The title of Stephen King's classic horror story Pet Sematary contains a misspelling of the word "cemetery" – but that was intentional.

Summary

• Misspelling words in a title can help grab the audience's attention, as seen in titles like Pet Sematary and Inglourious Basterds.
• The misspelling of "cemetery" in Pet Sematary's title was inspired by a sign at a real cemetery near Stephen King's old house.
• The misspelled title of Pet Sematary takes on a scarier meaning, as "sematary" with its suffix "-ary" could be read as serving as a warning of danger.

The title of Stephen King’s classic 1983 horror novel Pet Sematary contains a misspelling of the word “cemetery,” but this was an intentional move on King’s part. Pet Sematary takes place around an ancient burial ground that, legend has it, will bring anyone buried there back to life. When a desperate grieving father struggles to cope with the loss of his son, he decides to bury the boy in the “Pet Sematary,” which does bring him back to life, but as a grotesque, bloodthirsty monster. In the words of Jud Crandall, “Sometimes, dead is better.”

Changing the spelling of a word (or multiple words) can be a good way for a title to grab the audience’s attention. The Pursuit of Happyness, Boyz n the Hood, Mortal Kombat, Kalifornia – there are plenty of misspelled titles out there. Quentin Tarantino’s World War II epic borrowed the title of Enzo G. Castellari’s The Inglorious Bastards but tweaked the spelling to Inglourious Basterds. While Tarantino has never explained the reasoning behind the misspellings in the title of Inglourious Basterds, King had a solid reason for misspelling “cemetery” in the title of Pet Sematary.

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Pet Sematary's Wrong Spelling Is Inspired By A Real Cemetery Near Stephen King's Old House

The incorrect spelling in the title of Pet Sematary was inspired by a sign at a real cemetery near King’s old house. In real life, King lived in a house with a pet cemetery in the back. The cemetery was marked with a sign that read, “Pet Sematary,” which was simply misspelled by some local children. The misspelling is given a similar explanation in the book: some local kids found the cemetery, adopted it as their own and cared for it, and made that sign by sounding out “cemetery” phonetically, clearly not knowing how to spell the actual word.

Pet Sematary's Misspelling Takes On A Much Scarier Meaning In King's Book

The misspelled title of Pet Sematary is actually much scarier than the correct spelling, thanks to its ominous word roots. The word “cemetery” is taken from the Anglo-French term “cimiterie,” which is taken from the Late Latin words “cimiterium” and “coemeterium,” which were taken from the Greek word “koimētērion,” meaning “sleeping chamber,” and its verb form “koiman,” meaning “to put to sleep” (via Merriam-Webster). This wouldn’t be appropriate for the title of Pet Sematary, because the whole point is that people and animals buried there don’t stay dead, so it’s not a place for sleep.

The misspelled “sematary,” on the other hand, has a much creepier meaning. With its suffix -ary, meaning “of, relating to, or connected with,” the word “sematary” could pass for an adjective form of the noun “sematology,” which refers to the study of word meanings. It could either tie into the word “sematology” or “sematic,” both of which are derived from the Greek term “sēma,” meaning “sign.” The full “sematary” could be read to mean “serving as a warning of danger.” So, the misspelled sign in Pet Sematary might actually be a subtle caution.

Source: Merriam-Webster