The specter of Frank Dodd that recurs throughout Cujo is an essential motif in that King opens with it to set the novel’s tone. The opening narrative describes serial killer Frank Dodd as a monster who terrorized Castle Rock. Even after his death by suicide, Dodd remained a cultural reference that pervaded the small Maine town. Some parents even employed Dodd’s name to quiet children, “telling them that Frank Dodd would get them if they didn’t watch out, if they weren’t good. And surely a hush fell as children looked toward their dark windows and thought of Frank Dodd” (3). Frank Dodd’s very name carries significant horrific power, creating an atmosphere that signals that all isn’t well in Castle Rock.

The frightening force of his memory in the town casts a powerful shadow over the novel’s core characters: He haunts Tad’s closet and at several points is linked to Cujo’s rabies episode, as when the dog attacks George Bannerman: “For a moment, staring into those dark, crazed eyes, a swoony kind of horror came over him and he thought, Hello, Frank. It’s you, isn’t it? Was hell too hot for you?” (272).