The Dark Half

Written by Stephen King

Narrated by Grover Gardner

Bestselling author Thad Beaumont would like to say he has nothing to do with the evil that has committed a series of monstrous murders. But he can't-because he created it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks
• Release date: May 13, 2010
• ISBN: 9781101154953

Stephen King

Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co., accepted the novel Carrie for publication, providing him the means to leave teaching and write full-time. He has since published over 40 books and has become one of the world's most successful writers. Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to a number of charities including many libraries and have been honored locally for their philanthropic activities.

Reviews for The Dark Half

[kylekatz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this story of an author trying to kill off his pseudonym and it not going quietly. King conceives of the pseudonym as a part of the author, his dark half. The one who writes the really scary books. And is a scary guy. What will he do to keep from dying? A lot.

[library_gal · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like scary stories. But I don't like gory ones or foul language. I thought about giving this book 2 stars but King is a good writer and he made me care about his characters enough to finish the book. Thad, Liz, their twins William and Wendy, his fellow professor ( I forget his name), and Sheriff Pangborn were all interesting, likeable people and I had to finish the book to find out if they survived. So I skimmed over the gore and tried to ignore the villain's foul language. I much preferred the 2 only other Stephen King books I've read, The Shining and Misery.

[joe73-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

He gets the point across. Classic King.

[bekkil1977 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Stephen King enjoyed publishing under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, until someone figured it out and threatened to expose him. So, SK outed himself and wrote a book loosely based on his experiences. Thad is a writer living in Maine, married with twins. For years he's written under a pseudonym, and he's about to be exposed, so his agent suggests they beat the guy to the punch and do a whole big media thing about it, which Thad does. He buries "George Stark" in a cemetery, takes pictures for the magazines, and washes his hands of the whole thing.But then Stark comes to life and starts murdering people. Of course the police think Thad did it, since they have his fingerprints all over the scene of the crimes. I will never, ever forget the parasitic twin operation, when I first read that bit as a young teenager it scared the bejeezus out of me.

[miwatson-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is one of my favorites from King. The idea that something immaterial can become material and have a life of its own is truly thought provoking. By the end of the book, I even felt a sort of sympathy for the antagonist who wants to live above all else. This book is more of a psychological ride than horror, but as always a good read.

[stefany_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I still enjoyed this book quite a bit, it did not hold up on the re-read as well as I remembered it. The premise of an author's abandoned pseudonym coming back from the grave to claim it's own glory is still rather awesome and I find this to be an extremely entertaining story, but it's not nearly as riveting as I had in mind. Thad Beaumont and the rest of the cast of characters are fantastic as is par for the course for almost any King novel and I would read stories about his characters even if the storylines weren't as good as King's usually tend to be. The Dark Half is a fast-paced book and keeps the reader going by the sheer force of the crazy events taking place in Thad Beaumont's life. In this case, I almost felt that things were happening a bit to fast and crazy at times and that I needed to slow it down a bit myself in order to better enjoy the novel as a whole. Maybe it's because I HAD read this one before, but at times the pace almost seemed to be a bit overwhelming and I just wanted some sort of an aside to calm things down for a little bit.Overall, a very enjoyable novel (even on the re-read) and one that I'll pick up again one day down the road.

[carol420 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thad Beaumont, decides it's time he puts a rest to his pen name "George Stark." In a strange series of events, you find out that George Stark has come to life. The story alternates between George's view and Thad's view throughout their struggle to destroy each other.

This is a scary book - a book with real depth. King, as usual, writes in criminal ease and keeps his reader hooked to the end. I highly recommend it as one of King's most thought-provoking novels.

[karenwodke · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Signature Stephen King. Good book.

