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The Dark Half

3.64 of 5 stars 3.64 · rating details · 53,785 ratings · 639 reviews

In 1985, 39-year-old Stephen King announced in public that his pseudonymous alter ego, Richard Bachman, was dead. (Never mind that he revived him years later to write The Regulators.)

At the beginning of The Dark Half (1989), 39-year-old writer Thad Beaumont announces in public that his own pseudonym, George Stark, is dead.

Now, King didn't want to jettison the Bachman nov...more

Paperback, 469 pages

Published October 7th 1990 by New English Library (first published 1989)

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Jun 22, 2010 Kemper rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, crime-mystery

Stephen King once wrote some books under the pen name Richard Bachman, but the gag was blown by a book store clerk in 1985. In The Dark Half, a writer using a pen name is exposed and a murderous rampage occurs as a result with numerous victims getting killed in a variety of gruesome ways, including one guy getting beaten to death with his own prosthetic arm. Uh…Mr. King? I can assure you that I have no interest at all in revealing any secret of yours that I may accidently come across someday. I...more Stephen King once wrote some books under the pen name Richard Bachman, but the gag was blown by a book store clerk in 1985. In The Dark Half, a writer using a pen name is exposed and a murderous rampage occurs as a result with numerous victims getting killed in a variety of gruesome ways, including one guy getting beaten to death with his own prosthetic arm. Uh…Mr. King? I can assure you that I have no interest at all in revealing any secret of yours that I may accidently come across someday. I promise.

Thad Beaumont is a college professor and writer with a wife and baby twins. Thad writes very serious literature and was a National Book Award nominee for his first novel. Unfortunately, he never really found commercial success and got a fat case of writer’s block along the way. So Thad comes up with the pen name, George Stark, and starts writing gory crime novels and those books all become popular best sellers. Part of the Stark mystique is the elaborate history Thad devises for him with George sharing a lot of characteristics with the ruthless killer who is the star of the books.

When someone threatens to blow the whistle about who Stark really is, Thad beats them to the punch by going public and declaring that he’s tired of George Stark and will no longer write the crime novels. However, a lot of people connected with ending the Stark name start getting killed. And how can Thad’s fingerprints be all over the crime scenes even though he was hundreds of miles away? Apparently George Stark is a little more real than Thad thought. And he’s very pissed off.

If you ever get into discussions about King’s books with his fans, The Dark Half doesn’t get mentioned a lot, and that’s a shame because I think it’s one of his most underrated books. It’s obvious that the idea was inspired by King’s own use of a pen name, and it’s one of the first books that King really started digging into the idea of what it means to write and create something. Those are themes he’d come to explore a lot more in later years, but when Thad asks himself, “Who am I when I write?”, you can feel King pondering that question himself.

This feels a little bit different from some other King books because it's a hybrid of crime and horror. As always with King, he starts throwing in more detail than he needs to, and it probably would have been a better book if he trimmed a hundred pages. I still think it’s one of his better efforts and that Stark is one of his scarier villains.

I also have a soft spot for this one because it led me to another writer who became one of my favorites. During the story, while Thad is giving an interview about how he came up with George Stark, he mentions being inspired by Donald Westlake using Richard Stark as a pen name for his Parker crime novels. I’d never even heard of Westlake back then in those caveman days before the internet or Amazon, but I thought he sounded interesting so I eventually tracked some of his books down and have been a fan since.

Not as good as The Stand or Salem’s Lot or The Dead Zone, but a helluva lot better than Rose Madder or Desperation, this is one that I think should get more attention from King fans.
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Jul 13, 2007 Shanti rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Yes

Short read and my first Stephen King book. I used to regard King as a pop-writer. I had a neighbor who couldn't get enough of him about 20 years ago. I just rolled my eyes at her. Now I'm her. LOL.

This book is a great gate-way drug to King. It was left in my apt. laundry room in the giveaway pile. I picked it up whilst waiting for my laundry to finish and stayed in the laundry room for the next hour. Character development from page 1. I have to admit ... now I have a bit of a problem. Is there...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Jean-marcel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had a best friend when I was growing up. As we entered highschool we discovered we had different interests, were living in different towns, and didn't have the same sort of friends. However, up until that point we were virtually inseparable. We would sleep over at each others' houses and stay awake all night making up all manner of crazy stories, playing pranks on friends and enemies, and sometimes, reading books.

