Summary
This article contains despoiler for Cujo and " rattlesnake " from Stephen King ’s You Like It Darker .
After more than three decades after I first read it , and four decades after he first wrote it , Stephen Kingfinally break me occlusion with hisCujosequel . A new Stephen King novel is always a playfulness result for me ; as an devouring reader of the King of Horror since I was a preteenager , I still have a love life affair with his workplace . One of his earliest works I read , at the ripe erstwhile age of 12 , wasCujo . The story of the rabid Saint Bernard , the expansive and dire Donna Trenton , and the unsaved Tad always stuck with me . Something about the repulsion of a mundane situation that turns into a nightmare got me good .
Even so , Stephen King’sCujoand the moviealways feel like a one - and - done level . It ’s hard to continue a account when the opposer is beat and so is a kid . That ’s the real tragedy ofCujo , after all . There ’s no self-aggrandizing bad teras that can uprise from the beat ( this isn’tPet Sematary , after all ) to terrorize a raw kinsperson . Leave it to Stephen King to see out how to tellaCujosequelthat ’s poignant and thought - provoking . It does n’t have the visceral horror ofCujo , but revolves around a quieter , more stubborn sort of nightmare that does n’t go out .
I start reading Stephen King when I was only 10 years previous , and being display to the King of Horror ’s writing shaped me in substantial ways .
Stephen King’s New Book Contains A Sequel To Cujo (But Not How You Think)
It’s Not A Direct Sequel, But It Is A Smarter One
Stephen King ’s latest account book , You Like It Darker , is n’t a novel , but instead a collection of little stories . King ’s brusk stories are infamous among his proofreader for sometimes being even more horrible than his full - length novels . They have a path of capturing a staring bit of horror and crystalizing it for us proofreader , searing specific images in our minds . I , for one , can evidence to the way " The Jaunt " scar me for sprightliness ; the last view is burned into my brain for all eternity . But I digress .
One of those short fib is " rattlesnake , " King’sCujosequel . " Rattlesnakes " is in reality quite long at almost 90 pages , so you bang Stephen King was cooking an approximation . That idea , I was pleased to get a line , was a sequel toCujo . It ’s not a aboveboard sequel – while there is for certain horror , Cujo does not uprise from the bushed à laPet Semataryto terrorize a young family . Nor is there a new rabid , malefic dog . It does n’t even pick up in brief after the outcome ofCujo ; the new story is plant in the ( comparatively ) present solar day . Still , I think " Rattlesnakes " was an even smarter take on aCujosequel than I expected . I was beaming to learn Stephen King still has the baron to storm me .
I thought " Rattlesnakes " was an even smarter take on aCujosequel than I look . I was beaming to learn Stephen King still has the power to surprise me .
Based on the novel by Stephen King, Cujo is a horror film that centers on a St. Bernard that becomes the terror of a local town. When the friendly Cujo is bitten by a bat with rabies, Cujo begins to slowly change into something almost demonic as he begins to viciously attack those around him, leaving a mother and son trapped by an ever-growing threat.
How Stephen King’s “Rattlesnakes” Connects To The 1981 Novel
The original novel focuses on Donna Trenton and son Tad . InCujo , the rabid Saint Bernard trap Donna Trenton and Tad in their broken - down railroad car in the middle of nowhere . Their story inCujohas a tragic ending – you already know it . So it ’s not Donna ’s or Cujo ’s stories Stephen King is concerned in telling ; he ’s already tell it . " Rattlesnakes " instead concenter on Vic Trenton and all the ways Tad ’s death impacted his and Donna ’s marriageand how it extend to impact Vic , now an old man , forty geezerhood afterward . Cujo is long utter and so is his son , but both haunt him .
Although Cujo ’s 1983 adaptation dropped the record book ’s stark original ending , the Stephen King adaptation may have been right to jettison the cruel twist .
Interestingly , though , Vic holds no animus for Cujo . A retired ad mankind , Vic ’s character is a pragmatist and make out that the dog could n’t help its actions being so far gone to rabies . The death of Tad inCujoultimately forced Vic and Donna ’s spousal relationship to accrue asunder after the issue of the novel . Donna , too , is now dead , having of late devolve from cancer . Even so , his respectfulness for Donna squaring off against the 150 - lb . Saint Bernard with only a baseball bat is something Vic hold back returning to in his memories . The story also touch upon Vic ’s ad agency , as well as Donna ’s affair with local mankind Steve Kemp and the equipment casualty he caused , even before Tad ’s death .
I thought it was neathow " rattlesnake " also serves as a small-scale continuation to Stephen King ’s 2008 novel , Duma Key . In the conclusion of that novel , the small , preoccupied island of Duma Key is destroy in a tropical violent storm call down up by the agonist , Edgar Freemantle . The events of " Rattlesnakes " take place on Rattlesnake Key , the former Duma Key ’s neighboring island . Throughout " rattlesnake , " Vic often looks across the shallow sea to the remnant of Duma Key , which is merely some greenery floating above the surface now . It would seem Perse , the evil deity , ofDuma Key , is still contained , even if Vic ’s lamentable memory are n’t .
“Rattlesnakes” Gave Me Closure After Cujo’s Tragic Ending
It Plays To One Of Stephen King’s Greatest Strengths As A Writer
The novel is a catastrophe ; in the sweltering heat of the railway car , trapped by the murderous dog , unseasoned Tad terminate up succumb to heating plant enervation and dies . I remember being appal when I readCujoas a kid : Stephen King was n’t afraid to kill off kids like me , something still moreverbotenthan not in horror . It was hard to grapple with as a 12 - yr - honest-to-god how there was no supernatural creature , just a pathetic detent with an illness and a poor kid in the wrong place at the incorrect time ; that kind of real - life horror was fresh to me .
Much like Vic , I guess I also involve some closure afterCujo . Now , more than 30 years after I first interpret it , I can appreciate Vic ’s haunted retentiveness , the way his marriage dissolved in their shared but separate heartache . I have no kids , but I have had a relationship that has diminish aside that , with the benefit of hindsight and meter , I might have handled differently . That ’s what ’s so brilliant about " rattlesnake . "
In horror storey , we mostly cease inquire what pass after the monster is beat , particularly in Word of God ; rarely do we think about how the events impact the multitude who lived through them and those who love them .
In repulsion stories , we generally block off wondering what bechance after the goliath is trounce , especially in book ; rarely do we think about how the events bear on the people who lived through them and those who bang them . But that ’s always been one of King ’s strength , and not just in theCujosequel . Stephen Kinghas always been greatabout exploring the intimate involution of long marriages , with the nuance and detail that only comes from having been through those hill and valley himself . In " rattler , " he uses that to full effect , and the event is something that storm me , but in the good way possible .
establish on the novel by Stephen King , Cujo is a revulsion film that centers on a St. Bernard that becomes the panic of a local town . When the friendly Cujo is sting by a at-bat with rabies , Cujo begins to tardily convert into something almost demonic as he begins to viciously attack those around him , leaving a female parent and son trap by an ever - growing terror .
Based on the novel by Stephen King, Cujo is a horror film that centers on a St. Bernard that becomes the terror of a local town. When the friendly Cujo is bitten by a bat with rabies, Cujo begins to slowly change into something almost demonic as he begins to viciously attack those around him, leaving a mother and son trapped by an ever-growing threat.
