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Had Stephen King had his druthers in 1979, Pet Sematary would not be a book recognized as part of his extensive canon, let alone a Constant Reader favorite. The author crafted the novel while he was a writer in residence at the University of Maine, and when it was completed and he gave the draft to his wife Tabitha King, they both came to the same opinion: it was too grim to publish. It was put in a drawer and stayed there… for about three years.
What wasn’t accounted for in the distribution decision was a different kind of resurrection: the return of issues with the publishing house Doubleday. The company had put out the writer’s first five books (Carrie, Salem’s Lot, The Shining, Night Shift, and The Stand) but there was immense conflict in the development of the post-pandemic epic, and were contract disputes that continued after Stephen King struck a new deal with Viking Press (which put out The Dead Zone, Firestarter, Cujo, Different Seasons, and Christine). In order to settle the relationship once and for all, and to get money he was long owed, King gave Doubleday the book in his drawer as one last novel to release – a novel they were excessively pleased to have, especially because of the reputation it had garnered from being left unpublished.
Source: Cinema Blend