I remember we listened to the audiobook of this one. I'm pretty sure it was the f...more I had a best friend when I was growing up. As we entered highschool we discovered we had different interests, were living in different towns, and didn't have the same sort of friends. However, up until that point we were virtually inseparable. We would sleep over at each others' houses and stay awake all night making up all manner of crazy stories, playing pranks on friends and enemies, and sometimes, reading books.

I remember we listened to the audiobook of this one. I'm pretty sure it was the first Stephen King I ever read, but that my friend Kyle wasn't a complete newcomer to the man's work. We were probably twelve or thirteen. One of my previous teachers had dismissed King as "trashy" and taken my other friend's copy of Pet Semetary away from him when he had been reading it in class, and I think I'd unconsciously adopted the same opinion. This book changed my mind, and within the span of about two years I think I read close to ten of his other books. Since I can't remember any experiences with King's writing prior to this, I'm going to stick to my assertion that this was my first.

It's a strange book to start one's association with such a popular and influential contemporary writer. He starts right off with a foreword talking about this Richard Bachman person of whom I knew not a thing. The whole novel is deeply connected with the creative process; the actual emotional and psychological ramifications of writing. It all feels very personal, even if it is not truly autobiographical, and I feel like I should have come into this book knowing King a little better. nevertheless, I noticed right away how attractive was the man's style. These days I'd say that Stephen King is a very solid, dependable three star writer. Even if you feel by the end of a King book that you've eaten a meal that consists entirely of noodles or rice, it's always a pretty tasty one, and you don't really notice how much irrelevant stuff he's put in until you're finished and start thinking about how not a lot really happened for over 400 pages. I would say that King is absolutely at his best in the short story format, where he must remain tightly focused, but that his novels are always eminently readable and that he works really hard to keep you engaged with his characters through all those pages.

I admit that I don't remember loads about this book. I'm particularly drawing a blank about how George Stark became a "real" person, but I don't think that really matters a great deal; it's probably just one of those weird psychospiritual things that apparently happens to nutty artist types if they're not careful, especially if you believe the words of the artists themselves. I felt then, and I still do now, that I was, at the time, exactly the sort of person for whom King was writing. I suppose a great number of people feel the same; that's why he's sold millions of books. This book marks the first time I'd ever come across the word "psychopomp" and I instantly loved the concept. I'm pretty sure Kyle and I stayed awake all night/morning listening to that audiobook, although I seem to remember pausing it for a couple of hours because an awesomely silly movie called Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter came on television. Do they still show that kind of stuff on standard cable? Anyway, this book hooked me on King for a while; though I never did consider him an absolute favourite I was very glad to discover him and to find that he was not, in fact, at all trashy...just a little insubstantial at times. In time I grew to respect the man himself more than I actually liked his work, because of the way he is always talking about his influences (I imagine Stephen King and I could have a great discussion about literature), how he eagerly supports other writers, and being genuine and open about much of what he does. I'm glad the man is still writing and I find I'll always have time for him one way or another.(less)

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Aug 31, 2012 Jane Stewart rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-crime-suspense

3 ½ stars. Above average crime suspense.

I didn’t feel that I “really liked it” which is my definition for 4 stars, because at times things felt a little slow. But it was very good with good ideas.

A scary guy is killing people. The victims have links to Thad who is an author. There are paranormal elements to the bad guy, but it doesn’t feel supernatural. He is cunning, strong, and can frequently sense what others are thinking. It’s hard to beat a bad guy who can sense your thoughts.

This is not th...more 3 ½ stars. Above average crime suspense.

I didn’t feel that I “really liked it” which is my definition for 4 stars, because at times things felt a little slow. But it was very good with good ideas.

A scary guy is killing people. The victims have links to Thad who is an author. There are paranormal elements to the bad guy, but it doesn’t feel supernatural. He is cunning, strong, and can frequently sense what others are thinking. It’s hard to beat a bad guy who can sense your thoughts.