[bragan_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A late-80s Stephen King novel about an author whose pseudonymous alter-ego/absorbed-in-the-womb evil twin comes to life and goes on a brutal rampage right out of one of his own crime thrillers.It's a really great premise for a horror novel, and one that hints at some intriguing themes of identity, creativity, and the dark side that may be hidden in good people. Mind you, King doesn't really go into any of those themes in any depth, but I think they're lurking in there, anyway, under all the supernatural weirdness and the gore. Mostly it doesn't tingle the spine the way the best of his stuff does, but the prologue does contain what may be one of the creepiest images he's even written, so I have to give it some points for that. And, as is usual for King, it's a very readable book. On the other hand, while I was more than happy to accept its bizarre-but-fascinating premise, other aspects of it did stretch my suspension of disbelief, including a sheriff getting ridiculously chummy with a guy who's a suspect in his murder investigation, and a whole lot of thoroughly unconvincing dialog. And while, at about 430 pages, this is downright slim compared to some of King's later work, it does drag some in the middle in a way that makes me think it could have been cut down by 50 or even 100 pages and been the better for it. Plus, the resolution is... odd. It's well built-up-to throughout the novel, which is more than you can say for some of King's endings, but it's still odd.Basically, this is middle-of-the-road King. Definitely not his best, definitely not his worst.

[ghr4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Stephen King's 1989 novel The Dark Half presents an intriguing premise wherein author Thad Beaumont, who achieved greater success writing under the name of George Stark, decides to figuratively kill off the pseudonym and write again under his own name, with the Stark's "burial" played out in a People magazine article that garners Thad some good publicity. But the dark and savage Stark, labeled "not a very nice guy" on his mock tombstone, resists, and sets of on a rampage of vicious murders in a quest to write just one more book with Thad under the name of George Stark. With King dedicating The Dark Half to his own pseudonym, Richard Bachman, you can clearly tell that King had a grand time writing this story, clearly drawing on his own alter ego for the story's inspiration. The sense of dread builds nicely during the first half of the novel as the mayhem ensues, but midway through, the story begins to bog down with the characters' long and repetitive internal musings, and conversations stretched much too far, needlessly slowing the pace and dampening the tension. Some judicious editing could have sliced sixty or more pages, leaving a much tighter story.

[scarequotes · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Overlong, in the end.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Really bloody one -- good story, but fairly predictable ending.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Middling Stephen King novel, interesting mainly for the issues around pseudonyms, which King also struggled with concerning his pseudonym Richard Bachman. This book had some interesting bits about brain tumors and also taught me about the phenomenon of absorbing a twin in utero, which I had never heard of before. Entertaining page-turner, but not among his best.Read when the book was released (1989) and reviewed from memory.

[sebastianhagelstein · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thad Beaumont is a horror writer, but a normal guy. He has a family and lives a quiet life. It seems like Stephen King modeled Thad's character on himself. Thad has recently retired a pseudonym, George Stark. Now Stark has come to life and is murdering anyone responsible for Stark's demise.When Stark focuses on Thad and revive the pseudonym is when the story gets really suspenseful.

[blockbuster1994 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Stephen King can take practically any set of words and make them into a terrifying story. "The sparrows are flying" takes on a whole new level when Thad Beaumont absently minded scrawls down the words. The scare is immediately on as we know that Thad is being hotly pursued by an evil twin that has somehow found footing in our world.I love just about every fiction piece Stephen King has ever written (exception-the fantasy stuff). Dark Half is a fun, but still tension loaded psychological novel written to precision.

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"The sparrows are flying again." And don't you forget it, old hoss!"You are talking about a goddam pen name coming to life!" And going on a killing spree too! Yup, that's what happens in this here novel! George Stark, a "HIGH-TONED SON OF A BITCH" if there ever was one, might or might not be real, but his creator, one Thad Beaumont, has his hands full with his pseudonym! I'm glad I re-read this after all these years - I've come to admire Donald E. Westlake's writing in the intervening years, and that of his pen name - Richard Stark! And I'm always liked Mr. King and HIS "dark half", Mr. Richard Bachman!

