PET SEMATARY: Where’s the Wendigo?

We got to *hear* it. Shuffling around in the woods. We even got to hear it howl once. And there was a picture of it in the book that John Lithgow’s character showed to his neighbor. But I was a tad disappointed that we never got to see the Wendigo in the flesh in the new PET SEMATARY. The movie is about reanimated pets and children. I get that. It would have become a monster movie had they featured the Wendigo too prominently, a different kind of movie. But just a teeny tiny little glimpse wouldn’t have hurt anything.

You don’t really get a good look at the Wendigo in the novel, either, though its presence is constantly felt. The book even creeped out Stephen King to the point he intended not to publish it (or so he said), only his contract didn’t leave him that luxury. The Wendigo also features in the King story THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON. As depicted in King’s works, the Wendigo is similar to Pennywise, or “It,” in that it is able to exert its influence over a large geographic area and affect a large percentage of people at the same time. Bringing people and pets back from the dead is just one of the ways in which it reveals itself. Unlike with the real legend of the Wendigo, though, King’s monster isn’t all focused on the cannibalism thing. That’s just one facet of its nefarious personality.

By The Evil Cheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS (www.evilcheezproductions.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/evilcheezproductions), specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 MORTUI VELOCES SUNT!

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