This is not the “exciting chase scene” type of book. I liked that clues were slowly uncovered during the story. The best parts were the creative ideas: how the bad guy came into being, his motives, his actions, and how he was beaten in the end. I liked watching what he did. His actions were smart and well done.

This story introduces Sheriff Alan Pangborn who is the official closest to figuring things out. He is also the hero in the sequel “Needful Things.”

Most of the story is told in 3rd person, various characters. But once I was disconcerted when a scene was told in 1st person Thad. It may have been done more than once, I don’t remember. Other scenes were 3rd person Thad. I’d prefer the author stay consistent with 3rd person throughout.

In the author’s note, he says he took the name Alexis Machine from the book “Dead City” by Shane Stevens. It’s a neat name. I’m glad he gave credit to the source. It reminded me of someone suing J.K. Rowling for using the name Harry Potter. Makes me wonder if there are copyright issues with character names. Common character names and the same book titles are used all the time. Just wondering.

The narrator Grover Gardener was excellent.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person most of the time, 1st person at least once. Unabridged audiobook reading time: 15 hrs and 20 mins. Swearing language: strong, but rarely used, includes the female slur cu**. Sexual content: none. Setting: mostly 1988 Maine plus New York and Washington D.C. Book copyright: 1989. Genre: paranormal crime suspense. Ending: good for the good guys.

OTHER BOOKS:
For a list of my reviews of other Stephen King books, see my 5 star review of Carrie.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
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Dec 26, 2011 Kelanth, numquam risit ubi dracones vivunt rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: orrore

Io posso capire che non si può scrivere tutti i giorni "L'Ombra dello Scorpione", ma che diamine questo è veramente un libraccio da peggior rigattiere al mondo, con tutto il rispetto. Qui King si cimenta con una situazione che forse lui stesso deve aver provato, dopo aver fatto morire il suo alter ego Richard Bachman di cancro allo pseudonimo dopo che l'avevano smascherato nel 1985. Questo romanzo arriva dopo un blocco dello scrittore e forse era il caso di rifletterci un pochino di più, se si v...more

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Oct 19, 2008 Margaret rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, 2008

This was good. Stephen King confuses me - I tried to reread Nightmares and Dreamscapes a few months ago and put it down because the writing was so cheap. I figured I'd give this a shot and at the very least it would be a quick, entertaining read, but it was surprisingly good. I liked the writing, aside from a few glaringly stilted paragraphs of dialogue. To offset that there were plenty of excellent lines that really grabbed me, and which I never marked and have of course since forgotten.
I fou...more

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Oct 01, 2007 Kent rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no

I don't like Stephen King, and this book is a great example why. He is, at best, a hack writer. While many people consider him a master of horror, there is nothing horrific here. What King does seem to be a master of is gore! With his attention to detail, and need to describe every bloody act down to the last audible pop, you'll have quite a picture painted for you, but you won't feel fear. Here's a clue he needs to get. If you want me to feel terror, paint the landscape, and place a few images...more

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Apr 16, 2013 David Roberts rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am reviewing the book The Dark Half by Stephen King which is a very good horror novel which I bought from a car boot sale. This book reminds me of the King novel Christine in that, that book was about a possessed car that a connection to its owner and according to its owner did would react by killing them. This book is about an author that has a pseudonym author name that is very successful & wants to write books in his own name. The only thing the pseudonym is a kind of physical entity th...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Madeline Knight-Dixon rated it 4 of 5 stars

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of talking about how incredible this man is. How terrifying and shocking and thought provoking I find his books. How they light this intensity in me while I’m reading, and capture me so completely I don’t even realize the passing of time.

The book is about a man who’s pen name comes to life. Weird? Yes. Who thinks of that? Better question; who turns that into one of the most brilliantly horrifying things I’ve ever read? Only King.

One of my favorite things about t...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Justin rated it 2 of 5 stars

As a King fan I had very high expectations for "The Dark Half." I didn't pick it up until after I'd played the video game "Alan Wake," which King assisted with and is somewhat based on the novel. There's one word I come away with to describe this book, and it's a word I've never used in relation to any other Stephen King work: boring.

