The movie didn't scare me as much as the book (except maybe the crippled sister popping out of the bed). What I found laughable was the young actor playing Gage Creed coming after the mother with that "grimace" on his face. I could just see the director off stage luring him with an animal cracker or something.
I read that Stephen King, while writing "Pet Sematary", actually scared himself when he got to that point in the manuscript, and threw it in the trash until Tabitha convinced him to fish it out and finish it. "Pet Sematary" was the first King book I ever read, and I was hooked right up until "The Regulators". I read "Bag of Bones", though, and I'll still see his movies (though "Hearts in Atlantis" and "Dreamcatcher" left much to be desired movie-wise).