Pet Sematary

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Michael C. Hall

Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Never before available on unabridged audio! Dexter's Michael C. Hall reads this classic horror story described by Publishers Weekly as the "most frightening novel Stephen King has ever written".

When Dr. Louis Creed takes a new job and moves his family to the idyllic, rural town of Ludlow, Maine, this new beginning seems too good to be true. Yet despite Ludlow's tranquility, there's an undercurrent of danger that lingers...like the graveyard in the woods near the Creeds' home, where generations of children have buried their beloved pets.

Behind the "pet sematary", there is another burial ground, one that lures people to it with seductive promises...and ungodly temptations. A blood-chilling truth is hidden there - one more terrifying than death itself and hideously more powerful. An ominous fate befalls anyone who dares tamper with this forbidden place, as Louis is about to discover for himself....

©1983 Stephen King (P)2018 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

"The narrator is Michael C. Hall ("Dexter"), who can now add an Earphones Award to his resume.... Hall's narration captures the surprising humanity found on the page, but his voice becomes appropriately grim as the story barrels toward the inevitable darkness." (AudioFile)

The soil of a man's heart is stonier. A man

loved how this was delivered. such a wonderful job. couldn't stop listening. had heard/seen/read before but once I saw Hall was narrating was sold. chills and thrills with a wonderful voice! cheers

Worth the wait...

I've been eagerly awaiting this audiobook since I first heard that it was being narrated by Michael C. Hall. I love Stephen King. However, I have been sorely disappointed with the majority of narrators chosen to perform his novels. Namely Campbell Scott whose monotone narration literally ruined my two favorite King books. So, when I saw the pairing of this classic with Hall, I was beside myself. And it was definitely worth the wait. I'm only a quarter of the way into it, but I've read the story before so I can say firsthand that Hall definitely delivers. It's like a breath of fresh air after so many disappointments.

This may contain a spoiler for those of you who may not already know the entire story, but nothing too direct. I will just say that this is one of his darkest and most heart wrenching novels to date. I've had two children and God only knows what lengths I would go to to bring them back if something were to happen. One can only hope to never be put in Louis' shoes.

Alot of build up

Ifelt like the whole book was building up to a very big thing...... but then the end came and i was left very let down. Very anti climactic

Good story but

I enjoyed the book I just wish that it would have been a little longer and I would have loved to have gotten a lil back history on the burial ground.

I love Stephen King - But....

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who loves suspense.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Well, the story is just not that believable. Lewis falls for the dangling carrot way to easily. His father-in-law thinks he's an idiot. Maybe the father-in-law is right.

I realize that grief can lead people to make unwarranted decisions but in this story's case, the major, story driven decisions seem to have been prior to any emotional challenges. The story was pretty stupid.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite was the first trip up into the pet "sematary."

The most powerful was when something was slowly coming up the stairs.

If you could rename Pet Sematary, what would you call it?

The Great Oz.

Any additional comments?

It was very suspenseful and pretty frightening at times. I typically listen before I fall asleep but there were several times when I had to stop listening to the book because it made me too uneasy lying down by myself in a dark room. i don't usually get scared by books but this book brought me to the edge several times. The story is pretty stupid though.

Best King Book

It’s hard to chose a favorite Stephen King book, but this is surely one of his best—his best to me, at least. It does just enough story telling and tone setting; the horror aspect, however, borderline touches too much (in the good way).

Michael C. Hall has the perfect voice for this audiobook. It crackles a little weird when he does the female voices, but his voices of Louis and Judd are perfect. His Judd impression is especially spot on; if you’ve seen the movie, he sounds very close to Fred Gwynne (RIP). All things aside, this might be my favorite performance by Michael C. Hall; his show “Dexter” formerly airing on ShowTime is not an easy feat to surpass, but the man has the perfect voice for the amount of unease this book portrays.

Big thank you to him, and whomever casted him—for making this come to fruition.

A dark delve into grief

This book invoked what could possibly go wrong if one believes that they have the key to beat death. The dark rollercoaster of grief and the opposite of healthy processesing. Despite every logical caution the siren song of what lies beyond the “Pet Sematary” proves too strong over and over for those in Ludlow.

In my opinion this was one of Michael C Hall’s finest audiobook performances. His Yankee accent is spot on!

Michael C Hall crushes it w/spookiness King'd love

MCH puts on just the right amount of 'voices' to deliver one of my favorite King novels perfectly - lots of the child I remember, and I particularly enjoy his Judd.

simply amazing

narration was amazing. classic horror. my favorite performance by far. could not get enough. recommended to any horror fan.

Dexter reads Pet Semetaty

Huge Stephen King fan. Huge Michael C Hall fan. This audio book rocked my socks.