It's boring. That's really all there is to it. First off, while the premise itself sounds terrific on paper, the gloss wore off for me in a hurry. I think part of i...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Al rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

SUMMARY:
A knockout thriller...brilliant, compelling...grips you by the throat. (Flint Journal)In 1985, 39-year-old Stephen King announced in public that his pseudonymous alter ego, Richard Bachman, was dead. (Never mind that he revived him years later to write The Regulators.) At the beginning of The Dark Half (1989), 39-year-old writer Thad Beaumont announces in public that his own pseudonym, George Stark, is dead.
Now, King didn't want to jettison the Bachman novel, titled Machine Dreams, tha...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

In “The Dark Half” by Stephen King, Thad Beaumont is an author living in Ludlow, Maine. Under the pen name “George Starks” he’s written several best selling crime novels. However, after the public discovery of Thad’s penname, during a photoshoot, Thad and his wife, Elizabeth, hold a fake burial for Stark. Soon after the burial of Thad’s alter ego, murders start happening to people related to Thad’s accidental publicizing of his real identity. Strange paranormal activities start to happen to Thad...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Sakura87 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-in-libreria, autori-nordamericani, novecento, horror, thriller

Nonostante non abbia mai trovato niente di veramente orribile (nel senso più comune del termine) tra la sterminata produzione di Stephen King, ogni tanto capita qualche cantonata.
Alcuni le trovano tra gli ultimi scritti, che curiosamente io apprezzo in gran parte –perfino lo stracondannato Cell-, a me ogni tanto capita di trovarne tra le ‘vecchie glorie’.
Così è stato per La metà oscura. Probabilmente vi sarà capitato di ritrovarvi tra le mani quel libro che, già dopo dieci pagine, vi fa storcere...more Nonostante non abbia mai trovato niente di veramente orribile (nel senso più comune del termine) tra la sterminata produzione di Stephen King, ogni tanto capita qualche cantonata.
Alcuni le trovano tra gli ultimi scritti, che curiosamente io apprezzo in gran parte –perfino lo stracondannato Cell-, a me ogni tanto capita di trovarne tra le ‘vecchie glorie’.
Così è stato per La metà oscura. Probabilmente vi sarà capitato di ritrovarvi tra le mani quel libro che, già dopo dieci pagine, vi fa storcere il naso. Non perché abbia qualcosa che non va, tutt’altro, vi sentite come se voi aveste qualcosa che non va. A volte è solo un’impressione iniziale (Insomnia è diventato uno dei miei libri preferiti da pagina cento in poi), altre si protrae per tutto il libro se vi riesce di continuare fino alla fine: ecco cos’è successo a me. Ho impiegato *ben* cinque giorni per leggere, svogliatamente, questo libro.
La trama è avvincente e un po’ malata, ma qui niente di nuovo (stiamo parlando di King, in fondo): gioca sulla doppia natura dello scrittore, la cui metà oscura è nel caso specifico decisamente troppo concreta. Ed ecco che George Stark, lo pseudonimo di Thad Beaumont, prende vita nelle sembianze del gemello mai nato di Thad.
Fortemente permeato da note autobiografiche (King stesso uccise ‘di cancro dello pseudonimo’ il suo convincentissimo alter ego Richard Bachman), il romanzo è inquietante e sicuramente molto coinvolgente nelle introspezioni. Purtroppo, però, è lento a ingranare e poco originale nel progredire: non mi ha lasciato assolutamente quell’ansia di sapere i retroscena della storia, quella voglia matta di saltare le pagine perché la curiosità ti divora. Penso che questo sia in parte dovuto al fatto che veniamo a conoscenza dell’esistenza di un fratello gemello assimilato dal feto di Thad già nel prologo, senza dunque che ci si lasci il gusto di elucubrare sulla vera identità dell’efferato killer (sarebbe stato più interessante se il lettore fosse stato costretto a chiedersi fino alla fine se davvero il serial killer fosse un parto della mente del protagonista, o il protagonista stesso). Mancano i colpi di scena, manca la suspance, manca, dicevo, quell’ambiguità di fondo che contraddistingue solitamente i romanzi di Stephen King, come se la strada verso l’ultima pagina fosse stata un percorso dritto e inevitabile.

