Pet Sematary - by Stephen King

About the Book

When Dr. Louis Creed takes a new job and moves his family to the idyllic rural town of Ludlow, Maine, this new beginning seems too good to be true. Yet despite Ludlow's tranquility, an undercurrent of danger exists here. Those trucks on the road outside the Creeds' beautiful old home travel by just a little too quickly, for one thing ... as is evidenced by the makeshift pet cemetary in the nearby woods. Then there are the warnings to Louis, both real and from the depths of his nightmares that he should not venture beyond the borders of this little graveyard. A blood-chilling truth is hidden there--one more terrifying than death itself, and hideously more powerful. An ominous fate befalls anyone who dares to tamper with this forbidden place, as Louis is about to discover himself. As the story unfolds, so does a nightmare of the supernatural, one so relentless you might not want to continue reading but will be unable to stop.

Book Synopsis

Stephen King's #1 New York Times bestseller is a "wild, powerful, disturbing" (The Washington Post Book World) classic about evil that exists far beyond the grave--among his most iconic and frightening novels.

When Dr. Louis Creed takes a new job and moves his family to the idyllic rural town of Ludlow, Maine, this new beginning seems too good to be true. Despite Ludlow's tranquility, an undercurrent of danger exists here. Those trucks on the road outside the Creed's beautiful old home travel by just a little too quickly, for one thing...as is evidenced by the makeshift graveyard in the nearby woods where generations of children have buried their beloved pets. Then there are the warnings to Louis both real and from the depths of his nightmares that he should not venture beyond the borders of this little graveyard where another burial ground lures with seductive promises and ungodly temptations. A blood-chilling truth is hidden there--one more terrifying than death itself, and hideously more powerful. As Louis is about to discover for himself sometimes, dead is better...

Review Quotes

"A stunner....King gets you to believe the unbelievable." --Detroit News

"The most frightening novel Stephen King has ever written." --Publishers Weekly

"Unrelenting, convincing...awesome power...his best yet!" --Pittsburgh Press

"Wild, powerful, disturbing." --Washington Post Book World

About the Author

Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.