and it was also a very popular stage play. Dan Barry
and Ridley Pearson have recently written a pre-
quel, Peter and the Starcatchers(2004).
Pet SemataryStephen King (1983)
Many of the best horror stories are effective be-
cause they avoid the more exotic symbols of horror,
instead relying on banal, familiar situations after
giving them a bizarre twist. It is far more unsettling
to entertain the possibility that a child or a pet
could be the source of some monstrous evil than to
worry about vampires and other creatures from
outside our experience. Stephen KINGhas learned
this lesson well, and in this novel from early in his
career, he created one of his most frightening and
suspenseful stories, although without a great deal
of overt horror.
The story deals with a young couple who have
recently purchased a new home in a rural area.
They like the house and the neighborhood, and
they are both in love with one another and with
their children, including their young son, barely a
toddler. Their nearest neighbor is a kindly man who
unwisely mentions an ancient graveyard built by
Native Americans but long since abandoned that
has the power to bring the dead back to life. They
scoff at the story, but their skepticism changes
when their pet cat is killed by a passing vehicle.
The cat returns after being buried in the sa-
cred, or perhaps cursed, ground, showing up unex-
pectedly. It is recognizably their pet, and at first
everything seems to be all right. However, the ani-
mal’s personality has changed, and not for the bet-
ter. The protagonist begins to regret the impulse
that led him to experiment with the burial ground,
and he vows never to repeat the experiment. That
resolve holds until their young son is struck and
killed by a truck. The boy returns as well, even
more twisted and evil, and his father realizes at last
that the dead cannot really be recalled and that he
needs to destroy this new false life he has caused.
Unfortunately, he fails to act quickly enough, and
another tragedy follows.
The novel is in many ways an elaboration of
the classic story “THE MONKEY’SPAW” (1902) by
W. W. Jacobs. In both a loved one is brought back
from the dead through magical means, and in both
the result is a curse rather than a blessing. The no-
tion that fate, once arrived, cannot be recalled is a
common one in horror fiction, although rarely so
effectively demonstrated.“The Phantom Rickshaw”Rudyard Kipling
(1902)
Rudyard Kipling wrote a fair number of fantastic
stories, many of them based at least in part on his
experiences in British India and his familiarity with
local beliefs and legends. His most famous horror
tale is this one, which is also set in India, although
it is in fact a traditional European ghost story with
an exotic setting.
The protagonist is Jack Pansay, who we know
from the first few paragraphs has perished after an
experience with ghosts. The bulk of the tale is in
Pansay’s own words, his account of the affliction
that cost him his life. He admits from the outset
that he has not led the most commendable of lives.
He carried on an affair with Agnes Wessington for
more than a year, after which he tired of her and
became increasingly abusive despite her conviction
that it was just a temporary interruption in their
relationship. Agnes traveled about in a very recog-
nizable rickshaw, drawn invariably by the same
four servants. She was not the healthiest of
women, and the collapse of her love affair appar-
ently hastened her decline and eventual death.
Unperturbed by her passing, Pansay becomes
engaged to another Englishwoman, Kitty, the
daughter of a prominent family. They are out rid-
ing together when he first spots the phantom rick-
shaw, clearly the same one used by Agnes
Wessington but visible only to himself. From its in-
terior she calls to him using familiar phrases, but
no one else can hear her, either. The first en-
counter is awkward enough, but when the rick-
shaw begins to appear more frequently, Pansay’s
behavior becomes increasingly bizarre. He is taken
under a doctor’s care and seems to have recovered,
but the rickshaw returns when he is released. The
torment this causes him leads to a break with his
fiancé and a general blackening of his reputation.
Ultimately, with his life ruined, Pansay ceases to
struggle with his fate, resigning himself to a prema-
ture death.“The Phantom Rickshaw” 271