Stephen King’s “Cujo” was inspired by a real dog attack

According to Bev Vincent’s “The Stephen King Ultimate Companion: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life and Influences,” “Cujo” literally entered King’s life when a 200-pound St. Bernard attacked the author. King’s encounter occurred in 1977 when he took his motorcycle to a shop for repairs. He arrived hoping that his vehicle would be repaired without any problems; he did not expect an encounter with a wild ball of fur named Bowser.

According to Vincent, King asked the mechanic if Bowser was a friendly dog. When he was told that Bowser was not one of those dogs that bite, King petted the apparently docile animal. Within seconds, Bowser attacked the author.

The mechanic quickly brought his socket wrench down on Bowser, sparing King a trip to the hospital and the joy of a tetanus shot or worse. You’d think Bowser’s owner would have been incredibly remorseful (especially since King was soon a paying customer), but after calming his dog, the mechanic shot back, “Bowser doesn’t normally do things like that. He must not have liked your face.” (See above. You can decide for yourself whether Bowser had a legitimate reason to complain.)

That incident is seared in King’s memory, and four years later inspired the novel that currently ranks as the author’s eighth most popular novel (according to GoodReads and Amazon). I wouldn’t say Cujo did for big dogs what Peter Benchley’s Jaws did for great white sharks (perhaps because the film isn’t a particularly good adaptation, according to King), but the Saint Bernard is always on my mind when I think about petting a dog that could eat me.