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The Creature in the Woods: The Role of the Wendigo in Stephen King’s ‘Pet Sematary’

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Mary Lambert’s 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s arguably bleakest novel, Pet Sematary, was fairly faithful to the source material. But it left out one crucial component from the novel. One that gives much deeper insight to what made the Micmac burial ground turn sour, remained an evil presence looming large over the entire story, and provided some of the most intense moments of horror – the Wendigo.

Though the latest trailer for the new adaptation of King’s beloved book marks some major departures from the original story, the trailer gives a little tease that the Wendigo will finally make an appearance in some capacity. But what exactly is the Wendigo, and why is its inclusion a big deal?

Obviously, novel spoilers from here on out.

In the novel, the journey past the children’s Pet Sematary to the stony Micmac burial ground is much farther and more harrowing than the ’89 film suggests. The dangerous deadfall Jud takes Louis Creed over is only the beginning as they walk three more miles through treacherous land the Micmacs referred to as Little God Swamp, a boggy place full of quicksand, strange lights, and creepy sounds, all while knee deep in thick fog. Part way through Little God Swamp, Jud stops Louis and listens to the sound of breaking branches as something ominously moves toward them.

Now the thing out there seemed so close that Louis expected to see its shape at any moment, rising up on two legs, perhaps, blotting out the stars with some unthought-of, Immense and shaggy body.” Then, “a shrill, maniacal laugh came out of the darkness, rising and falling in hysterical cycles, loud, piercing, chilling” (p. 122-113).

Despite being frozen in fear at the massive thing closing in, Jud urges them on ahead to the burial ground, and dismisses what they saw as St. Elmo’s Fire and the cries of a loon. He explains that the burial ground was abandoned long ago once one of the Micmacs claimed to have seen a Wendigo there, though Louis doesn’t yet understand what that means.

It’s not until Ellie’s cat Church returns home from his burial there that Jud elaborates a bit more on the Wendigo – an evil spirit of folklore that Jud interpreted as a metaphor for the Micmacs’ need to turn toward cannibalism during a particularly harsh winter. The Wendigo would walk through their village while they slept, and whoever it touched would develop a taste for human flesh. The evil spirit cursed their burial ground, causing it to turn sour, and those buried there return from the dead touched by the Wendigo. Or rather, possessed by it.

While King’s novel is heavily themed around grief, the Wendigo manipulates that grief throughout the story. It’s the power of the Wendigo that drives Jud to bring Louis to the Micmac burial ground in the first place, against his better judgment. It’s also this power that causes the truck driver to run Gage down. It’s what continues to lure a man broken by grief to its lair, in hopes of receiving a new host. It’s what intervenes when Jud wants to stop Louis from making a drastic mistake in burying Gage in the Micmac burial ground, and what continues to throw obstacles in Rachel’s attempts to get home to Louis on that fateful night. As Louis, driven mad by what’s happened, makes one final trip to the Micmac burial ground, the Wendigo chillingly laughs in triumph.

Then, from the deep woods behind the deadfall, woods so deep that the light looked green and tarnished even on the brightest days, a low chuckling laugh arose. The sound was huge. Steve could not even begin to image what sort of creature could have made such a sound” (p. 372).

The Wendigo is pure evil, and the chilling puppet master orchestrating every tragedy and mistake that befalls the characters in the story. While it remains to be seen just how much of a role the creature will play in the new film, its inclusion means a new layer of horror yet to be introduced in what was once a familiar story.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

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‘The Angel of Indian Lake’ Book Review – Stephen Graham Jones Wraps Horror Lit’s Greatest Slasher Trilogy

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Angel of Indian Lake Slasher novel

With The Angel of Indian Lake, author Stephen Graham Jones tackles one of the most daunting tasks in horror: bringing a trilogy to a satisfying close. Making it even more challenging is that the final entry in Jones’ slasher trilogy endcaps two perfect entries in horror lit, with 2021’s My Heart is a Chainsaw recontextualizing the slasher formula and last year’s Don’t Fear the Reaper appropriately escalating the lore and carnage in a way that only an uber-slasher fan like Jones could.

