The News

House that Inspired Stephen King’s ‘Pet Sematary’ for Sale 

Author Stephen King during a presentation at the Octavia Books bookstore in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 12, 2011

ORRINGTON – The house that inspired Stephen King’s novel “Pet Sematary” is up for sale in Maine.

WCSH-TV reports the 113-year-old, four-bedroom Orrington house is being listed for $255,000. The house sits on three acres about 15 minutes south of Bangor. It’s also where King wrote the story.


King’s website says he was renting the home in 1979 when his daughter’s cat was killed by a truck. Local children had created a pet cemetery in the woods behind the house, and King got the idea for the book after burying the cat.

The novel came out in 1983 and was adapted into a movie in 1989. “Pet Sematary” is also the name of a Ramones song that plays over the credits of the movie.