Pet Sematary - My favorite Sematary Yet!

Before I forget to do this, like I have with one or two other books...it'll get done eventually...I introduce you to my all time favorite Stephen King Movie/Book. With this one, I must admit, the book and movie are on the same level of awesomeness. Neither really changes vital facts (except one that kind of annoyed me), but I *do* love the movie's take on the last scene. (as I cannot find a good youtube vid of the last scene I guess you'll just have to watch it all : ) it might be good for you to get the old heart pumping a little bit) One thing it took a little to get used to was the whole 'wrong spelling' of cemetery, because I kept trying -and failing- to look it up, until I *finally* realized I was spelling it a different way. All those wasted minutes...oh well.

Pet Sematary opens (WARNING: book does include some snippets of sexual stuff between Louis and Rachel, and cussing, but nothing too bad) with Louis moving his family to a new house for his new job. They meet the neighborly neighbors, Jud and his wife (whose name I forget at the moment), and something I guess was implied in the movie is made a little clearer. Jud is like the dad Louis never had, so just know there's a strong connection there. Rachel is kind of manupulative, but hey, what else are wives there for? Just kidding. *looks nervously over shoulder*

It is established that the road (path, whatever) leaving their back yard goes to the pet sematary, and Jud plans on taking them there sometime that week. Louis' little girl has a cat, Winston Churchhill -Church for short. Jud says, in true Yankee form, that 'that there rud has killed many a pet' (please use an accent when repeating that to yourself) and later suggests they get Church neutered for his safety. Gage, their littlest kid, is packed on daddy's back for their 2 or 3 mile hike to the sematary. Apparently the graves are in concentric circles (think: spirals/little circles encasing each other) which try to mimic the Mic Mac Indian Burial grounds we have yet to be introduced to. This visit leads to Ellie (their daughter) having a little breakdown about being scared Church is going to be lunch for vultures after being splattered across the road. Rachel, who has a traumatic past with death, gets really mad and has a big fight with Louis.

What is it about Indians and their burial grounds? Pet Sematary, Poltergeist? What makes those places so 'spooky' and easily haunted? That's never quite made sense to me. But, moving on...

So Louis starts his job at the college, and eventually the true action starts when a kid is brought in after getting hit by a car. His brain is almost falling out of a hole in his skull (love the movie for this) and after he dies and is alone with Louis he turns his head and talks to him. "A man's heart is stonier, Louis." referring to the burial ground, and something about 'a man grows what he can...and tends to it'. But I still don't know what that one means in the context of this book. Louis is pretty freaked out by this, but goes home and dreams about the dead dude coming and making him go to the grave yard. After realizing this couldn't possibly be a dream Louis freaks out even *more* (wimp) and collapses on the ground a fit of hysteria. He wakes up in bed, at home, and sighs happily while hoping that never happens again. As he gets out of bed he sees his feet covered in mud, and anxiously hides the sheets in the laundry shoot before Rachel sees the mud stains. (Oh no! My dream was real! or maybe I just sleep walk?)

Louis sends off his family for Thanksgiving, and does not follow because of tension between him and Rachel's father. There was some big thing and both hate each other...blah blah blah...yada yada yada...not a happy family reunion. So he stays and hangs out with Jud and his wife a lot.
Ring, ring, ring.
Hello?
Hey Louis, I think your cat is dead on my lawn...mind taking care of this so I don't get infected with whatever diseases it might have? OK, thanks, btw bring your own garbage bag. See ya.

So Louis identifies his cat and chats with Jud about what to do. Jud decides to help him because he would hate to see Ellie lose her cat so early in life. He takes Jud beyond the sematary and through the swampy thing, over the wood stuff, and finally up a stone wall. They reach the burial grounds and Jud smokes while handing Louis the pick and shovel. *have fun there buddy*.

Late that night/early that morning Louis gets back and lies through a phone call from Ellie and Rachel. So far, so good. A day or two later *BAM* Church is back, graceless, and stinky. Yay : |  After being thoroughly scared to death by his own kittie he runs over to Jud and asks what happened. Of course Jud isn't home, but it all gets asked in good time. Rachel, Ellie, and Gage return and after some pages/chapters, we find no one likes Church anymore. Poor cat. Brought back from the dead just to be kicked around and shoved outside. I would be upset too! I mean, at least give the thing a treat or something!?!

