Exploring Stephen King’s “Pet Semetary.” We all talk about the fear of death as it applies to horror, and certainly, most people fear death. But I’d argue that most of us fear losing people that we care about as much or more than losing our own lives. If only for this fact: almost all of us have had people we love die, but I’m assuming the majority of the people reading this haven’t died quite yet and don’t know what it’s like. If any undead people want to speak up on their experiences, however, go for it.

“Pet Semetary” Gage

What I find interesting about a lot of horrors is that the most frightening scenes don’t happen to our protagonist directly. When I think of stories like Pet Sematary by Stephen King, one of my favorite books, what’s the scene that always stands out to most readers? What is the scene that most fans of that book bring up that messed with them?

It’s the scene where Gage dies.

Gage died by getting hit by a truck while playing in the road. Tragedies like this one can and does happen to children, and that makes the scene stand out in a lot of people’s heads.

To me, Pet Sematary is a book about a family that falls apart because of a momentary decision. Jud, taking Louis to bury Church, knowing and possibly because of the Pet Sematary’s power. Every single decision that Louis tried to make to rectify it only causes more tragedies. At the novel’s conclusion, what happens to Louis, the character we’re supposed to identify with, is almost incidental. Because we do identify with him, and if a lot of us were in the same circumstance and survived, we wouldn’t know what to do. There’s no future after that.

That’s why it’s scary.