* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: In the novel and film, medical doctor Louis tells Rachel that her sister Zelda was probably "clinically insane" from pain and drugs on the night she died. Louis would know that there is no such thing as being "clinically" insane, as insanity is not a medical status, but a legal one. Of course, it's very likely he was just using a colloquial phrase in a private moment in order to reassure his wife.
* AuthorPhobia[=/=]RealitySubtext: The Gage incident is based on King's own son having a close encounter with a truck. King mentions in ''On Writing'' that it is a parent's job to save your kid's life. His son bolted towards a road where semis blew by on a regular basis, and King caught him. What he couldn't stop thinking about was what would have happened if he hadn't. As he put it, he not only found himself thinking the unthinkable, but writing it down. He thought that the story went too far and was too dark and unenjoyable, and he was considering not publishing it.
** In a foreword for the Signet paperback edition, King mentions his young daughter jumping on plastic wrap bubbles and ranting, "Let God have his own cat!" after the death of her pet, Smucky. This rant appears in the book, as does Smucky's grave ("He was obedient").
* ContractualObligationProject: While ''Pet Sematary'' was marketed as "the book so scary Stephen King didn't want to publish it," the real truth is that King wanted out of his Doubleday contract due to the publisher holding onto a huge backlog of his royalties. Doubleday refused to give the money back unless King delivered two more books. Having previously shelved ''Pet Sematary'' for being too nihilistic for his liking, King threw the manuscript at them to settle half of the contract.
* CreatorBacklash: Stephen King has a ''really'' complicated relationship with this book. In the introduction to at least one edition, King admits he has very mixed thoughts on the book because it's ''such'' a grim and hopeless read it's inspired TooBleakStoppedCaring in ''him,'' its author. On the other hand, it strangely verges ''also'' into CreatorsFavorite, as Stephen King often states he considers it his ''scariest'' novel, and will usually recommend it as his first choice for readers looking for a scare.
* NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals: According to Mary Lambert, one of the hardest things was to get the cat to eat the pork chop.
* NoAnimalsWereHarmed: Definitely subverted in-story, but played straight with the animal actors. The needle used to [[spoiler:kill Church a second time]] was a prop rigged to look like it penetrated skin. The cat was sedated by a veterinarian with American Humane on set; kitty made a full recovery.
* ReferencedBy:
** ''Series/MadTV1995'' did a parody of the film by doing a CrossOver with ''WesternAnimation/DaveyAndGoliath.''
** In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS9E9Marjorine Marjorine]]", Butters is seemingly killed. Mr. Stotch's neighbor comes over and warns him not to bury "him" (actually a pig carcass) in the local IndianBurialGround. It follows the scene from the film nearly word-for-word. When Butters returns from his [[HilarityEnsues wacky hijinks]] after Mr. Stotch re-buried the pig corpse, he assumes Butters is a zombie.
** A running gag in ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'' is the Flash’s fears of Superman [[CameBackWrong being resurrected in the exact same way]].
* SelfAdaptation: This was the first filmed screenplay that Creator/StephenKing adapted from one of his own novels.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: In the book, a terabyte (and even 64 kilobytes!) is spoken of as an obscene and unthinkable amount of memory for a computer to have.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Gage originally was supposed to be [[MakingUseOfTheTwin played by twin boys,]] however that was scrapped once Miko Hughes was chosen for the role.
** Creator/BruceCampbell was the first choice for Louis Creed.
** Creator/ChristinaRicci auditioned for Ellie Creed.
** Creator/GeorgeARomero was originally set to direct, but when filming was delayed, he dropped out and Mary Lambert stepped in and Romero directed ''Film/MonkeyShines''. Creator/TomSavini was also asked to direct.
** ''Film/PetSemataryTwo'' was originally going to be more of a direct follow-up to the original and center around Ellie Creed, but this was changed due to the studio not wanting a teenage girl as the main lead.
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