10 Facts About Stephen King’s Pet Sematary

I love horror movies and absolutely loved Pet Sematary, Well now I love it but when I watched it long ago in my childhood days it was absolutely terrifying, I read the novel as well after watching the movie which turns out to be more hellish then I imagined. So today i thought to do a fact post about this great movie thrill. Here is a little intro then you can jump to facts.

Pet Sematary is a 1983 horror novel by Stephen King, nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1984 and adapted into a 1989 film of the same name. In November 2013, PS Publishing released Pet Sematary in a limited 30th Anniversary Edition. Source IMDB

The Creeds have just moved to a new house in the countryside. Their house is perfect, except for two things: the semi-trailers that roar past on the narrow road, and the mysterious cemetary in the woods behind the house. The Creed’s neighbours are reluctant to talk about the cemetary, and for good reason too.

1. In Stephen King’s novel, Judd mentions that a dog went wild in a nearby town and killed several people. This is a reference to the events of Cujo (1983), another novel by King. It is common for characters in King’s novels to mention the events of his other novels.
2. The role of Zelda, Rachael’s dying sister, was played by a man. Director Mary Lambertwanted Zelda and her scenes to frighten the audience but did not believe that a 13-year old girl was scary so she cast Andrew Hubatsek in the role to make something be “off about Zelda”.
3. During the film, the character played by Fred Gwynne mentions that he a had a pet named “Spot”. “Spot” was also the name of the family pet on the TV show The Munsters(1964), also starring Gwynne.
4. The film was shot on location in the same rural Maine area that Stephen King set the novel “Pet Sematary.”
5. When Stephen King first wrote the manuscript for Pet Sematary he shelved it when friends and family hated it.
6. The story was inspired by actual events experienced by Stephen King that occurred while he was living in Orington, Maine with his family. King recalled that while living there his daughter’s cat was killed in the highway. Much of Ellie Creed’s emotional outburst was taken directly from King’s own grief-stricken daughter. King also remembered that once his youngest son had nearly run into the road while a truck was speeding down it, much like Gage does in film. The character of Judd Crandall was based on the elderly neighbor that lived across the road from King. Also there was an actual pet cemetery in the woods behind the King house, which became the basis for the one in the novel.
7. The idea for this story came about when Stephen King’s daughter’s cat, Smuckey, was killed on the highway outside their home.
8. Stephen King is a big fan of the Ramones and referenced some of their songs in the novel Pet Sematary. In homage, The Ramones wrote and performed the theme song “Pet Sematary”, which is featured in the films closing credits.
9. Stephen King required the movie to be filmed in Maine and his screenplay to be followed rigorously.
10. The Micmac burial ground in the film was constructed upon an actual mountain top. According to director Mary Lambert bulldozers were brought in to build the stone mounds.