A “wondrously frightening” (Publishers Weekly) tale of terror and #1 national bestseller about a writer’s pseudonym that comes alive and destroys everyone on the path that leads to the man who created him. Thad Beaumont is a writer, and for a dozen years he has secretly published violent bestsellers under the name of George Stark. But Thad is a healthier and happier man now, the father of infant … the father of infant twins, and starting to write as himself again. He no longer needs George Stark and so, with nationwide publicity, the pseudonym is retired. But George Stark won’t go willingly.
And now Thad would like to say he is innocent. He’d like to say he has nothing to do with the twisted imagination that produced his bestselling novels. He’d like to say he has nothing to do with the series of monstrous murders that keep coming closer to his home. But how can Thad deny the ultimate embodiment of evil that goes by the name he gave it—and signs its crimes with Thad’s bloody fingerprints?
The Dark Half is “a chiller” (The New York Times Book Review), so real and fascinating that you’ll find yourself squirming in Stephen King’s heart-stopping, blood-curdling grip—and loving every minute of it.
more
I am a great fan of Stephen King. I love his imagination and his writing.
Another Stephen King look into Stephen King.
This is easily my favorite Stephen King novel. Let’s start with the idea that an author’s pen name can take a life of its own, forming into a fully-functional human being. Let’s season the idea by saying the pen name possesses the desire to live, and feels the need to defend himself from the author who had created him and now wishes to retire him. It sounds, on the surface, like the makings for a disastrously silly story–and in lesser hands, rest assured it would be.
But this is Stephen King we’re talking about here. What happens instead is by far the most wildly creative story I have ever read, hands down and bar none. I found no problem with believing the absurdity of the central premise. I enjoyed that Mr. King simply dove right in rather than trip himself–and all his readers by extension–by trying to explain the unexplainable. Nope: this happens, folks, fasten yourselves in and enjoy the ride. It was a ride I was happy to take, and is a novel that I’ve reread countless times. I’ve gone through several copies, since paperbacks just don’t bear that sort of punishment. You’d think I’d have learned and found it in hardback, but I don’t mind giving Mr. King a little extra royalty money every now and again for this one. He’s earned it.
Mr. King’s strength has long been his characters. They breathe. Never have I found a problem with believing that I was following the lives of real people, with real fears and real motivations. It gives truth to the danger, and gives the reader some very compelling reasons to continue turning pages–all the while, making the reader forget that he or she is, indeed, reading. That’s a rarity, and Mr. King provides that in spades here.
Silly? Hardly. I’d call it scary as hell.
One of my fave SK novels.
It’s Stephen King, duh.
The book is always better than the movie!
The Dark Half, Stephen King, 1989
My favorite quote: “You’re dead, George. You just don’t have the sense to lie down.”
Notable characters: Thad Beaumont, the writer; George Stark, his dark half
Most memorable scene: Thad’s childhood surgery to remove the partial remains of his unborn “twin”
Greatest strengths: Some of the most gruesome descriptions ever. Even for a King novel, there is a lot of very horrific and memorable imagery in this one
Standout achievements: Its smooth merging of noir, gothic, and horror
Fun Facts: In the 1970s and 80s, Stephen King wrote several books under the pseudonym, Richard Bachman. Writing The Dark Half was his response to being outed as the real author of the Bachman books
Other media: The 1993 film of the same name by George Romero, starring Timothy Hutton. A DOS video game adaptation in 1992 by Capstone Software. A coming film adaption to be written and directed by Alex Ross Perry
What it taught me: That even the most unique and intriguing concepts require good execution
How it inspired me: I’ve often thought about how to put a unique twist on the idea of a fictional character coming to life. So far, I got nothin’ … but I did once I write a poem about it (The Book of Morbid Methods)
Additional thoughts: While the idea of a pseudonym gone wild is actually pretty brilliant, I didn’t love this one. In my opinion, it wandered, repeated itself, and went on too long. On the other hand, there are moments in this book I’ll never forget … so it’s a mixed bag …
My rating: 3.5 of 5
Haunt me: alistaircross.com
Thad is a writer with a very unique story to tell about his odd and evil connection with the character who fills the bill of his pen name George Stark. Thad had written several best selling thrillers under the name of George Stark. The books were nasty, deadly sort of books and his fan base was impressive. The trouble was that Thad, with the support of his amazing wife Liz, didn’t like George very well. Thad didn’t like the way he acted while writing George’s books. He was disconnected and a bit outside of himself and that’s not to mention his thought process while writing such raunchy things. So, Thad and Liz work together and bury George… literally. The two of them make a thing of it, and do a public funeral for the pen name of George Stark and they even take photos for the local newspaper. What was meant to be a creative way to announce publicly to fans that Thad is in fact George, and that he’ll no longer be producing books under the pen name, turned into a spiral of ghostly events.
