Pet Sematary by Stephen King is a landmark 1983 gothic horror novel widely considered by critics—and King himself—to be his most terrifying and deeply disturbing book. Heavily inspired by W.W. Jacobs’s classic short story “The Monkey’s Paw,” the novel serves as a dark, psychological exploration of the raw weight of mourning, fatal denial, and the horrifying lengths to which a person will go to refuse to let a loved one go.

The house looked right, felt right to Dr Louis Creed.

Rambling, old, unsmart and comfortable. A place where the family could settle; the children grow and play and explore. The rolling hills and meadows of Maine seemed a world away from the fume-choked dangers of Chicago.

Only the occasional big truck out on the two-lane highway, grinding up through the gears, hammering down the long gradients, growled out an intrusive threat.

But behind the house and far away from the road: that was safe. Just a carefully cleared path up into the woods where generations of local children have processed with the solemn innocence of the young, taking with them their dear departed pets for burial.

A sad place maybe, but safe. Surely a safe place. Not a place to seep into your dreams, to wake you, sweating with fear and foreboding.