Pet Sematary is unquestionably Stephen King’s darkest novel. In the introduction to my copy, he admits he wasn’t sure he wanted to put this one out there.
While there are plenty of supernatural aspects to the novel, particularly in the later segments, Sematary stands apart from King’s other works by delving into real-life tragedy and horror. It’s a bleak, stark, and unflinching look into the everyday fears we all share. What if I die tomorrow in a car crash? What if I am diagnosed with cancer? What if my child is killed? King tackles humanity’s most haunting questions head-on, and it’s what makes Sematary so powerful and, at times, so difficult to get through, especially if you’re experiencing or have experienced tragedy in your own life.
Whether readers find Pet Sematary palatable or cathartic is largely up to the individual, but calling it a simple horror story is to do the novel a disservice. Despite its absurd premise (a graveyard that brings dead creatures back to life), there is considerable pathos to be found here. King reflects on many of the darker aspects of human nature regarding death and how we deal with the loss of a loved one. And, in typical King fashion, there’s no denying his talent for making you empathize with his characters, even when the Edgar-Allen-Poe-actions they take lead to the most disastrous of outcomes.
The Art of Storytelling 
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