Cujo

Written by Stephen King

Narrated by Lorna Raver

A cute family dog turns into a vicious family killer in King's canine classic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks
• Release date: Apr 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781101154809

Stephen King

Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co., accepted the novel Carrie for publication, providing him the means to leave teaching and write full-time. He has since published over 40 books and has become one of the world's most successful writers. Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to a number of charities including many libraries and have been honored locally for their philanthropic activities.

Reviews for Cujo

[firewild · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A good story for an audio book, without extravagant descriptive intricacies that get lost in audio narration, yet not entirely brainless and somewhat original plot. The main issue I have with audiobooks in general (and this one in particular) is a gross mismatch between a narrating voice and a dialogue been narrated. I understand that this is a necessary evil in audiobooks (and the reason I am not a big fan of the format in general) but here it was particularly pronounced, as it is one thing to narrate regular dialogue and completely another to impersonate crying, sobbing, shrieking, wailing and other near death experiences so common to the horror genre. A two year old wailing for his mom in an old woman's voice just adds a whole other level of freakishness to the story.

[bekkil1977 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

You know why it's good? Because there's nothing supernatural about it. It is something that very well could have happened (not today, probably, what with cell phones and all, but still). "Cujo" is about a rabid dog holding a woman and her little boy hostage in a Pinto. He times the tension perfectly in this, from having Donna gain hope that the mailman will save them, only to find out the Joe Chambers stopped the mail service. Then the arrival of Sheriff Bannerman, only to have the dog kill him, too. Every time a glimmer of hope pops up, rabid Cujo is there to snap it away. Brilliant.

[hyzie-2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I expected this to be scarier. Not that it was *bad* in any way, but it was not at all what I had been expecting when I picked it up. Instead of giving me nightmares, it just made me sad.
Easily the most realistic Stephen King book I've ever read, though I'm disinclined to believe that is an entirely positive statement.

[skippybuck · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cujo was the star of this horror story to me. I WANTED him to get ahold of that whiny little kid and... well, anyway, I was AMAZED how Mr. King really got INTO the mind of Cujo!! This was this first time I ever experienced the Point-Of-View of a DOG. Simply Brilliant.The Movie version was one of the BIGGEST letdowns I have ever known. The BOOKS have ALWAYS been a superior experience for me, but the movie production of CUJO was particularly disappointing.I YEARN to add a Hardcover to my small personal Library Shelves... and hope to have the pleasure of RE-reading this tale in the near future.

[carol420 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bad Dog! Worse owner.

[mooingzelda · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I first read this when I was 13, and I think it was even more terrifying 21 years later. Totally gripping with a slow-burning first 100 pages or so to help you really root for the characters. Considering King wrote this when he was in the middle of his drugs/drink problem, it's really rather good (and proves what a master he is at writing damn good stories).

[oscarwilde87_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cujo is a likable Saint Bernard dog living with the Camber family in Castle Rock, Maine. Joe Camber has a car repair shop in his barn and his wife, Charity, is a housewife who dreams of a more properous future than her husband can offer her. Joe Camber is rather blunt and aggressive and his wife dreams of a more sophisticated life in a bigger city. Since she cannot have that dream herself, she wants her ten-year-old son Brett to see what opportunities a good education can offer. Therefore, she takes him on a trip to her sister whose husband is a lawyer. When they return home to Castle Rock, their lives have changed. Joe Camber is dead, killed by their dog Cujo, who has become rabid.Then there is the Trenton family. Vic Trenton works in advertising. He and his wife Donna have just moved to Castle Rock from New York City. Their son is four years old. Life has not been treating the Trenton's well lately. Vic is struggling not to lose his only big client. Plus, his wife has been cheating on him for some time and he only finds out about it when he gets a note from his wife's lover who seeks revenge on Donna who has dumped him. On top of that, Donna's car is broken and she has to take it to the Camber farm for repairs. She does so while her husband is in Boston on a business trip to save his ad agency. Since she cannot leave her son home alone, she takes him with her. The two of them only just make it to the Camber's when the car dies. The car, however, is not the only thing that's dead. Joe Camber is not to be found, but soon Cujo, the family dog, starts attacking Donna. Donna and her son are trapped in the car, which is their only protection against Cujo. However, it is a very hot summer, they cannot open the windows and they do not have food or drink.Stephen King himself says about this novel that he likes it a lot, but that he can almost not remember writing it because he was in an alcoholic stupor. Cujo was published in 1981, a time when Stephen King, according to his own description, was a heavy drinker. The novel, then, probably serves as a metaphor for King's life, also being a good guy who only wants the best for his family, but addicted to alcohol, which messes with his head just as rabies messes with Cujo's head.On the whole, the novel is quite enjoyable, but I think King has written many better novels. 3 stars.

