Hey bookworms and Constant Readers! I'm glad to finally be talking about Cujo because I'm tired of seeing it listed as a bottom-third Stephen King book. Where would you place it? Sound off below.

Cujo was such a good boy before the bite. I felt sad when he started getting mad. For me this book was one of the most terrifying ideas King has in the beginning of his career and I really liked it. Not on my top 3 King books though.

This is my favorite King story. Its gritty, depressing, unpredictable. Deals with real life issues. I think the most least referenced part of the story is the environment. Just as The Shining makes you feel cold this one makes you sweat. Cujo is probably the most underrated character King has ever created

Stephen King and the way he treats kids in his books scares the hell out of me as a father lol pet sematary had me wanting to go hug my boys.

Named my own dog after this book. Couldn’t be more the opposite of the Cujo

Got to agree with you. This is easily one of my favourite endings in a King book. A real shock to the system. Which is what horror books are for.

I read this book just a few months ago, and was deeply moved by it. To me, the overall message was that life is shitty and there are monsters we fear and face throughout: a monster in your closet, a failed marriage, a failed career, a sweet dog who is rabid(not feral dude). Regarding King being ripped, I think that made the book that much more raw and personal. A grand expression of deep depression. There was a scene where a random woman dies while hearing the little boy squealing with delight while playing on a swing....remember that? GUT PUNCH. Also, the final paragraph where it mentions the bunny that Cujo chased into the bat cave dying in slow, silent misery......that bunny is all of us -trapped in the cave called life. Ugh.

Fun Fact the St Bernard for both Cujo and Beethoven was the same dog.

I almost dreaded clicking on the video at first because I was worried you'd be in the popular camp of not appreciating this one like I do. I'm glad to see that's not the case. As you mentioned, not a perfect book, but I still rated it five stars when I read it as an adult. It's very underrated, as you said. I admit I sobbed at the end, as a mother of a young son at the time. The emotion in this book, and I'd always found rabies fascinating regardless. I grew up in the mountains in North Carolina before moving to Florida and remember a nonvacinated dog I grew up with ended up getting it. As for the movie, glad you also enjoyed it too and I agree it's one of his better screen adaptations. I think the director did a great job with somehow capturing the grimness, miserable mindset of Castle Rock without having to get flashy, you could almost sense it in the air before Cujo even turned vicous. I know a lot of fans were unhappy the movie changed the ending, but I think it fit the film version better. As for Dee Wallace Stone, she was always a top favorite screen queen of mine - her acting in this, the Howling, Critters, Halloween remake, among others, she's an excellent actress with grief, fear, and genuine emotion. Something you said resonated with me too on not enjoying it as much as a teenager. I watched the movie as a teen, did not read the book as an adult. I think most of us got bored with the story as a teen or child and that this is a story adults will appreciate more when it comes to the side plots that dominate the first half of the story. As an adult, it doesn't bore me at all with the strained marriage, pressure, parent/child bond, cheating --- as a teen, I think it tended to be boring in parts, but as an adult not at all. I hope they don't remake this one, don't see how they can actually improve on it. Oh, and I have to mention I love your introductions to these particular books with the artwork and reading passages. It was great with The Shining and Why You Should Read Michael Crichton as well.

Loved this book. Loved the way some of the story was told from Cujo’s perspective.

I tell people all the time that Cujo is criminally underrated. I’ve read 20+ King books which include all the big ones and while others might be better, Cujo was without a doubt a favorite of mine. I found it to be incredibly suspenseful and gut wrenching. That ending stayed with me for a few days. I’m happy to hear someone echo my sentiments on the book.

Really enjoying your review! So refreshing to have a reviewer who can talk eloquently and at length without cut edits after every sentence! Subscribing! Cheers!