With a crazy twist, twins run in Thads family in an overwhelming way. He himself was a twin in the womb, but his twin didn’t make it and he actually absorbed the second fetus (yes this is actually a real thing). When Thad was a young boy he had a brain tumor that was removed, and the doctors at the time thought it may have had something to do with his fetus partner. THEN, Thad and Liz wind up with a set of twins of their own. These kids are a cute and fun addition to the book, kind of tying things together… but they’re also creeeeeeeppppppyyyy!!! I don’t want to get much more into that, they just are.
Now, lets get back to George Stark. Shortly after Thad decides to stop writing under the name, and they have this odd little burial of his fake entity things get a little weird. There’s odd footprints coming from the grave and people who were involved with the undoing of George begin to die in horribly awful ways. Murders are calculated and evil, but to make matters strange… Thad’s fingerprints are all over the crime scenes. He has solid alibis, and really has absolutely nothing to do with the killings. In fact, he’s so far away from the crimes that its absolutely impossible for him to have done them. The police are in a fix, and things only continue to spiral down this impossible, evil and gory path. Shit gets weirder and weirder, as the ghost of George Stark comes to light, his personality a disgusting display of deadly evil.
I enjoyed the pacing of this story, and was hooked all the way through. I really love Liz and her connection with Thad is really felt which I enjoyed as an out of the norm for King books. I felt it to be a bit drawn out in places, it could have done without a bunch of scenes. 4 stars for me.
It’s Stephen King. It’s amazing.
I liked this well enough and overall it was satisfying, but was glad to reach the end. The concept and story were interesting, but I found some parts just went on too long and could have been a bit tighter.
Also, I know this is supernatural and you’re meant to suspend belief, but how in the world did an imaginary guy get money to rent an apartment? I know the car was part of his persona that Thad had invented, so that makes sense. But did Thad also imagine Stark as having a wallet full of cash and ID? Sorry, that just kept bugging me.
The King of Horror shows his dark side again in this spine-tingling nightmare about what happens when an ordinary writer’s “dark half” comes to murderous life! Thad Beaumont has grown tired of writing crime novels under the pseudonym of George Stark, so when someone who knows his secret threatens to blackmail him, Thad decides to rid himself of George Stark forever by holding a fake funeral for him and letting the world know that George Stark isn’t real. But everything goes horribly wrong when a grisly murder alerts Thad to the bizarre, alarming discovery that George Stark has somehow come to life… and he’s taking things personally! What unfolds is a haunting, bloodcurdling, and suspenseful tale of terror as the two men enter into a deadly conflict over the possession of Thad’s life and soul. Can Thad put an end to the horror and hope to save himself and his family? You’ll have to read the book to find out! Stephen King does a masterful job in this frightening tale of creating a chiller that’s packed full of the kind of terror and suspense his fans will love! It’s one of my favorite horror novels and I recommend it to fright fans everywhere!
A great thriller that starts with a bang, gets a little far-fetched, but is ultimately a powerful thrill ride.
It’s a funny feeling which emanates from The Dark Half. This book reads much like it belongs under SK’s one-time pseudonym Richard Bachman. But of course, considering what this story is about, Richard Bachman certainly had an influence here. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this story came to fruition due to the ‘killing off’ of Bachman that SK did once it was known he was writing under that name.
So, the story; as I’ve said in previous reviews, I absolutely love books where the protagonist is a writer. It really adds that added richness for me. And it’s sort of a double dose in this case, what with the writer protagonist, Thadd, (SPOILER) having a doppelganger in George Stark.
The majority of the story is a sort of cat-and-mouse rhythm, plus the mystery of how/why Stark even came to be. As the number of bodies left in his wake begin to grow, the question of his ultimate motive becomes more clear. This leads to a showdown between the two that is sure to rock the fabric of reality itself…or at least it should have. this is the point where the story faltered for me a bit. For me, the final confrontation didn’t actually amount to much, especially after all the build-up that rose to it. The design of it is cool enough, it just sort of peters out abruptly and left me wanting more.
There are definite allusion to the Dark Tower Saga also, which I greatly appreciate.
Enjoyed it quite a bit, just was left wanting a little more from the ending….
Join the RK King readers’ list for an exclusive FREE short story, plus inside info, musings, promos and more: http://www.rkkingwrites.com
Stephen King has an excellent way of pulling out every excrutiating detail and displaying it for you too see. It is these horrific details that make this book a great horror. While this is not my favorite Stephen King novel it is definetly a great example of his work.