[krystlelow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The way I'd rate thriller/horror books are on the scale of how much it creeps me out and how easily it makes me jump at the slightest sound (because I'm twisted that way, yet am a complete wimp with horror movies).
This is, ashamedly, my first Stephen King novel, and what better way to start off than to pick a book involving a cute, cuddly Saint Benard that goes on a rabies & gore-filled rampage? Perfect.
It took almost half of the book for the 'action' to start, and when it did, boy could you literally 'see' what was going on in the scenes. Very descriptive.
I felt anxious and a bit impatient, I admit, as the story switched between the different characters' perspective/stories, especially when one of them is currently in deep shit.
The last 20-or-so pages were tough to read, as you can't help but feel for them. It had also been a bit sad to read some situations in Cujo's perspective, especially when he had been bitten and was confused about the changes in him; how he would've died for his family, yet he seemed to be having these horrible thoughts about wanting to hurt the people he loved. My heart cried out to Cujo. =(
All in all, it was quite a good read, and it successfully made me almost jump out of my skin a couple of times; no thanks to how every time I was reading a particular intense scene, sounds would just pop out outta nowhere and added to the intensity of the read, hah.

[mainrun · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am pretty sure I read this book back in the 1980's. I did not recall the details. That was why originally I rated it two stars. After finishing it this time, I'll move the rating up by one: now three stars. None of the adult characters were enjoyable. That is my biggest complaint.

[hedgepeth_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Spoiler alert -- If you are looking for a strong supernatural component, this is not the book for you. While King hints at a malevolent spirit driving the killing, there is nothing in this book that cannot be explained by science.While that may seem to imply a negative rating, this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. From a literature standpoint, this is an excellent example of plot and character development. The developing tension between the characters is built methodically and believably. The most impressive is King's ability to personify the dog's declining mental status. Through King's deft storytelling, Cujo became a sympathetic character not the face of evil.

[bragan_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Stephen King's 1981 novel about a rabid dog who traps a woman and her kid in their broken-down car. Somehow, I'd managed to go this long without ever reading this book or seeing the movie, although I do remember my cousin trying to read me bits of it when I was a kid and begging her to stop because I was entirely too easily freaked out then.Well, I am far less easily freaked out now, which may be a good or a bad thing when you're reading horror fiction. But I liked this one, honestly, much more than I expected to. What was effective about it, for me, wasn't so much the scariness of the dog -- although I do find rabies utterly, utterly terrifying -- or any of the usual Stephen King style creepiness. There is a bit of that, with some well-done passages about monsters in a kid's closet, although the attempt to bring hints of the supernatural into what is, by and large, a story about real-world things like dogs and diseases is a bit odd. But mostly what gets me here is the series of largely unrelated decisions and difficulties that all slowly add up to mounting disaster with no rescue in sight. That could have felt massively contrived, I suppose, but instead it feels sickeningly realistic to me. Although it's interesting to note that this is a quintessential example of a story that could not be written now, in the age of cell phones. Or at least, it couldn't be set now, and might never be thought of.The main takeaway here, though, is obvious, and worth taking to heart: Vaccinate your damn dog!