It’s been four years since Jade Daniels stepped foot in Proofrock, Idaho. After saving the town once again and thwarting another deranged killer, Jade took the fall for her best friend and final girl, Letha. She already has a track record, after all, and Letha’s a family woman. Through Letha, Jade winds up in a place she least expected: teaching high school under the judging eyes of Proofrockers, who still blame Jade for not one but two waves of catastrophic slaughter. It doesn’t help that Jade’s return to town heralds a new reign of terror that threatens to destroy Proofrock for good. Between long-running grudges, serial killer cultists, mysterious disappearances, another wave of bizarre deaths, and that pesky Lake Witch, Jade’s return to Proofrock becomes a final stand for the town’s soul.

When the trilogy began, Jade was a troubled, lonely teen who clung to slashers like a life raft. She wore her encyclopedic knowledge of them like armor. But surviving two slashers herself, followed by two separate stints in prison and the stigma that followed, Jade returns to town a woman still navigating past traumas while trying to outgrow her adolescent defense mechanisms. But this is Proofrock, and that horror knowledge quickly proves to be necessary when one of her students goes missing, and the bodies start piling up from there. It helps that Jade’s best friend Letha won’t let her forget her horror roots or that she’s given Jade something to live for, especially where Letha’s daughter and final-girl-in-the-making Adie is concerned. While Jones’ extensive love of horror infuses every page, his heroine takes a bit to reacclimate, especially thanks to the horror she’s missed while serving time. 

The previous two novels have packed in quite a bit of supernatural and reality-based slasher terror and presented a robust suspect list from the outset. Moreover, two novels deep into Proofrock’s history and present means a lot of loose ends to tie up when it comes to its characters. Jones finds ways to deepen character arcs and flesh out Proofrock’s denizens further through nonstop horror action. Here, the red herrings can be as deadly and unhinged as the actual killer. Rampaging bears, forest fires, and supernatural happenings intercut the slasher carnage, and Jones finds creative ways to carve up an even bigger body count than before, complete with narrative twists and breezy, dialectical prose. It’s nonstop horror. Fans of the previous entries will know that’s saying a lot. Taboos get broken straightaway, and Jones continues his streak of killing his darlings; many of the deaths in this novel are devastating.

It’s impressive how Jones wields the horror as connective tissue, juggling so much Proofrock history and horror at once. But it pales in comparison to his final girl, Jade. Letha remains a force of nature, even more so considering her personal stakes here, but it’s Jade’s story. Now three novels deep, Jade has always struggled to see herself as a final girl. It’s a title she’s eager to bestow on women she deems worthy or more fitting of the archetypical role. As savvy and resilient as she is, Proofrock always had a way of blinding Jade to her own potential. The selfless way she’s saved the town over and over while taking all of the bodily damage and blowback with none of the credit is of course inherent to the final girls Jade loves so much. 

The Angel of Indian Lake’s greatest triumph isn’t its satisfying slasher mayhem but the way it proves that Jade was right all along. She’s a scrappy survivor, which by definition puts her in that coveted category of final girls. But she’s so much more than that. Jones closes the loop on so many facets of Proofrock and its characters, evolving Jade’s penchant to crown those she deems worthy of final girl status, reshaping the concept of a final girl in the process. Jade is more than just a final girl. She’s a symbolic mother of final girls, putting her life and body on the line to support others, arming them with the strength and knowledge to unleash their inner final girls. Proofrock has seen a copious amount of bloodshed over three novels, but thanks to Jade, an unprecedented number of final girls have risen to fight back in various ways. The way that The Angel of Indian Lake closes that loop is masterful, solidifying Jade Daniels’ poignant, profound legacy in the slasher realm.

Through Jade, Stephen Graham Jones delivers horror lit’s greatest slasher trilogy of all time.

The Angel of Indian Lake publishes on March 26, 2024.

4.5 out of 5 skulls

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