Peccato. Nel complesso è appena sufficiente, direi.
NB: la Lipu inorridisce per il finale.(less)

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Jun 02, 2012 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

"She climbed the stairs of the L Street apartment building with the stolidity (and nearly the bulk) of a rhino crossing an open stretch of grassland. ... Her meaty arms swung like pendulums. ... Dodie was a whore with the heart of a bank-teller and the soul of an acquisitive cockroach."

This wasn't the best of Stephen King's novels, but he really outdid himself with the writing. For instance, the above quote is some of the best character description I've ever read. And Dodie isn't the only person...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Bob rated it 3 of 5 stars

With a concept so interesting, I really wanted to like The Dark Half more than I did. It begins with an interesting exploration of the duality of a writer's consciousness and an nice reflection of King's own experiences with Richard Bachman. The problem is, once the supernatural element kicks in, the book follows a pretty straight-forward line. Make no mistake about it, the book is about exactly what the jacket tells you and nothing more: an author's pen-name comes to life and starts killing peo...more With a concept so interesting, I really wanted to like The Dark Half more than I did. It begins with an interesting exploration of the duality of a writer's consciousness and an nice reflection of King's own experiences with Richard Bachman. The problem is, once the supernatural element kicks in, the book follows a pretty straight-forward line. Make no mistake about it, the book is about exactly what the jacket tells you and nothing more: an author's pen-name comes to life and starts killing people and attempting to take over the author's life. It's basically a combination of King's own "Secret Window, Secret Garden" and Misery. I kept waiting for the story to blossom or twist in an interesting new direction. Instead, it trucked forward towards the inexorably obvious conclusion. Though the writing is solid, and though it has its share of tense moments, I felt like this was a short story or novella being padded out to novel length...and I'm someone that usually enjoys King's Dickensian over-writing.

One of the issues I struggled with the most was the supernatural element itself. An imaginary pen-name manifesting itself as a real person out of nowhere is hard to swallow, even in King's vivid imagination. He tries to do some half-brained explanation with an absorbed fetal twin that never makes any sense or goes anywhere. The whole thing would be better-suited as an extension of his Dark Tower mythos. I can get past the implausibility piece eventually (I mean, I chose a King novel after all), but the issue becomes more prevalent in the characters themselves. As a result of the absurd concept, King works overtime trying to realistically portray the characters coming to grips with the concept themselves. About 40% of the book's length is dedicated to either inner monologue or conversation where characters attempt to wrap their heads around the fact that this guy appeared out of thin air and is killing people. They tread the same ground over and over again, and it got to the point where I wanted them just to accept the absurdity as I did and get moving with the story.

Overall, I liked the book. It's an overall fun read with a satisfying conclusion, but it does take a good deal of work to get through with a few wasted opportunities. (less)

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Mar 28, 2012 Zack rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

meh. i've been putting this one off for awhile. no real reason - it's just that sometime i look at my shelves, and then i see the massive spines with sk's name on them, and i take the easy way out. turns out i wasn't missing much. not to say this isn't a good book. it's pretty good. it's just that by the time i finally got here, i'd read this same kind of story by sk a few times. the writer who is "haunted" by his creations is just one of those things he can't seem to stop writing about. maybe,...more

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Dec 28, 2011 Gwynhwyfar rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you liked Secret Window, Secret Garden, then you should love this book even more. The action is weirder, bloodier and more supernatural (how about a tumor that turns out to be an absorbed fetal twin that has started growing again?) than psychological, yet it's basically the same premise. Thad Beaumont, a writer whose serious stuff doesn't pay, but whose slasher books, under the name George Stark, give him and his family a good life, is tired of not being taken seriously. His wife is just tire...more

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Jul 20, 2011 S.h. Roddey rated it 5 of 5 stars

After reading the other reviews and staring in amazement at how mixed they are, I felt compelled to add my own.

This book, like many others here, was my introduction to not only Stephen King, but the realm of adult fiction. It was the first "grown-up" book I read, and though I have read thousands of books since then, it still sticks with me as my absolute-favorite book. Granted, it isn't as frightening as The Shining or as masterful as The Stand, BUT...