[madam_razz · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found this book to drag in a few places, mostly the areas involving Ad Worx and advertisements and things like that. Two of the characters are ad execs who own their own small advertising agency in Maine. I'm sure that some people probably find it interesting or neat or just amusing, but I found the bits about it boring and the book had trouble keeping my attention when shifting to those parts.However, that said, I think this book is going to stay with me for awhile. I watched the movie a few times when I was a kid with my grandfather and I can't really remember very much about it, except that I think the ending of the movie and the ending of the book are quite different, but don't quote me. I won't go any further into the ending than that. You'll have to see for yourself what's so different about it. ;)I really like the way that King's stories so often involve a series of minute little chances of fate and coincidence. One tiny turn here, one little swerve there, and things might have gone quite differently for all of the characters. And I think that, out of the books of King's I've read so far, nowhere has that been the case so profoundly as in this particular book. I think it's even more striking for the fact that when you're reading the book and see it happening, you realize how easily it could happen in real life, too. I think that really does something for the experience of reading one of his books and I've always quite liked it.Reading the book, I already knew what was going to happen to Cujo. I think most people know, by now, even if they've never seen the movie what's going to happen to do the dog at the center of this book when they pick it up. What I wasn't prepared for was to feel so sad about it. King does a very good job of making the dog a sympathetic character and I think that's helped along by the fact that we get to even see things from Cujo's perspective a few times before the madness takes over. We get that afterward, too, and I think that really helps cement it in some ways. Cujo was a good dog, a sweet and loving dog, and to see that and to know his mind while he's not yet sick, but then to see him deteriorate and then to also hear Cujo think to himself about how miserable he is and know his suffering. That puts a new perspective on things when you're reading about him killing and terrorizing people.Overall, the book isn't all that scary so much as suspenseful. There are, however, some parts of the book that are downright chilling in their creep factor and raised goosebumps along my arms. I swear that at least once the hair on the back of my neck stood up a bit too.Unlike in a lot of King's other stories, there's not as much mention of the supernatural here but it's there and it does have significance. Those are also the parts that I found to be the creepiest.This book would probably be good for people who are looking for compelling characters and situations, but don't want a whole huge amount of focus on paranormal happenings.Keep a box of tissues handy while you read this. It's gonna be a hell of a ride, but it's worth it.

[chris4graham_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very tense story about every dog owners nightmare!

[traciinaz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book. Classic Stephen King. I read the ebook version and it had a lot of typos which pulled me out of the story at times, but King's story itself was great.

[dverdecia-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Finally got through this book. It was a very good read. I did enjoy the book. Stephen King is a master at understanding human nature.

As most may know, Cujo is a story about a rather large St. Bernard that goes through a series of rabid events. It is also a story of all the people that come in and out of Cujo's life after he was bitten with the rabies. This was the first time I ever read the book, I only knew the story from the movie adaptation of this book.

It is interesting to see the turn of events happen to all these people in the circumstances where they meet the dog and each other. The story itself is quite boring if one were to look at it from an external point of view. Some mundane things and some not so mundane things happen. On the mundane are things like Vic and Roger's exploits with AD-Worx and how they are trying to save the company by saving thier largest account, Sharp Cereal Corporation. Charity's abusive relationship with her husband Joe Camber and what she worries about with her son's relationship. Some of the not so mundane would be Donna Trenton (Vic's wife) tumultuous relationship with the vagabond poet/tennis player, Steve Kemp. Even Steve Kemp's adolescent attitude towards getting dumped was interesting to read. (Are there really 21 year old people that behave with that type of petty jealousy?) And of course, Tad's (Donna's and Vic's son) nightly horror ritual with the monster in his closet and his Dad's "Monster Words" that help keep the monster at bay.

Cujo's fate was sealed the minute he decided to chase that rabbit down the hole. Afterwards, it just become a rabid experience for the dog throughout the rest of the book.

What I found facinating about the book is how Stephen King has the ability to put himself in Donna Trenton's position when she took her car to get it repaired at Joe Camber's place. Stephen King gave wonderful first person descriptions of just about all the characters in this story. Even some of the minor charaters like the mailman and the town sherriff were brilliantly described. This is what makes the story. He is able to write about the characters in the first person and still tie all the circumstantial experiences that led to the end of the story.

By the time she (Donna Trenton) got there, Cujo just took his second victim -- Joe Camber himself. Joe's family, Charity and Brett, took an extended trip to visit Charity's sister in Connecticut. Donna's husband Vic was with Roger in Boston working to save Ad-Worx. And Donna was all alone at the end of a Dead end road in rural Maine, wanting to get her car repaired, but was being held hostage by a rabid 200 lbs. St. Bernard. The way Stephen King gets inside Donna's mind as she thinks things through is amazing. He also gets into the dying Tad's mind as well and describes the horror from the small boy's point of view. Oh, did I forget to mention that there was a heat wave in the middle of summer here in Maine? 3 Days, little or no food. Nothing to drink. Inside a very hot, broken down Pinto. One can die of the heat inside the car, or step outside for a momentary breeze -- before Cujo tears your throat out! I'd say that has the makings for one of those days where your only choices ended up being a no-win situation.

