foreboding...

Bespreking

Lazarus, come forth!

Dr Louis Creed is uneasy as he drives his family, wife Rachel, children Eileen and Gage, and cat to their new home, a rambling white-frame house on the outskirts of Ludlow, New England. The children are tearful, Rachel is short-tempered. But the place is just perfect and the family meets Jud Crandall, an old and wily neighbour. He takes them exploring and shows them the Pet Sematary, where local children have buried their pets for generations. Only Eileen is slightly disgruntled. After all, her beloved cat is going to live for ever...

This horror story is so well-written that it simply must be classified as a 'Classic'. It has a bone-chilling suspense, very convincing characters with 'real' emotions and a plot-line that cannot disappoint. Although the decisions Louis Creed takes are quite unconventional, Stephen King still succeeds in letting them seem quite the natural to do. Even while reading this book I was constantly wondering: "What should I do if confronted with such a situation?", and I guess that's a really good sign.

But there is much more. This book has a depth that reaches far beyond the average horror story. Like the author himself has confessed it showed him levels of blackness that he had "no desire to re-visit". And I could not agree more. The main theme is clearly "death", or to use the words of Zelda, the sister of Rachel: "Oz the Gweat and Tewwible". But Stephen approaches this theme in such a personal way that the reader is bound the get a bit uncomfortable. It sneakily whispers into your ears that death might actually not be as far in the future as you like to believe. This makes this book ever creepier. So, be prepared to be thrilled in more than one way.