Pet Sematary was the first Stephen King novel I ever read, and since then, I’ve read everything he’s written. He makes you care about the characters. He makes you feel their surroundings, breathe the air, and then he punches you right in the gut with the scary stuff.

With Pet Sematary, he made us believe that it’s possible to bring back those you love. But, it’s not always best to do so.

When faced with choices in traumatic situations, our judgement is sometimes flawed. And that makes for good horror. Human error, arrogance, or plain selfishness, are all great driving forces for horror stories. We have all experienced at least one of those three things at one time or another. That’s what makes us human, and vulnerable.

I’ve read many horror novels over the years, but to this day, Pet Sematary is still the scariest novel I’ve ever read. There are other great horror novels, but to me, Pet Sematary stands out the most.

Every time I read it (I’ve read it a few times), the picture it paints in my mind is too dark for any canvas. It’s art in its purest form—words on a page that scare the hell out of you. And that’s what horror is all about.