The suspense was great! The psychology was great. Stephen King's writing proved to me that reading this book was way better than the movie. As a matter of fact, half the movie should have been about what people were thinking and it wasn't. The movie did not do the book justice. I even shed a tear at the end of the story as Mr. King wrapped everything up. It was a sad story at the end, with Stephen King giving the reader a glimmer of hope for the future of the two main characters, Vic and Donna Trenton. I highly recommend this read. I would rate it PG-17 in today's world. It is intriguing. It is scary at points. But most of all, it is a human nature story.

Flyinfox

[lukerik-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you live in a country where they drive on the left it important to remember that in America the cars are left hand drive. The set piece of the novel takes place in a car and I imagined it back to front and then couldn't correct it in my mind's eye.

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cujo - 200 pounds and leaping at your jugular ! Yikes! I liked the way this book was connected to the Dead Zone! And I liked the parts that were from the dog's point of view! I felt so bad for Vic, poor guy. Overall, a decent summer read!

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am (re)reading Stephen King's works in chronological order and this re-read was up next for me. I originally read the book when it was first published in 1981 making me 13yo. It made a big impression on me at the time and I was quite shocked it ended the way it did. The change in the movie ending infuriated me. Re-reading it all these years later, I don't find it anywhere near as good as what King had written to this point, though better than Firestarter. Cujo is a short book compared to the other's but longer than Carrie. I had thought this was going to be pure realistic horror but had forgotten about the boogieman element. King goes about playing this realistic, frighteningly possible story of a rabid dog wandering in a rural backwoods area while adding in just a touch of the paranormal which we could believe is imagination on the part of the participants but King won't let us off that easily. Cujo has a small cast of characters and King does something different here for the first time (disregarding the Bachman books) by spending a lot of time on character development of the main handful of major players. There is not even any threat until well over 100 pages in which is 1/3 of the book. King also chooses to write from the dog's point of view occasionally; this is a tricky thing to do and pull off well. But The King does it! Cujo's thoughts come much less frequently than any others, and his passages are always short lending great credibility and success to Cujo never becoming personified. He is always an animal, even though the reader is party to his brief canine thoughts. A good quick read. Classic King, but I'd call this a turning point from his work to date so far, more of a psychological thriller than horror; but still horror in a more real sense than in actually being scary or creepy.Now as I'm reading through the books, I'm also looking for the connections to the previous books in the big Stephen King Universe and this one is easy. Taking place in Castle Rock, right after the events of The Dead Zone, our new family moves into the house owned by the killer in DZ. This killer (I won't say who it is) and the case which forms the first half of DZ are referred to frequently in Cujo. Finally, Sheriff Bannerman from DZ is a character in both books. I didn't pick up on anything else.

[bookworm_naida · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cujo is one of those random books I just picked up one day at the supermarket. And being a big Stephen King fan, I usually cannot resist grabbing his books to add to my collection. Nobody can tell a good, scary story like Stephen King.Donna and Vic Trenton are a couple who move from New York to the sleepy town of CastleRock, Maine with their young son. Tad, who is now 4 years old, often has vivid nightmares about the monster in his closet. Donna and Vic's marriage is on the rocks, Vic found out about Donna recently having an affair. The local mechanic, Joe Cambers owns Cujo, a nearly two hundred pound, loveable, St. Bernard. Cujo contracts rabies after being bitten by bats and no one notices the dogs condition, until it's too late. Vic is away on business for a few days. Before he leaves, he forgets to take Donna's Pinto to the Cambers house for repair. Donna decides to take the trip out to the garage with little Tad. Her pinto has been acting up and at times will stall, then completely stop. She debates going to Joe's garage with Tad, and wants to make the trip out alone, but Tad insists on going with her because he is terrified of staying home due to the nightmares he has of the monster in his closet. So, Donna packs up Tad's Snoopy lunchbox and they head off deep into the woods where the Cambers live. Donna is hesitant to go, she can't shake off an odd feeling she has and she's been trying to call Joe Chambers house, but no one answers the phone. The Chambers house is 5 miles outside of town, and deep inside the woods, but she figures if the Pinto breaks down, she and Tad can walk to his house and call a cab to get home. Now, this was the part in the book where I kept thinking 'nooooooooooooo, don't go!'. Being a mom, common sense tells you to wait to get your car fixed instead of dragging your 4 year old into the sweltering heat, in a car that is breaking down and has no air conditioning, through the deep woods, to a mechanics house you barely now. Plus, set in the 80's, there's no cell phones in this story! Donna's car officially stalls and breaks down within view of the Cambers house. She figures she and Tad will trek up the road and get Cambers to help her. But as she gets out and starts to walk around the car to get Tad out of his carseat, she hears a deep growling.Cujo is not my favorite King book, but it was a good read. There's a good dose of horror and suspense here and I enjoy reading this one.