[lukerik-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

So, a murderous pseudonym is on the loose, armed with a ludicrous premise. There's none of the exploration of identity that the premise is so ripe for... and the structure is flawed; you know from the word go that Stark is the pseudonym, robbing the story of any suspense. A dangerous maniac might be scary, but a supernatural monster? Gimme a break. Also, you know what was found in Thad's head so the big reveal with the surgeon later on is robbed of it's shock value. Admittedly, it is mindless fun and can be enjoyed and forgotten on that level but could have been so much better.

[marlene9nl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not one of my favourite books by Stephen King.

Back in the day it felt like all of a sudden there were so many books coming out with the same subject. Can't recall but did he write another one about a writer having problems? maybe even 2?
If I find out I will add it in this review. (which is not really a review because it has been too long go)

[srboone · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mildly successful novel about writing under a psuedonym, made compelling by King's feel for character. Feels forced in places, but the cxoncept of twins at conception is still frightening 25 years later.

[alcracka · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Part of a phase Stephen King went through when he was absolutely obsessed with analyzing himself as a writer. He wrote nothing good during that phase.

[phaga_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really liked this book up until the end. The idea was an interesting one, esp because some of the themes mirrored what was going on with King at the time. Like a lot of King's stories though, this one ended with a wimper.

[anagarika0sean · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a great story, and creepy as well.

[readingrat_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The premise is a little too far out there to support believability, as are some of the ways King moves the plot along. But he has created a great villain here, who provides more than a few chilling moments for the reader.

[andyray_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I consider this one of, if not THE, the best books King has written up to 2007. Why this is isn't just the characterization, which is unusally clear and deep for King, but because I believe he is played a Step Four and Five with this piece, e.g., he has exposed his own mind as relates to Bachman. Now we know there is a reason that the Bachman books are linear in composition and rawer in syntax.It also outlines the shape of my fiction, where Ilya Beaute and Doy Ott Briscomb do and feel things Andy Ray couldn't possibly do or feel.

[nesum_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While the plot of this novel is not King's best, the ideas behind it are quite interesting and quite tense. The (often tiresome) question authors always get -- "Where do you get your ideas" -- is answered here in a nervous and unappealing way when the hero's pen name literally comes to life.Of course, King is exploring his own relationship with Richard Bachman here, as he does in "Secret Window, Secret Garden." THE DARK HALF is not quite as good as "Secret Window," but it more directly comments upon his internal debate over whether King or Bachman is the real person.A creepy book, and one I would not mind rereading in the near future.

[jonwwil · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Do you ever read a book and, when it's over, you want the story to keep going so you can read more about the characters? This is one of those books. Now, normally that happens (at least for me) because you like the characters and just want to spend some more time with them. In this case, though, I just thought the conclusion just begged for more story. I'd love for King to explore a continuation at some point.All that said, we do know some of the basics of where the story goes. Sheriff Alan Pangborn is one of the main characters in Needful Things, and mentions of Thad Beaumont are made in that book as well as in Bag of Bones. Still, I would be fascinated to know how Thad and Liz carried on (obviously not well, from the blurbs that come later) and how Wendy and William related to their father and exactly how much they learned of exactly what happened in this book.I think this book was a big risk for King in that none of the main characters was especially likable. The exception to that, of course, is Sheriff Pangborn, but even he starts off as an adversarial character. It also felt like King was struggling to get into the flow of this one--some of the early parts clunked along a little bit in terms of character interaction, but then again, that could be because the characters actually were having troubles interacting. Eventually, though, he hits his stride (with the introduction of George Stark as a corporeal being), and it turns into a pretty decent yarn, albeit a dark one.

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An ok King novel. Predictable and more gory than most King stories that I've read. But King still writes well and tells a good story. Being from Bangor some of his locales were very familiar (Gold's instead of Silver's junkyard) and Ludlow instead of Hampden south of Bangor.

[booklover3258 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book a lot more than the movie.

[fodroy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I think this is probably King's most underrated horror novel.

[jhemlock-1711 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

He gets the point across. Classic King.