It presents a fear that as a writer, I am a...more

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Apr 30, 2011 Typicalfrost rated it 1 of 5 stars

I love Stephen King quite a bit but that doesn't mean I'm ignorant to his faults. At his best, his books and compelling, detailed and deliciously gruesome. At his worst, it's the Dark Half. I get that The Dark Half was an allegory for his own struggle with creativity and his pen name, but seriously this book was ridiculous and followed the terrible King pattern.

It begins boring and tedious. You struggle through till it picks up. Eventually you become deeply engaged, the climax builds and then se...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Bryce rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of the usually ignored books in Stephen King's bibliography, The Dark Half is sort of a ghost story, sort of a zombie story and sort of a reflection on the Writing Life. While the book itself is typical King, it's not extraordinary King. Enjoyable, but not something that I would adamantly say to a friend "You HAVE to read this."

But there is one particular aspect of this book that I absolutely loved. One aspect that I will praise in a roundabout and long-winded fashion...

One of the things t...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Benpt15 rated it 4 of 5 stars

• The Dark Half is a suspenseful, horror novel by Stephen King. Thad Belmont recently ended the use of George Stark his previous pen name and fake persona. Shortly after announcing George Starks “end” and true identity, murders were committed against those who knew and helped destroy Stark. Thad, believing that George Stark has somehow managed to become an actual person and killed all those murdered begins to search for and attempt to finish off Stark before he harms anyone else. Stephen King th...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Tom Nittoli rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. An incredibly weak attempt by the master of horror. I've never read or watched something where I wanted there to be a schizophrenic twist or addition added to it. The book lacks any sense of real suspense, and falls into all the cliches, and weak story telling perfected by his B-novel counterpart, Mr. Dean Koontz. The main characters have as much personality and distinction as a dollar bill, and the sub characters, most of which just introduced to be soon killed are mere annoyance and padding to...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Shannon rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012

So I'll admit that I didn't read this of my own volition. My husband is a big Stephen King fan, so after years of begging me to read one of his books, I finally conceded. The Dark Half is the book he handed me. I think he only wanted me to read it because he shares the same somewhat rare name of the main character.

Anyway, Stephen King can write. There's no denying that. However, he is overly and excessively verbose. At times his descriptions bordered on word vomit. I appreciate the particulars...more So I'll admit that I didn't read this of my own volition. My husband is a big Stephen King fan, so after years of begging me to read one of his books, I finally conceded. The Dark Half is the book he handed me. I think he only wanted me to read it because he shares the same somewhat rare name of the main character.

Anyway, Stephen King can write. There's no denying that. However, he is overly and excessively verbose. At times his descriptions bordered on word vomit. I appreciate the particulars of stories and what not, but S. King took it to the nth degree and managed to be detailed within the details. Maybe that's the whole point of the book since the main character is really two characters and is therefore thinking crazy thoughts as he teeters on the edge of sanity. But, it bugged me. At 431 pages of small print text, this book is no quick read. Had he removed even a 1/4 of the details, it would have made the book a bit more enjoyable since it consumed several hours of my life. Describing a minor character and his/her thoughts and the reasoning for his/her thoughts was just too much for me (ex. some childhood accident caused a character to react a certain way which led to King describing the entire childhood memory down to the color of the character's shoes). I'm also a prig and don't like to read an inordinate amount of cussing in a book. My virginal eyes can only handle the f-bomb so many times within 3 pages of text. In certain chapters, King dropped it every other paragraph.

Additionally, I didn't get creeped out at all which was a little disappointing. Maybe if every other page wasn't running off into some random tangent, I would have been a little nervous. As it were, I didn't care what happened to any of the characters except for the baby twins, William and Wendy. I liked them. They never spoke and didn't have any memories to drone on about.

I'm sure I'll read another Stephen King book in the future--if for no other reason than my husband has a bunch queued up for me. Next time I'll try to avoid the ones he wrote when he was high as a kite from cocaine. Maybe those are shorter.(less)

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Nov 07, 2011 Myles rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

Stephen King is addictive, all the same though I didn't intend to read another by him so hard on the heels of Cujo. I was in the mood for another horror or thriller, but I overestimated the collection of the library. Fair Warning: This is mostly nonreview buildup.