[timmyp-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not normally a big horror fan but I remember reading this as a kid and enjoying it. Went back a couple fo months ago and re-read it. Stephen King did a great job. Took a nice Saint Bernard and made it into a horror monster. Good suspense, scenes that actually scare you as a reader, if you are into horror, there is a reason King is so popular, he writes very well!

[srboone · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Slam-bang, bare bones horror tale from the best in the business. Scary and touching with an ending that divides fans to this day. A masterpiece.

[shesinplainview · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked King's early works and this was a great one. No one else but the King of Horror would've thought of writing a horror story about a rabid dog.

[blockbuster1994 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A blast from my teenage past from a favorite author. Incredible story, vintage Stephen King, dogs! This has it all. My only question is why did I wait so long to rediscover this novel?

[gma2lana · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a page turner! Loved it! I like most of Stephen King's earlier work, always keeps you on the edge of your seat.

[haymicheal · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is literally,the worst book I have ever read, and hear me out. It is the worst book that I have ever read, finished, and didn't like. Some books I set down after the first chapter, some don't make it that far.It does have redeeming qualities, like it is well written, the characters are brutally real, the situation is believable, but when it was all said and done, what the heck was the point? The dog went rabid, killed a few people, then a little boy dies of heat stroke.IT was kind of a let down. Everyone needed to die an make it miserable, or everyone needed to live (secondary characters excluded) and happy endings all around.If there was a point, I missed it.

[feelyourhrtbeat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Cambers' once-friendly St. Bernard turns into a killer after being bitten by a rabid bat. Donna Trenton's husband is in New York trying to contain a disastrous ad campaign. Feeling abandoned by her workaholic husband, who is frequently out of town, Donna Trenton embarks on an affair with a local handyman. Left to fend for herself, she takes her ailing Pinto to Joe Cambers' garage for repairs only to be trapped with her son Tad in the sweltering car by the monstrous dog.Cujo was not what I predicted it would be. It was sad and scary in turns. It is one of the few books were I feel sad for the antagonist. Cujo was not evil. In fact, all he wanted was to be a good dog. Cujo is a story of fate.

[tinydancer11_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Definitely less exciting and "supernatural" than most Stephen King books, but great writing as usual.

[barpurple · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cujo is one of the Castle Rock novels. It's draining and frustrating to read helplessly as Fate conspires to bring tragedy to this small town once more. Cujo isn't my favourite tale from The Rock, but it is good classic horror.

[evie6bookish · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Cujo" was one of these novellas I tried to stay away from as long as possible. I don't really know why exactly, but I wasn't very fond of the idea of a rabid dog on a killing spree.. I love dogs and perhaps that's why I was keeping away from this particular book.However, being a huge SK fan, I just couldn't walk away from this book when I saw it on the library shelf the other day. And you know what, it was a great decision to get it! I was pleasantly surprised, as King didn't make a mindless, stupid beast out of Cujo, but a smart, loving, gentle giant, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.. I loved the way the book unravels, showing the story from few different perspectives (especially Cujo's perspective was oh so brilliant and tragic!).It amazes me that this book was written few years before I was even born, yet I can relate to the characters in the story. And of course, King's writing style is delicious as always, which makes me think maybe I should reach for Firestarter - another SK book I've been subconsciously staying away from.

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This stands out to me as possibly King's most harrowing novel built on the things of real life. (I'd still name The Shining and Salem's Lot as his scariest, but I don't think any King book left me more shaken.) There are small hints of the supernatural, but in essence the horror is caused by a lovable St Bernard dog, Cujo, becoming infected with rabies. That might sound prosaic, and the film made of this novel is mediocre and its ending a cop-out. Nor can any film put you into the head of Cujo the way a novel can. I don't think King ever wrote scenes of greater horror and suspense than the one in this book where a mother and her young son are trapped in a car in the baking sun menaced by the 200-pound monster that was once their beloved pet. And unlike some of King's later door-stopper books, at 320 pages this one is a well-paced taut page-turner.