Yeah, it might be. Pet Sematary was a hard one. In fact, in an interview I once read with King, he said it was the one novel he regretted having published. I know everyone in this thread is a King fan, so I don’t know how necessary spoilers are, but since you asked about the book, maybe you don’t know, so I’ll go ahead and box it anyway:
Pets buried in the ‘pet sematary’ do indeed come back to life, but they are evil, vicious shadows of their former loving selves; it’s bad enough when he finds this out with his cat, but even worse when he tries it with his young son, killed in a trucking accident. Then, in a final act of lunacy, with his deceased wife.:eek:
I will say, though, that it was very effectively scary, and it, too, has one of those great, shudder-inducing closing lines I love so very, very much.
IMO, Pet Sematary is a fantastic book, but it’s very scary. I’m not really the type to get scared at books - as in, I need to keep the light on or have nightmares or anything when reading horror - but that book is seriously creepy and scary. It’s the scariest he’s done, IMO. I’d not start with that one, I don’t think.
Unless you think that might be his thing - then go to.
Like mentioned up above, The Eyes of the Dragon is a very easy read, goes quickly, and is very storytale-ish. It’s got some creepy parts, but nothing all out horrifying. It captures you fast, holds your attention throughout, but isn’t very long (thus, not discouraging). After you hook him with some short stories, try giving him this book. Really.
Yeah, he wouldn’t enjoy Pet Sematary. If he starts his reading assignment today, it’ll be The Long Walk, because the other books haven’t arrived yet. Otherwise, I’ll start him on the short stories or The Eyes of the Dragon.