Been waiting for this one! Glad to see such a long video talking about it. When I read this book I was irritated on how it barely focused on Cujo, but all that irritation went away in the last 1/4 of the book. This book had me legit terrified of dogs for a few weeks, and I had multiple dreams of evil dogs and even myself getting bitten by bats, this book does everything so well, and the relationships within the book definitely need to be there, I couldn't imagine this book without forming the relationships first, because it helps the ending pay off so much better. *Spoilers ahead* The big ending and what really got me was that the Trenton's seemed to just be getting over or tolerating Donna's affair and Vic kept calling and cared about her and it seemed to be getting better, and right as it gets better you have this happening where Donna and Tad are in the car, and my heart will always break for Tad, that really made me cry. It was a gut wrenching moment when you see how hard Tad fought and how hard Donna fought for him all for the heat and exhaustion to kill him. That's the worst part of the book, and I stopped for minutes after reading his death and just sat there teary eyed. This book really is good.

Cujo is one of my favorites! I tell everyone to start with it, bc it's super long or insane lol. Side note: my little brother would name every pet he ever had Cujo, starting at the age of five. Every hamster, bunny, fish, etc. It was very bizarre.

I liked all the subplots. It all added to the book for me.

I read Cujo when I was a teen, and really enjoyed it. It's a different kind of horror, and surprisingly emotional.

I checked this out from the Library when I was in 6th grade after seeing the movie... my mom found me reading it and took it away when I was about 75 pages in...

Got an instant like for the Sharp cereal qoute in the beginning very sharp 👌🏻

Hi Mike. I just discovered your channel and immediately subscribed. I've been a constant reader of Stephen King for 40 years and just finished reading Cujo for the third time. I first read it when I was 10, again at 16 or 17 and today at 48. I started re-reading his books in publication order about 6 months ago. Cujo was the first book of his that I read and it's one of my personal favourites. Definitely one of his most underrated books. Nice to see that you appreciate the movie as well.

I loved this book just finished it I didn’t think I was gona like it since I had already seen the movie yet the last 100 hundred pages I couldn’t put it down it was so good I gave it 5 stars

Misery was the book that made me fall in love with reading in middle school. So glad I found your page. I’ve revisited King recently and reading some books I haven’t read yet including Cujo. Love your channel and you’re enthusiastic review of King works.

Discovered your videos last week and they immediately made me want to pick up a King book. So I started Cujo on Friday. Finished it half an hour ago. Loved it. Might not be his very best but I was glued to the pages most of the weekend. I loved the ending. Now Im going to have to spend the rest of the evening nursing a book-hangover.

The book truly frightened me. Nothing about the dog scared me, it was the people in the book. All so rotten yet so real. And the ending was so sad. Binge read the whole book in two sittings and it left me feeling disturbed.

Thank you for also including the spoilers. My dad was a King junky when I was growing up. I saw the movies when I was way too young. The only book I've read of King was The Dark Half. But I have 11/22/63 and his most recent? I think, The Institute. I've heard the comment about King being a better writer before his accident. Thank you for your review.

Just discovered this channel, goes along very well with my Stephen King unhealthy mania. Great content, subbed!

Thanks for the video Mike. I havent read a ton of King books yet but Cujo is one of my favorites. Its a must read for any king fan.

Cujo was the very first King book that I read. And when Tad died, I quit reading King for years. Until I gave the Dark Tower: The Wastelands a try.

Cujo is my favorite Stephen King book, and movie adaptation.

Good vid, Mike. Saw the movie when I was a kid. Never read the book. The way you describe it kinda reminds me of Jaws by Peter Benchly where there is a lot more drama going on than the movie.

Just finished the novel a few hours ago and hoo boy... That was tense as all hell. I was surprised to find out that it was one of King's more polarizing/disliked novels, as I felt it was VERY good. Only criticism I have is that it could have worked with a little bit of the bloat cut out, maybe 50 pages or so. Other than that, I thought it was extremely gripping. I knew the big spoiler in the end before I went in, but even still, it hit me like a train, and I found myself tearing up pretty badly LOL. I've only read about 15 of his novels so far, and I'd say this would be mid-tier, though for context I haven't read a King novel that I've disliked yet! Also as a side note, I personally find Lisey's Story to be the most underrated King novel, simply because it's tied with IT as my favourite novel of his, but is also one of my favourite novels of all time. I love the blend of romance with horror, wish he would write more of it! I hope you enjoy it when you eventually reach it!

Here to support the King videos. Haven’t gotten around to Cujo yet.

