2240: Madness – Oneshot

Author: FreddysNightmare1984
Media: Movie/Book
Topic:  Cujo
Genre: Horror/Tragedy
URL: Chapter 1
Critiqued by Ghostcat

Hello, dear Patrons, and welcome to a very short little oneshot that is from a source material we’ve never covered before – Cujo.

Yeah, I was kind of surprised that there a Cujo fanfics, too. There aren’t very many by fanfic standards, but there are even a handful of crossovers. Hope you’re ready to see the word rabies so many times that it starts to look like a made-up word!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the source materials, let me give you a brief synopsis;

Like most Stephen King works, the story revolves around the inhabitants of a Peculiar Small Town in Maine. The primary focus is on a young family – Vic and Donna, with their son Tad – who have just moved from New York City, but there are a handful of locals as well. Of primary concern is the Camber family – Joe, a local mechanic who happens to be an abusive asshat, his wife, Charity, and son Brett – who are the owners of the infamous Cujo. Joe, being an all around terrible person, doesn’t bother getting his dog vaccinated so when Cujo chases a rabbit into a small cave and subsequently gets bitten by a very startled bat, the poor Saint Bernard contracts rabies. Charity wins a small sum in the lottery and hides the fact from her husband while convincing him to let her take Brett to visit her sister for a week. Joe agrees, mainly so he can go whoring in Boston with his alcoholic neighbour Gary. Vic has to leave town for work due to a marketing disaster with a cereal that makes it look like you’re vomiting blood, so Donna takes their car (a Ford Pinto) to Joe’s for some repair work. Prior to her arrival, however, Cujo, driven mad by the virus running unchecked through his system, has attacked and killed Gary and Joe. Donna sees the dog acting strangely and tries to leave, but the Pinto (being a Pinto) breaks down, trapping Donna and Tad inside. There’s some more interpersonal relationship stuff that is really quite good despite the fact it was written while Stephen King was taking all the cocaine, but the main horror aspects are focused on Donna and Tad being trapped in the car, facing heatstroke and dehydration, while Cujo waits just outside. Donna does attempt to escape to the house to get help but is severely bitten, adding to their troubles. Vic comes home to find his house trashed and Donna and Tad missing, and it is first assumed that the ex-boyfriend Steve ransacked the place and kidnapped Donna and Tad so at first no one is even looking in the right place, and when a sheriff does finally visit the Camber house he is eventually killed by Cujo, thus prolonging their captivity. The book and movie differ on some points, but the basic facts (except for the ending) remain the same. It’s the sort of plot that would never occur to anyone in modern times, since the increasing sense of desperation and isolation would vanish with a single cell phone call.

Now that that’s over with, on to the fic! Since it’s short, let’s start with the summary.

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