The horrors of Maine: pace, place and regionalism in Stephen King’s 'Pet sematary'

Work on regionalist writers such as Sarah Orne Jewett and Mary Wilkins Freeman has long emphasised the use of a specified geographical location and a deep authorial, emotional connection to its physical environment, customs and idiosyncrasies. This article seeks to explore these ideas more fully by examining a rather different text, Stephen King’s modern horror tale Pet Sematary, within a regionalist framework, arguing that the intricate blending of real-life locations with a detailed fictional geography is important to the success of the work. It supplies a degree of authenticity conducive to sustaining a convincing supernatural narrative.