Finally some love for the Cujo movie. Stephen King film adaptations can be very hit'n'miss but I believe that was one of the better ones. Stephen King should be read before seen....

Fantastic! Someone who enjoys Cujo for what it is. A very realistic horror with an intense and brutal finish.

I'm extremely jealous of your first edition hardcovers.

Cujo was the first Stephen King book I ever read as a child, he's my go to author when I want a spooky book. I'm currently reading Tommyknockers haha

I love the music of your introduction! It is so dark and so eerie (is that the right word?). I am reading Cujo right now for the first time, so far I think I enjoy this book more then the books Stephen King was aware of writing.

Oh my I loved this book ☺ officially have a book hangover as I don't know which SK to read next 🤪

I really liked Cujo. I never read it until recently. I didn’t find it as hard to put down as most others but that was only because of how long a few of the parts about the Sharps account was. I realized I stopped during those parts much easier than any other parts of the story line. I was invested in Brett’s life even with the extended family, Donna’s drama, even what Joe and Gary were doing and couldn’t put it down at those parts. Overall really enjoyed it.

Love the overlook hotel shirt

Love that dog!

Hello.. like ur book review.. 😊📖 happy reading to u!!

Just ordered and it’s gonna be my first Stephen King Book

As soon as I finish reading a King book I love coming here to see what Mike had to say about it

I just finished reading this yesterday and I thought It was a great read. Sure some of the side stories were unnecessary like Charity’s trip and to me some of Vic’s trip was just unnecessary, but overall great. It did have me on edge at points especially with Bannerman finding the pinto I really thought It was over and then bam he’s dead. And the whole Tad thing caught me by surprise I really thought he was gonna make it and they would have a happy ending but no I even had to reread the page because I couldn’t believe he had died. I thought Donna was hallucinating or something like that.

Really nice review. Considering picking up Cujo

You should have warned me about the end Mike I just finished!

I read it for the first time resiliently and was shocked. Job done. As a father I was hurt.

Cujo was one I read as a teenage, and I remember liking it. I just haven't had a desire to revisit the story. I still remember a lot of it. And if I may quote Dudley Dursley of all people concerning this book, "I don't think it's a waste of space," but rather a very solid King story, and I recommend it.

Donna’s affair seems to trigger the events in Cujo, with Tad’s death as a harsh consequence. King might be exploring how fate or God balances the scales, punishing Donna while also freeing Charity Camber from her abusive husband. It’s as if fate used this tragedy to change lives in different ways.

Cujo is one of my very favourite King books of all time. The fact that he was not sober while writing it just makes it even MORE amazing to me, that wasn't a deterrent. :D

Beautiful intro

I love Cujo! It was the first SK book I ever read I was 8 (now 46), I watched the movie and my Mom told me it was book. After reading it I fell in love with King and started at Carrie and read everything in order.

I read Cujo when I was around 15 also. I didn't read anything by king for years afterward. Cujo was my first by King

Crazy book. Half way through and it’s freakin amazing

I kinda feel like his early books were the best.

I think ending is perfect it's dark and as father of two little girls it was hard and real, I loved it.

When I was about ¾ of the way through I thought that . . . (Spoilers ahead) . . . Steve Kemp was going to discover Donna at the Camber's (since he saw the note she left while he was trashing her house). I thought he might go there to bother her, get himself killed, and then Donna and Tad could escape in his van. I still think that could've been a cooler ending. I never expected Tad to die. That one hurt

Gordie actually makes direct reference to Cujo, saying he was a successor to Chopper to kids of Castle Rock

for me cujo is actually one of king's most terrifying works because rabies is...an actual thing, that can happen. yeah carrie, and it, and the shining, and pet sematary etc, but those are all fairly supernatural. rabies is something that you could experience in your life, and it's such a horrifying way for someone or an animal to go, and the book goes so in depth about the way that cujo's brain is being overcome by the virus.

Hi Mike. I absolutely love your book reviews, especially the Stephen King ones. I haven't gotten around to reading Cujo yet, not actually sure why 🤷🏼‍♀️ It's looking at me now though, from the bookshelf, with disgust so I think it'll have to be next on my list. Also, I would kill for your book collection. Love seeing it in the background & could only wish that mine was so neat & ordered. Best wishes from across the pond. 💚

" I love that book,that's a nasty mud " chief Jim Hooper xD

I liked cujo it was the first king novel I read

This book was _so_ good. I'm only about halfway through King's books so far, but this is up with the shining as his scariest books.

