In a story ready made for a possible sequel to Stephen King's "Pet Semetary," the discovery of a mass grave for roadkill in the median of the Massachusetts Turnpike has outraged officials in the community of Stockbridge. Stockbridge town fathers want to know why their picturesque village was chosen.

According to the Associated Press, town officials said they were unaware that the broad, wooded median held about 4,000 carcasses of animals killed along the roadway. Until two months ago, the site has apparently been in use since the turnpike opened in 1957.

``I want to know why the Turnpike Authority would drive dead animals 50 to 100 miles to dump them in our town,'' said J. Cristopher Irsfield, who chairs the Board of Selectmen in Stockbridge.

AP reports at the Monday night meeting of the town officials, selectmen told their attorney to research the disposal site's legality. Engineers are currently evaluating any damage that might be done to the protected wetlands that surround the massive grave. Town officials say the grave is 300 feet long, 150 feet wide and 45 feet deep.

``It's simply wrong to say that you can toss hundreds or thousands of animal carcasses into a dump, an uncovered dump, and say that's the end of it,'' said Selectman George Shippey, who also serves on the town Conservation Commission.

The pike officials don't believe they've done anything wrong. Since the practice ended two months ago, the smashed carcasses of deer, bear, moose and other animals have been carted off the road and into the nearby woods where they can be eaten individually by scavenger animals. However, published reports say incineration is also being considered