Picture your beloved family, imagine them being taken away from you by Death and his minions. Okay, now envision them coming back to life to -- drumroll please -- kill you! Welcome to Pet Sematary (1983) by Stephen King.

The story follows the Creed family, who moved from Boston to Ludlow, Maine. The family finds themselves living in a house with a cemetery in its property boundaries. An old couple named Jud and Norma Crandell, live across the way from the Creeds. One day, Jud Crandell comes by to meet the new neighbors. He asks if they knew about the cemetery. Not long after, Rachael (the mom), Gage (the youngest child of the Creed family), and Ellie Creed (the eldest child of the Creed family) leave for Florida. They leave to celebrate Thanksgiving with their grandparents. However, Luis Creed has to stay behind to continue his studies at medical school. But then, disaster strikes!

The most relevant question that this book asks of its characters and the readers is: How far will you go to bring back what you love the most? Almost all the characters in Pet Sematary are grief-stricken people who have lost someone that they loved. Most, if not all, people fear death or losing someone they love. This book makes people wonder how far they’ll go to bring back a loved one.

In my opinion, this book is a great horror novel and by far one of the best by Stephen King. King, who has been writing prolific novels for over four decades, has never ceased to astound his audiences. With Pet Sematary, he certainly does it again! This book is thought-provoking and very scary. It’s a fun book to read and has many unexpected plot twists. However, this book is not for children. Some of the reasons why are:

1. This book has lots of profanity which isn’t suitable for younger audiences.

2. Certain scenes in this book are pretty scary. If you or your child are easily scared then I wouldn't recommend this book.

3. Certain scenes in this book have content not suitable for younger audiences so I wouldn’t recommend this book to your kids.

I would recommend Pet Sematary to older audiences, but this definitely isn’t a book for children or the faint of heart. If you’re ready for a thrill, then this is a great book for you!

I rate this: ★★★★★ out of 8 IB stars!