Cujo () is a 1981 horror novel by American writer Stephen King about a rabid Saint Bernard. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982 and was made into a film in 1983.
Background
Cujo's name was based on the alias of Willie Wolfe, one of the men responsible for orchestrating Patty Hearst's kidnapping and indoctrination into the Symbionese Liberation Army. Stephen King discusses Cujo in On Writing, referring to it as a novel he "barely remembers writing at all." King wrote the book during the height of his struggle with alcohol addiction. King goes on to say he likes the book and wishes he could remember enjoying the good parts as he put them on the page.
According to King, the novel was partly inspired by his trip to a mechanic during the spring of 1977. In a 2006 interview with The Paris Review, King describes how issues with his motorcycle led him to visit an auto shop on the northern outskirts of Bridgton, Maine. He claims his motorcycle died when he arrived at the shop, and moments after, a Saint Bernard emerged from the garage, growling at him and eventually lunging for his hand. Although the mechanic stopped the dog from harming King by hitting the dog's hindquarters with a wrench, King was still startled by the encounter. This incident, as well as a story published in a Portland, Maine, newspaper about a young child who was killed by a Saint Bernard, provided inspiration for the novel. King also owned a dysfunctional Ford Pinto at the time, which is the same car model the novel's protagonist, Donna Trenton, drives to the auto garage where she encounters the rabid Cujo.
Plot
In the summer of 1980, the middle-class Trentons have recently moved to the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine from New York City with their four-year-old son, Tad. Donna Trenton has recently had an affair with a local man named Steve Kemp. After Donna ends the relationship, Steve spitefully reveals the affair to her husband, Vic Trenton. In the midst of this household tension, Vic's advertising agency, Ad Worx, is failing due to a scandal over a cereal called Red Razberry Zingers. Vic is forced to travel out of town, leaving Tad and Donna at home alone.
The blue-collar Cambers are longtime residents of Castle Rock. Joe Camber is a mechanic who dominates and abuses his wife, Charity, and their ten-year-old son, Brett. Charity wins a $5,000 lottery prize, and uses the proceeds to bargain with Joe to finally allow her to take Brett on a trip to visit Charity's sister in Connecticut and show him the possibility of a better life. Joe acquiesces and secretly plans to take a pleasure trip to Boston with his friend, alcoholic Gary Pervier.
While the Cambers are getting ready for their trips, their dog Cujo, a large, good-natured Saint Bernard, chases a rabbit in the nearby fields and inserts his head in the entrance to a small cave. A bat bites him on the nose and infects him with rabies, against which Cujo is not vaccinated. Cujo soon enters the prodromal phase, becoming lethargic and irritable. Charity and Brett leave town, though Brett suspects Cujo is sick, having unknowingly observed the start of Cujo's furious phase. Cujo then kills Gary in his home. After Joe discovers the body, Cujo kills him as well.
Donna, with Tad, takes their failing Ford Pinto to Joe for repairs. The car breaks down in the Cambers' dooryard, and as Donna attempts to find Joe, Cujo appears and attacks her. She is able to get back in the car, but Donna and Tad are trapped when Cujo continues to stalk and attack them. The interior of the car becomes increasingly hot in the summer sun. During one escape attempt, Donna is bitten in the stomach and leg, but manages to escape back into the car. She plans to run for the house but abandons the idea because she fears the door will be locked and that she will be subsequently killed by Cujo, leaving Tad alone. Tad becomes catatonic with fear and begins to have seizures.