When you think of horror and suspense novels, Stephen King comes to mind. His numerous horror and suspense novels have grounded him firmly in the minds of fans of the genres, and his book, The Dark Half will not disappoint fans. The book touches on the idea of the battle of good and evil, and uses interesting characters and vivid imagery to lead the reader further through the griping story.
King’s The Dark Half is not completely fiction, when analyzing the plot. Prior to writing The Dark Half, King wrote several other books under a pen name, Richard Bachman. When he was exposed, King said in a press release that Bachman was dead. He later used these experiences to write a compelling story that similar to his, but more eerie and engaging than just petty pen names.
The book’s protagonist is Thad Beaumont, a writer who published a mildly successful book, The Sudden Dancers. Although critically acclaimed, Thad doesn’t like the fact that it sold badly. He then creates a Pen name, which soon turns into his alter ego. Thad names him George. George Stark. With his Pen name, he creates Best Selling Violent Crime Thrillers. The violence in his books soon passed onto George, who Thad’s wife, Liz, describe as a totally different person from Thad- violent, hot tempered, and rotten. The kind of person you wouldn’t want to have around. For a while now, Thad wanted to jettison Stark, to rid himself of the alter ego, then a blessing in disguise came. A man named Fredrick Clawson, dubbed a creepazoid, by Liz. He asked for Ransom in exchange for not spilling the beans. Relieved, Thad and Liz went public about Stark. They murdered him. Well, metaphorically. They got in touch with magazines such as People Magazine. The story went big, and Thad knew all his troubles were over- Stark was dead.
Or was he dead? The prologue of the book tells the story of the young Thad Beaumont, how he would experience headaches, but would be eased of his misery when he would write. The headaches soon turned into unbearable agony, and Thad soon faints from a seizure one morning to his mother’s horror. An operation is conducted to cure Thad but then, the unthinkable is revealed. Buried in his head, was Thad’s twin brother. A type of medical condition, the twin was absorbed into Thad before he was born. Like most people, if people in this condition could even have a desire, George Stark – the twin didn’t like being dead. George Stark is then revealed to be the spirit of Thad’s dead twin, and enters the real world to force Thad to resurrect him for good. The compelling story of Thad’s life is one of the strong points of the book, and other factors make this book one of Stephen King’s finest novels.
Stephen King used very believable characters and settings to make the book horrifying in the sense that the events seem almost real. The simple yet eerie story is held together by events following several supporting characters. Officer Pangborn, the new Sheriff in town, investigates the death of Homer Gamache, a likeable old man who lived in Castle Rock. King uses these gives they supporting characters long and interesting backgrounds to lead the story on, in order to give the reader some pity for the supernatural events that would occur to them later on. Even the creepazoid’s landlord is given some background, who is subjected to the aftermath of Clawson’s brutal death. King uses this background information to allow the reader how they would perceive the character, to let their imagination run wild on how the character looks like, then imagine how they would react to events.
The use of descriptive writing allows the readers to paint a picture of the events in the story. This is what makes this book an excellent horror novel. The way king describes his victim’s deaths are slow yet engaging. He describes what the surrounding looks like, then jumps into the scene. Take Clawson’s death for example. His dick was cut from his groin area, and shoved down his throat. Space was needed to be made, so the killer cut his tongue off too. Or Homer Gamache’s death, who was beaten beyond recognition by his own prosthetic arm .Scenes like these and their vivid descriptions are what really makes Stephen King’s, The Dark Half a real page turner. The reader is compelled to read later events not only driven by the story, but by curiosity on how the later events will unfold.
The use of the characters Thad and George was such that they represented good and evil. Thad’s noble efforts to save his family from the evil Stark and rid the world of him, showed how Thad thought for the safety of people around him. George desired to exploit his existence to live in the real world and use Thad to execute his plan, discontent with being killed off and living only as an alter ego. The desires of greed, self gain, and murderous revenge are represented by Stark, a personification of evil. Books about battles between good and evil are desirable and inspiring to read, and drives the reader to read more into the novel. The evil nature of Stark is emphasized through his dialogue and actions throughout the novel, making the reader cheer for Thad as his moral actions defeat Stark.
The events of a pen name turning into an alter ego, and then materializing into the real world as an evil entity makes The Dark Half truly a masterpiece of storytelling; in the sense that it twists a real world phenomenon (as other authors have used pen names) and turns it into a horrific story of a journey into a man’s inner evils. King’s technique of creating down to earth, unique characters and detailed descriptions of events makes The Dark Half and excellent novel, and will give readers an thrilling time as they witness the story unfold.