Later, Gage helps daddy fly a kite while the fam watches, but he gets away while Louis is distracted and (after creating a whole chase scene) gets hit by a truck. Fun times, eh? So everybody's messed up, Rachel is sedated, and Louis is fairly catatonic by this point. They have the funeral, the father-in-law proves to be a bigger jerk then previously thought, and everything gets a little bit worse. Louis decides unconsciously, or so we believe, to revive Gage with the Indian Boogie Lands (Tm), and Jud still tries to convince him not to. Louis easily convinces Ellie and Rachel to visit the in-laws, but both see he's hiding something. Ellie has more creepy dreams about people dying -good stuff all around.

Louis keeps trying to talk himself out of doing this, but consequently talks himself back into it seconds later. We read on as he flings himself into a tree and maneuvers over the huge fence surrounding the cemetery, then sprains his ankle. Bad sign? I think so. He gets his stuff (pick and shovel) and finds the grave. Dig, dig, dig, dig, hours later, dig, dig, dig, clunk. He purposely, and to Jud's suspicious knowledge, got an easily removable grave covering to be buried around the casket. He finally braves to open the thing after beating the lock to death (and beyond...) with his shovel. Apparently he simplifies his thoughts with a "They did the best they could" and gathers the increasingly limp body of Gage, then fumbles his crazy way back out of the cemetery. Somehow I doubt many would think Louis 'sane' at this point, but we do see some sparks of normal thought, but these come only in intervals and are quickly squashed by the driving force of the book.

He wrapped Gage, or whats left of him anyway, into a bag and shoves it in his car when no one is in the street. He drives past the house ( I assume) but Jud, who was keeping watch, has been put to sleep by the Indian Boogie Land Monster (Tm). Louis carries Gage to the burial lands, after meeting some interesting forest friends, and buries him. After limping home stiff and tired, Louis passes out on the bed with his doctor bag on the floor. Incidentally Gage comes back that same night and takes a scalpel from said bag.

Evil Baby (Tm?), accompanied by Evil Kittay -stench not included, sold separately, along with stage blood- go over to Jud's house and eventually kill him. Poor Jud. So Jud lies there half bitten, half stabbed, to death, and Rachel has enough creepy happenings in Chicago to decide to come home and check on Louis. Needless to say, she arrives after Jud is dead, but soon enough to meet Evil Baby and Evil Kittay in all their stinky glory. Presumably splattered in blood and slightly dead looking, Evil Baby stabs Mum to death and turns to Father for more 'play time'. Dad is awake by this point and notices a strange car outside Jud's house (The rental car Rachel used to get there) and checks the house after seeing muddy footprints. Eerily the phone rings, followed by what I imagine to be ghostly horror movie music, and it's Rachel's Pappy making sure she got there all right.

"Is Rachel there?"
"What?" looks at other car. "Umm, sure, she's here."
"Good. Put her on the phone, Ellie thinks she's dead."
Pause.
"She had a dream that Rachel was dead, put her on the phone!"
"Yeah, ummmm, I'm gunna have to go....."
Click.

Action music ensues as Louis rushes across the street with crazed eyes and what I like to call "psycho people" drool on his face. (Drool added for effect) OH NO! Where is Jud, and Rachel? I *knew* they were having an affair! Wait, why is a baby laughing? They brought Gage along to watch! How horrible! Wait! WHY IS THERE BLOOD!?!?! NOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo.....

Anywho, Louis runs around with syringes full of morphine (if I remember correctly) and hopes Gage will come to him so he can kill him. What a touching reunion. -Gageypoo? Come here, daddy has a surprise for you! Come on gageypoo, come here! Daddy's little dead boy needs to come here and get his surprise...- Gage does come, but only after Louis sees Jud and Rachel in various states of deadness. Oh the sorrow, oh the regret! Or not. He kills Gage after being stabbed a couple of times (and in the movie bitten) then sets the house on fire and drags Rachel to the burial ground.

Louis sits alone in his kitchen, muddy and bleeding from multiple stab wounds, when the quite dead looking Rachel opens the door. The tragic part, also the part that I love, is how happy Louis looks. He genuinely thinks everything will be ok when someone who technically looks like a zombie with half a face walks in and starts kissing him. While kissing said alive husband, Zombie Wife picks up a knife off the kitchen table. NO! is heard as the credits start to role.

Brilliant.
I love it.
Best Stephen King....EVER!

: )    ^_^    : D    ^,_,^

ENDING POINTS:
+ Story, while long, held suspense all the way through.
+ GOD I LOVE THE ENDING!!!!!
-  I hate how mean they are to Church, Hey, it's not *his* fault you made him come back like that!
-  Does have a few questionable scenes, but they're short.
+ Love the connection between Jud and Louis
+ Love how we see Louis thinking before/during his cemetery run.
+ Laughed out loud after trying to talk like Jud : )
- In the movie Jud has no wife...but in the book she was fairly important...oh well