Stephen King is rightfully considered one of the key figures in mystical literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. His books still chill blood in the veins of readers, although many of them are already many years old. Let's look at the history of writing and the summary of the novel "Pet Cemetery", which the author considered one of his worst works. We also learn how critics and ordinary readers reacted to it.
His Highness the King of Horrors
The story of Stephen King can compete in fascination with works that have come out of his pen.
When he was still very tiny, his father left them with his mother and younger brother to the mercy of fate and never saw them again.
Having lived a childhood in extreme poverty, the future writer nearly died several times. First, from a severe form of measles, and then from an antibiotic-resistant ear infection.
When a young man began to write his first works in the genre of horror and sell them to his comrades at school, he was severely punished, saying that creating such literature was not a worthy and unpromising task.
Despite this, Stephen continued to write stories, hoping that one day they would be printed. Despite the prohibitions, he secretly distributed sarcastic essays about the life of teachers throughout the school, for which he was almost expelled from school.
After graduating from it, King managed to enter the university at the faculty of English literature, while simultaneously studying at teacher training courses.
Having received diplomas, he began to work as a teacher, without stopping writing. However, his literary opuses and a modest salary hardly made it possible to make ends meet.
The real breakthrough was the novel "Carrie" (1974), which the writer more than once wanted to abandon, but the spouse, after reading the manuscript, insisted on continuing to work on it, and was right. The book brought fame to its creator and allowed to leave work at school and devote himself completely to his favorite pastime.
In total, more than 50 novels came out from the pen of the author, not counting countless short stories. Not all of them were equally accepted by the public, but the majority became the basis for the so-called horror culture and to this day are unsurpassed in their kind.
The Story of Writing The Pet Cemetery
In 1979, King was already a famous author, but his fees were barely enough for life, and Stephen taught writing at the University of Maine. Not far from him, the King couple rented a mansion. Soon they learned that local children organized a pet cemetery nearby, where they buried all the animals, which often died under the wheels of cars on the highway.
Once, Stephen’s pet, Smaki’s cat, also died. Upon learning about this, the young daughter of the writer suffered a loss, and King himself began to fantasize about what would have happened if the cat had risen and returned home.
Experiencing the death of a pet, the writer began to fear that his young son, who had barely learned to walk, might also get hit by a car.
All these thoughts and events prompted the author to create the book "Cemetery of Pets" (a summary in paragraph 4).
The writing of this work took as much as 3 years. However, after its completion, instead of publishing, Stephen King hid the novel in a chest of drawers and decided to never publish it.
Why the author did not want to publish the book, and how it still appeared on bookshelves
Before you learn the plot of the novel "Cemetery of Pets", it will be interesting to familiarize yourself with the history of publication of the book. The fact is that after its completion, Stephen's wife and his close friend (to whom he gave the manuscript to be appreciated) condemned the new novel and advised never to publish it.
King obeyed, because he himself was scared of this story, which he considered the darkest of all that he had written at that time. So the book was gathering dust for several years.
However, in 1983, King began to have problems with his publisher, Doubleday. The fact is that having concluded an unprofitable contract for himself at the beginning of his career, Stephen now received only "crumbs" from the profits brought by his books. In an effort to break out of this bondage, and at the same time to get the money owed to him, the writer exchanged freedom for the “Pet Cemetery” (a summary in the next paragraph).
By the fall of the same year, the novel went on sale and was greeted by readers with extraordinary enthusiasm. In 1989, 4.4 million copies of the book were sold.
As for Stephen King himself, he gained independence and substantial payments under the contract. But later he himself admitted that if it were not for financial difficulties, he would not have published the novel, since it did not reflect his moral principles, and, moreover, drove the author himself into a severe depression.
Summary of Pet Graveyards by Stephen King
So what is this book about that even scared its creator so much? In many ways, it is autobiographical. The plot focuses on a young Creed family (Luis and Rachel with two children), who are moving to the suburbs. That is, everything is like the King's when they moved to live in Orrington.
Further more. Once, while a wife and children were not at home, their cat was hit by a car. Knowing how the Creed's daughter is tied to a pet, a neighbor leads Luis to a pet cemetery nearby. But at the same time he advises him to bury the cat in the neighboring Indian cemetery of the Mikmak tribe.
The man does so, and the next morning the cat returns, as if nothing had happened. Outwardly, he is almost the same as he was. True, it becomes more cruel and passive, in addition, it constantly stinks of carrion, and this smell is not removed in any way. Despite all these shortcomings, the man gradually resigns himself to the new appearance of Church.
A few months later, the son of Creeds. Gadget, gets hit by a car and dies. Louis is desperate and comes to the point that he decides to revive his son by the means of the old Indian cemetery.
