Watch the Bone-Chilling First Trailer for Stephen King’s ‘Pet Sematary’

“Sometimes, dead is better.”

Stephen King doesn’t like Pet Sematary. Sure, he wrote it, but his explanation for his dislike makes sense: “It’s a terrible book—not in terms of the writing, but it just spirals down into darkness.”

It’d be easy to assume a film version of the novel might do the same—but the original adaptation is cheesy. The new adaptation? Based on the trailer above, it looks scary as hell. 

The trailer was first published on Youtube Wednesday, and it collected nearly a half-million views in just a few hours. Many of those were from confirmed fans, no doubt, but surely others were viewers who had heard that this is just terrifying. 

After all, Pet Sematary apparently will involve a glaring, undead cat, creepy children in masks, Jason Clarke looking freaked out, and John Lithgow as the old man who informs Clarke’s family that “Sometimes, dead is better.”

Here’s the official synopsis that accompanies the video:

Based on the seminal horror novel by Stephen King, (#StephenKing) #PetSematary follows Dr. Louis Creed (Jason Clarke), who, after relocating with his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) and their two young children from Boston to rural Maine, discovers a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near the family’s new home. When tragedy strikes, Louis turns to his unusual neighbor, Jud Crandall (#JohnLithgow), setting off a perilous chain reaction that unleashes an unfathomable evil with horrific consequences.

For anyone who likes nightmare fuel, this looks ideal.

The undead kitty creeps into theaters April 5, 2019.