I read it last week as part of my Castle Rock run. Wasn't expecting much, but I liked it. I think the adultery woman explaining why she cheated on her husband is one of the best thing I ever read, all writers included.

Hey! I really love your shirt :)

I like the looping ending of the dark tower. For me the biggest letdown is "It"....god damn giant spider lol

I had heard average at best reactions to this story and I found myself loving it. The simplicity and the desperation of such an upsetting story had me blowing through at a record pace

I read this in 2014. It was awesome, one of my favorites

I loved cujo, the book and the movie!

Cujo and Kojak are the pop culture references for doggies, bad boy and good boy.

I have MAJOR mixed feelings about all of the proverbial fluff that you mentioned. The iconic setup & scenario are what make this novel unique, especially the further world building of Castle Rock, but beyond that this one just feels slightly lackluster aside from the terrific literary word flow that King was somehow still able to conjure without the typical cognizance. Almost like a muscle memory thing is the best thing I could correspond it to. And while a weaker entry for me in what is considered by many his best decade of creativity there's no denying how iconic Beethoven...er...I mean CUJO...sorry, actually is in the minds of casual popular culture. With good reason as well since no one else had ever done a story quite like this one before, whereas so much King stuff, ie SALEM'S LOT, was him riffing and putting his own spin on priorly told stories. Pleasure watching as always Dude! Long days and pleasant nights.

I feel like the statement "he was on drugs so it's bad" is so counterproductive. Hunter S Thompson is one of this generations greatest writers and he was constantly under the influence

Nice coffee mug

8:30 Haha. No. I read Pet Sematary and Misery, and neither one scared me. (At least not while I was reading it. That said, when I was alone in bed in the middle of the night, and the shadows in my room could have been anything... I'll admit both books did terrify me at 3 AM the next morning.) The main thing I got out of Pet Sematary was a lot of tears and dread. The suspense was beautifully built, and after a while, I started just bursting out in tears every time Gage's name came up.

Great review one correction tho the dog was around 190-200 lbs

My favorite genre is fantasy but every once in awhile I'll delve into horror territory. This time I chose to read Cujo again and was not any less disturbed than the first time. The book was absolutely metal. The thing that scares me the most is that rabies is real and the book's portrayal of it is fairly accurate. Just the fact that viruses like this exist has spurred whole-ass philosophical conversations with myself about life, purpose, religion etc.

Im not a big reader, my severe adhd makes it so that i just cant handle books most of the time. But i went through a stephen king phase in highschool and this book, along with pet semetary, have stuck with me ever since and changed the way i saw the horror genre. Those 2 books are genuinely the most tragic stories i think i know of, besides a certain episode of breaking bad

when i read this book at the point where tad dreamt about a lake and ducks and stuff and he and his mom was okay and safe and in his dream it was mentioned that tad went with the ducks.... now i think this is where tad initially died and the donna was hallucinating all this time which make things even more depressing which is good...(IDK IM MIGHT BE THE ONLY ONE THINKING ABOUT THIS BUT DAMN...)

I read this book when it came out decades ago. Saw the movie and pretty much forgot about it. I'm currently listening to Stephen King novels chronologically on my phone and I'm up to "Cujo". I'm up to the part where Donna Trenton is explaining to her husband why she cheated. Biggest load of crap I've ever heard. Any husband with an ounce of self respect wouldn't listen to that garbage. And you know why? Because if HE had cheated and started spouting that s*** she never would have accepted it. Vic: "Oh honey, I felt old and that woman who was almost ten years older than me found me attractive and our kid was going to school and my mom had knick-knacks and, well, that should be enough to justify being me being a faithless spouse." Donna: "Yeah, I understand." Never in a million years.

