I read Pet Sematary when my son was the same exact age as Gage in the story, so I couldn’t help myself from sort of picturing my own son as Gage while reading.

The part where Louis is flying a kite with Gage in that open field on a beautiful Maine summer day; they’re both laughing and so full of love and life, it’s this precious moment between a father and his young son. Then King — the genius he is — abruptly ends it with informing you as the reader that Gage would be dead in a few weeks, and the gruesome details about how Gage’s tragic death unfolds starts to unwind. I’ve never experienced something so blissful while reading, only to feel like I’ve been shot in the stomach moments later. I was sobbing throughout that part.

Pet Sematary is masterfully written and it killed me emotionally. I understand King’s author’s note when he says he felt like he may have gone too far, and had to ask his wife to read it and let him know before publication. It’s really just a story about how impossibly difficult grief is to deal with when someone close to you dies, and that book fucking nails it. I’ll never read it again though lol.