Pet Sematary 2019’s Stephen King Universe Easter Eggs Explained

The 2019 remake of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary contained several clever Easter egg references to the the author’s overall literary universe. One of the coolest parts about being a Stephen King fan is his tendency to include connective tissue between his various stories, sometimes in the form of returning characters or major plot elements, and sometimes via little moments or mentions that establish small but clear ties. This has since spread over into several adaptations of King’s work, which also see fit to throw in references to other King stories or previous adaptations.

Interestingly, while Pet Sematary 2019 does contain some great Stephen King universe Easter eggs, the remake is also now quite famous for the fact that it deviated substantially from King’s source novel. The biggest change among many being the decision to kill off Ellie Creed instead of Gage, which was sadly spoiled by the marketing, as it would’ve been interesting to see how diehard King fans reacted to the Ellie/Gage twist being a total blindside.

As usual though, King reacted to Pet Sematary 2019 changing his source material with support, as he tends to support altered adaptations as long as they still capture the spirit of his story.  Sure enough, Pet Sematary 2019 was a big success at the box office, and here’s all the ways it paid tribute to the King universe.

Pet Sematary 2019’s Stephen King Universe Easter Eggs

One of the best Stephen King universe Easter eggs found within Pet Sematary 2019 is a reference to Cujo, the titular rabid St. Bernard from King’s 1981 novel and 1983 film adaptation. Jud Crandall (John Lithgow) can be heard regaling another guest at Ellie Creed’s birthday party with the story of Cujo’s killing spree. The Pet Sematary novel actually referenced Cujo in a similar way, almost making it a double reference. Another bit early on in the remake sees Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) mention how sick he became of working the graveyard shift, likely a callback to King’s Graveyard Shift short story from the Night Shift collection.

Later on in Pet Sematary 2019, Rachel Creed (Amy Seimetz) is driving back home from her parents’ house, and while she does so, a sign for Derry, Maine can be seen. Derry is of course the town terrorized by Pennywise in IT. In the Pet Sematary book, Rachel instead sees a sign for Jerusalem’s Lot when driving back. There are two Pet Sematary 2019 Easter eggs related to The Shining, specifically the 1980 movie version.

A childhood portrait of Rachel and her sister Zelda has them dressed like the Grady Twins, and later, zombie Ellie (Jeté Laurence) attempts to force open a door and kill her mother, all while Rachel drops young Gage out a window to safety with his dad. The way this is staged is extremely reminiscent of when Jack Torrance is trying to break down the bathroom door to get to Wendy and Danny. Finally, when Louis follows Victor Pascow into the woods late at night, he walks through a free-standing door, a direct reference to the book cover of Dark Tower entry The Drawing of the Three.

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