Ummm...not scary!?! This was a first time read for me (finished in three days) and my first night reading it I had to stop because Tad's closet monster really freaked me out. I am a 43 year old adult who WILL NOT SLEEP WITH MY CLOSET DOOR OPEN. That's a no. I started reading after I got into bed for the night and then I had trouble falling asleep because I was waiting to hear my closet door opening. Also, for me, I thought the ending was a good one. It was realistic and gritty and made me have all kinds of feelings. I also liked that you got sections of the book from Cujo's perspective. I really enjoyed that. I also felt like I read this book faster because SK decided not to break this book up into chapters or sections. It just starts and goes until the final page. So, not only was I wanting to know what was going to happen, and how certain things culminated, it was also hard to find a stopping point. Just interesting way to structure a novel. He does the same for Delores Claiborne (which I read about 10 years ago). Again, interesting structure for storytelling. I feel like SK likes to mix things up structure-wise and always found that interesting.

cujo is the first stephen king book i read, and i think it’s incredible. right now i’m reading carrie but i want to get more. i’m only 13 so like i couldn’t tell he was high when he wrote it-

I enjoyed Kujo. It's not a top ten King for me but it's not bad at all either!

Also, props to Dee Wallace - not only for being a screen icon, but she had to go to the hospital for exhaustion because filming "Cujo" was so taxing on her physically and mentally. She put her all into that movie. She explained in an interview that your body doesn't realize that you are going through these traumatic things for a movie and so it really affects you as an actor.

Read the book this week and just watched the movie. The book is great. The movie held back on a few things, and changed the ending a bit. Softened it.

The film is great, but the book is even better. The fact that we see Cujo's perspective (then being the protagonist villain) is something that worked very well. It is a psychological terror and a criticism of owners who do not vaccinate their animals, as this type of situation can occur. And Stephen King was an alcoholic at the time he wrote the book. It's as if Cujo is the *"personification of his addiction"* in the form of a dog. Good video.

Watching your videos has thrown me into the world of Stephen King. I read Misery, currently reading Dolores Claiborne and next is Christine, then Cujo, then Pet Sematary. I still have to find the guts to read IT...cause I hate clowns lol

I like your shit man. Great reviews

One of the two books that made me hate Stephen King for a good 7 (maybe 9?) years. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts, Mike! Only real parts of this book that I liked were Cujo’s POV’s, mainly because I find it to be an interesting thing to read about compared to everything else.

I have to say Stephen King is one of my favorite authors.

King, himself, said that notebooks are bad bc if an idea is good, it’ll stay with you

Just finished Cujo and I really liked it. The story seems quite stereotypical, but the way he preformed this is amazing.

I'm glad you posted this review. I went into Cujo thinking it was going to be a mediocre book, but I was pleasantly surprised by how brutal it is. Horror aside, the human element in it was too relatable for me.

A lot of people don't realize this but Cujo is a retelling of The Shining; it's The Shining by Stephen King repackaged.

Personal question: Do you game at all? I find it hard to balance gaming and reading, I either do one or the other for stretches at a time. Any tips?

cujo is really great and in my opinion the adaptation is kinda good

I've just seen the movie, but Cujo was awesome! I didn't know people didn't like it...

That intro was really cool. As for the book I love and hate it. The book does have some of his best suspenseful moments, the scenes with Cujo are gold and I liked the ending (even though I prefer the movie version’s ending). However the subplots feel very unnecessary especially anything with the family who owned Cujo. But I do like this book a lot, there’s just some parts I wish he would’ve gotten rid of

It’s one of the few Stephen King’s books I didn’t read yet. I actually have it, but every time I decide to read it I think “maybe I should read something else, this other book seems more interesting, etc.” because all I know I just know it’s about a dog and I don’t believe that an evil/ possessed/ afflicted by rabies dog as the main antagonist can unsettle me. So I decided to watch this video hoping it will convince me otherwise because I hate to have this book from one of my favorite authors yet finding excuses not to read it.

I really enjoy your stuff. Thanks for keeping politics out of your videos. It’s so refreshing!

Just finished rereading cujo and gotta be honest I still dont like the ending but at least there was a glimmer of hope Saying that I don't think the 3ndiny was bad I just wasn't a fan I personally love it and part of it did genuinely scare me as I had scary music in the background to help me get into it better I rewatched a clip from the movie and actually felt scared