The neighbor guesses his thoughts and tries to stop. He tells how during the Second World War the son of one of the local residents died at the front. When the coffin was brought home, the old man secretly reburied his son, and he soon returned. However, he looked like a guy only outwardly, since a certain ancient evil spirit had infused his body. Realizing the perfect, his father killed him and committed suicide.
Despite this warning, Louis nevertheless fulfills his plan, having first sent his wife and daughter out of the house.
The creature that moved into the revived Gadget waits until the "father" falls asleep and, taking his scalpel, visits his neighbor. Laughing at him enough, he kills him.
Meanwhile, the daughter of Creeds has a dream in which she is warned about her father’s deed and consequences. She talks about everything to her mother, and she, leaving her in the care of relatives, strives home to stop her husband.
She arrives in time for the moment when the “son” kills her neighbor, and when she meets her, she deals with her.
While all this is happening, Louis wakes up and learns the truth about what happened. He prepares a lethal dose of morphine and kills Gaj and Church, and then burns their bodies along with his neighbor’s house.
As for his wife, he believes that he can return her and therefore buries her in an Indian cemetery, hoping that she will return to normal.
In the final, she returns, but, apparently, the same demon lives inside her.
The problems of the novel
After reviewing the contents of a brief "Pet Cemeteries" by Stephen King, it is worth analyzing its problems.
The main theme of this work is certainly death and its impact on people. The author manages to approach this issue from different angles. So, he shows the horror of her irrevocability for those who have lost loved ones, and the routine for everyone around.
The problem of loss is carefully prepared by King. All the heroes of the novel pass the test in this way, and not one can cope. Everyone surrenders and applies the "magical" power of the cemetery, knowing full well the consequences. But their grief is so great that they are ready to take a chance, contra spem spero (hoping without hope). But in this dark tale, the expected miracle does not occur.
Another keynote of “Pet Cemeteries” (summarized above) is people's reluctance to change. So, returning the cat to life, the protagonist does not yet know what this threatens him with, and as a result loses his son. Trying to return him, he already knows that he will not get exactly what he wanted, and he will probably have to "pay" for it with someone's life. But Louis is too focused on himself and his suffering to accept the truth and begin to live on with those who remain with him.
As a result, he again loses almost everyone, but he still has a daughter, which can become that new beginning. But in order to continue living, one must take responsibility and accept what happened. And Louis doesn’t want this - it’s easier to suffer and feel sorry for yourself. Therefore, he subconsciously strives for death and "returns" to his spouse. This time, sacrificing not only himself, but also the future of his own daughter, who is likely to be killed by "mother".
Criticism reviews about the work
Having learned the problems and the summary of "Pet Cemeteries", it is worth reading the reviews of critics on it.
At the time of the novel's release, most literary publications considered it the worst of what King had written.
Critics from Time magazine believed that the author should urgently write a sequel to the book. And the British newspaper The Guardian praised the narrative style itself and its deep psychology.
Some critics called the novel a modern interpretation of Frankenstein, while others compared the main character with Faust Goethe, who renounced all his ideas and knowledge in an effort to gain immortality. True, in this book, not for myself, but for relatives.
What did readers like about the novel?
How did ordinary people, not so sophisticated in literature, perceive this creation of Stephen King?
In most forums, readers are clearly divided into those who praise or criticize the book. The former most often admire the atmosphere of the work, which makes you shudder. Moreover, some noted that after reading the “Pet Cemeteries” they could not recover and looked anxiously at stray cats on the street.
Others praised the talent of the author, which allowed him to describe the characters' characters so deeply that some readers found parts of themselves in them.
What did not like
As for the negative reviews, most of them criticize not the plot, but the manner of writing. So, some readers found the book more boring than other King’s novels.
At the same time, some of those who did not like her, believe that such an attitude may be due to the satiety of modern man with horror movies, which is why it is difficult to surprise him with anything.
Adaptations of the work
Knowing the summary of "Pet Cemeteries", it is worth considering the adaptation of this work.
The novel was first filmed in 1989. The script for the film was written by King himself, who, moreover, played a small role in it - the priest.
Despite some shortcomings, the tape proved to be excellent at the box office and earned 5 times more than wasted.
This success allowed in 1992 to release a continuation of the project. This time, Stephen King had nothing to do with him, and the script was written by Richard Outten.
Although the picture was inferior to the original, it still managed to double the box office, although in many respects it was the merit of the leading actor Edward Furlong, who had previously played John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Since it’s no secret to anyone that ideas in Hollywood have long run out, next year they plan to shoot a remake of “Pet Cemeteries”. According to preliminary data, the main roles in the film will go to Jason Clark and John Lithgow.
Whether it will be a decent adaptation of the book or another worthless nonsense - time will tell, especially since there is not a long time left - the premiere is scheduled for April 2019. So fans of the novel - keep your fists for good luck.