These first pages of Cujo introduce the book’s unique atmosphere and style. King’s formal choices, such as not using chapters, the revolving cast of characters, and the interior narration he affords each of them, create a distinctly immersive and cinematic reading experience. The opening pages of Cujo lay the groundwork for King’s major themes concerning the nature of the monster, fate, and parents’ attempts to protect innocence. In addition, this section of the novel immediately creates a fairy-tale universe that, disturbingly, resembles reality. King’s descriptions of supernatural or imaginary forces—such as the immortal monster in the beginning—and domestic dramas like Vic and Donna’s marriage emphasize Cujo’s dramatic effect and thematic resonance.

Cujo is to some extent a stylistically unique installment in King’s oeuvre. His boldly structured opening is a useful example. The stereotypical—yet still evocative—“once upon a time” opening phrase presents Cujo as a long-beheld myth passed down through generations. His larger stylistic choice to forgo chapters and instead use more streamlined, organic blocks of text adds to the effect of the opening, enhancing the novel’s fairy-tale quality, in which the story exists as a fable of doom. In other respects, however, the novel fits comfortably among King’s other works. Castle Rock, Maine, is a recurrent setting in his novels, and he specializes in third-person, omniscient narration. He writes through multiple points of view, affording an entire cast of characters interior monologues typically reserved for one protagonist. His reliance on Cujo, a domesticated dog, as his tale’s monster also reflects King’s favored approach to horror; he revels in blending mundane reality with macabre spectacle.

This particular approach to horror is the cornerstone of Cujo and finds expression through one of its main themes: interrogating the monster figure. From the very beginning of the story, exploring the concept of monster and defining what’s monstrous is a foundational aspect of the novel’s impact. Its first pages are devoted entirely to this theme, first relaying the story of serial killer Frank Dodd and then meditating on the monster’s eternal being. Even if the corporeal form of the monster—such as Dodd or Cujo himself—has died, the monster lives on. After explaining that “the monster never dies” (4), King transitions to introducing Tad and his haunted closet. The novel never explains Tad’s closet monster explicitly, but it’s another important element in Cujo’s depiction of a monstrous duality. Tad’s closet oscillates between a normal and supernatural space, sometimes housing the monster and other times simply housing a teddy bear. Its placement in the domestic space (a typical suburban household) and its function as the home to the monstrous force—neither Dodd nor Cujo, but simply “monster”—positions Tad’s haunted closet as an embodiment of King’s theme that the monster is both nowhere and everywhere. In addition, Tad’s closet reflects the novel’s other themes: The monster’s close proximity to Tad suggests that fate has doomed the child from the start, whereas Vic and Donna’s failure to convince Tad that the monster isn’t real links to the novel’s messaging about the impossibility of protecting innocence.

A final element in these initial pages of Cujo that reflects the novel’s horrific and thematic resonance is Cujo himself. Cujo is given the same interiority as the novel’s human characters, with entire paragraphs written from his point of view. This again links to King’s favored approaches to writing horror; he often gives equal interior access to protagonists and antagonists through third-person, omniscient narration. In Cujo, this device allows a view into the mind of Cujo as he begins to transform from being a good dog—who thinks of his owners (the man, woman, and boy) as a holy trilogy—into a monstrous beast. This stylistic choice emphasizes the horror and tragedy in the tale of Cujo and serves important thematic functions. In writing from Cujo’s point of view, King relates the negotiations between free choice and fate firsthand when Cujo contracts rabies: Cujo’s supposed choice to chase the rabbit into the hovel where he confronts the bats triggers the novel’s debate over what is personal choice and what might be preordained. In addition, the dog’s point of view reflects the novel’s interest in interrogating the monster. King’s use of the sweet, innocent Cujo as the center of the novel’s bloody violence speaks to the theme that the monster comes in all forms. Cujo’s fall from grace encapsulates the novel’s theme on the inevitable death of innocence. In these respects, Cujo’s initial pages set up the character beats and thematic foundations for the horrific events that unfold in the subsequent pages.