Stephen King’s passion for the horrors of the Ramones
One of punk rock’s most compelling and engaging properties as a genre or medium is its ability to inspire and transcend other entertainment or artistic realms. So base is its internal rhythm, so neatly connected to our most animalistic tendencies, that it neatly filters into almost every art form. A creative outlet that punk collaborates extremely effectively with is horror in movies, art and fashion. This fusion is evident in horror writer Stephen King, whose love of the definitive punk group the Ramones bleeds into his terrifying literature and following media adaptations.
The Ramones, a legendary punk rock band formed in New York, kept their sound and lyricism relatively simple in the realm of punk’s additional style routes. The group mostly strayed away from political punk’s fast-paced instrumentals and politically direct lyrics, such as Black Flag or The Clash, and horror punk’s darker, heavier and gothic approach with horror imagery, as seen in Misfits. Instead offered more classical and straightforward take on the genre. However, having one of horror’s greatest and most influential writers as a fan invited the group to experiment with a horror-punk sound. With that, they served as contributors to the soundtrack of one of King’s adaptations, Pet Sematary.
This novel adaptation was released in 1989 and directed by Mary Lambert. The film stars Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby, Blaze Berdahl, Fred Gwynne, and Miko Hughes as Gage Creed. The chilling plot follows a grieving father who, desperate to have his deceased toddler back, buries the child’s corpse in a supernatural graveyard he knows can resurrect the dead. His aching wish is granted as his son returns, except it’s not the same son, as this re-animated child has a taste for bloodshed.
King, out of his long-standing love for the Ramones, invited the band to his home as they played in New England. During the visit, he handed bassist Dee Dee Ramone a copy of his Pet Semetary novel, who immediately retreated to the basement to read.
No more than an hour later, the bassist returned with the lyrics to ‘Pet Sematary’. Shortly afterwards, drummer Marky Ramone aligned his bandmate’s attitude and vision to King. He believed that they both wrote genuine and relatable materials in their respected crafts, work that could garner crossover audiences, as they “penetrated to the curiosity, fears, and insecurities carried around with them and couldn’t put into words”.
‘Pet Sematary’ is a blend of classic and horror punk, co-written by producer Daniel Rey who assisted in its lyrical structure, keeping King’s original material in mind. The track is regarded as one of the finer moments of the group’s long legacy. The lyrics refer to a plea not to be buried in a pet cemetery to avoid re-living life, upholding the film’s narrative and additional expansive concepts. The track’s execution echoed the rock ballads of that period, with crisp and rich guitar instrumentals complementing a profound and hooking drum sound.
“I transcribed the lyrics and wrote the music that evening. The chorus wrote itself; that was very obvious, because the Ramones always sing ‘I don’t wanna,’ ‘I don’t wanna walk around with you,’ all that stuff. So it was obvious: ‘I don’t wanna be buried in a Pet Sematary,'” Rey shared. “And then there’s, ‘I don’t wanna live my life again,’ which is kind of funny — because your life is so miserable you don’t want to live it again. But it’s also the premise of the book.”
The song’s music video matched swiftly with the movie’s visuals and style, taking place in a cemetery at night with the horror symbols of tombstones and coffins, featuring cameos by fellow punk stars Debbie Harry and Dead Boys. “The one we found was up in Tarrytown — in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Everyone was really scared that the Headless Horseman was going to come by,” video director Bill Fishman shared with Tidal. “It was really creepy and a really freezing cold night, and everyone drove up in the middle of the night to do this. The steam coming out of their mouths is real. It was some pretty crazy shit.”
The track featured on the band’s 1981 album Brain Drain, accompanying ‘Ignorance is Bliss’ and ‘Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)’, making for an exciting subject matter contrast.
In 2019, alongside another film adaptation of King’s novel, original director Lambert spoke to Entertainment Weekly about her vision of the author’s book, referencing the Ramones’ song credits that helped transcend the film’s style and subject matter as a horror. “I think it’s the reason I got the job because I was good friends with the Ramones,” the director shares. “And really good friends with Dee Dee Ramone, who wrote the song. It was such a perfect song, too, wasn’t it?”
She added: “It took him about 24 hours, and it’s so obvious. ‘I don’t want to be buried in the pet cemetery. I don’t want to live this life again.'”
Pet Sematary features another Ramones classic, further extending King’s passion for the group. The hit song ‘Sheena is a Punk Rocker’ can be heard playing on a truck radio during the catalyst plot moment when little Gabe is hit by a vehicle. In addition, the Ramones are not the only classic rock band that is connected to King’s work, with one iconic heavy metal group basing a whole song and design around one line from a book.
