The ending to Pet Sematary...boy, I have feelings.

I just finished reading Pet Sematary last night and I am utterly gutted. The last time I read it was over 15 years ago and I barely remember the film adaptation (the good one, of course), so the ending came as a pleasant and sad surprise to me.

I have not read a ton of SK books despite him being my favorite author (this is something that I am working on now that I'm getting back into reading), but the last couple of chapters are so utterly visceral and horrifically sad. The absolute chokehold that the power of the burial site had on Louis was tragic; I couldn't even feel angry at him because he was helpless to its influence. His rapid descent into madness, his hair going gray, his immediate decision to take Rachel to the Micmac burial grounds despite everything that's happened.

The fact that Louis also inadvertently abandoned his daughter, the one he was supposed to keep loving and protecting after Gage died, was what gutted me the most. I can't even imagine the pain she would feel the rest of her life; it's clear that she had the shine, and she would be haunted the rest of her days. Ugh.

Most of all, the final line of the book chilled me to the core. And I couldn't help but wonder, could Louis possibly have been right about the timing of the burials? Maybe Rachel was seconds from attacking him at the end, but maybe she was of a gentler sort. I love the ambiguity of it, and the implications. I know that even the most hard-core King fans talk about how his endings usually aren't that great or fulfilling, but man, this ending is right up there with Misery for me. I won't forget it anytime soon.

I suppose I just wanted to unload my feelings here; I'm curious about others' interpretations and thoughts as well. Up next on my reading list upon my wife's insistence: Insomnia!