My village library is a subset of a community center built in the 1920s, limited space and the fact that it serves such a small population makes it hyper-focused. I started interning at the public library in the next town in high school...more

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Jan 18, 2009 Rachel Hawes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, horror

I first read this when I was 17. It's one of those books that has always stayed in my head as being mind-blowingly brilliant. 17 years later I'm giving it another go - terrified that it won't live up to my own hype.... here we go!

Well I think that was even better than expected - which is always a joy.

It has reminded me how much I loved Stephen King and why. I love how in all the gore and horror only the protagonists are affected. Unlike dark murder stories and thrillers when the whole town is in...more

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Jun 29, 2007 Lindsay rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: horror fans, King fans

Shelves: stuff-by-the-king

Apparently, most babies start out as twins in the womb. Sometimes it stays that way, and the mother delivers two babies. Sometimes, though, the stronger twin absorbes - eats - the weaker one, and no one is ever the wiser.
Spooky, huh?
"The Dark Half" explores alter-egos, evil twins, and the struggle for dominance when a writer 'kills off' his pen-name in order to publish his work under his own name. It's really excellent.

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Apr 11, 2012 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

I really enjoyed this book. The premise caught my attention right off the bat and I had high expectations when I started it. Thankfully I was not let down. Thad Beaumont decided to change up his writing and take on the pen name George Stark. After some success he feels it is time to let the name fall and put to rest George Stark. As soon as the article comes out announcing the Death of the fake author, strange murders begin to happen. The evidence is puzzling, and it seems that Thad, whether he...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Stephanie from Books Paradise rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-read, horror

Die Sperlinge fliegen wieder. Dieser Satz beunruhigt den Erfolgsautor Thad Beaumont. Scheinbar aus dem Nichts vernimmt er Vogelzwitschern, ein eindeutiges Zeichen für die Rückkehr eines Tumors, den er besiegt zu haben glaubt. Doch es ist kein Tumor. Als Thad Beaumont unter einer Schreibblockade leidet, "erfindet" er das Pseudonym "Stark". Unter diesem Pseudonym liefert Thad Bestseller auf Bestseller - düstere Visionen und Mordgedanken. Zu spät entdeckt Thad, daß "Stark" und seine Geschöpfe außer...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Zoe rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, print-books, will-not-finish

True fact: I have owned multiple copies of The Dark Half in my life, but have always somehow lost those copies without reading the book. I bought this...third copy, I believe, and I finally committed myself to reading it. I really wish I hadn't.

King is typically known for monsters that are abstract and fuzzily defined. I get that, and I'm okay with it most of the time because he makes up for it with characters I want to follow. But Thad and Liz Beaumont are severely flat cardboard characters who...more

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Jun 08, 2011 Rufsetufsa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: stephen-king

Is it possible that an imaginary person comes to life?

Thad Beaumont is an ordinary man. He is married and together with his wife they have twins to take care of. He is an author and sold many books with the made up name; George Stark. But now he wants to dump George Stark for good and publish books with his own name. He wants to move on in his writing career but it turns out to be easier said than done. First of all, Thad sold more books through the George Stark name than with his own and second...more
Is it possible that an imaginary person comes to life?

Thad Beaumont is an ordinary man. He is married and together with his wife they have twins to take care of. He is an author and sold many books with the made up name; George Stark. But now he wants to dump George Stark for good and publish books with his own name. He wants to move on in his writing career but it turns out to be easier said than done. First of all, Thad sold more books through the George Stark name than with his own and second of all, George Stark has other plans. He has no plans to die and just disappear. He is very much alive and he wants to prove it for Thad Beaumont and the rest of his family and before Thad is aware of it, he, his wife and twins are in great danger. And it only gets worse when persons who are close to the family get murdered and the evidences lead to Thad himself. How can he explain to the police/FBI that he is innocent and that a guy he created with the name George Stark is behind everything and he is afraid of his own life and his family members? How will he explain this to others without sounding crazy?

This book must have been standing on one of my bookshelves over ten years, at least. I bought some books by King in Norwegian sometime in the middle of the 90s when I was exploring his career for the first time. And at that time I used to read every book by all authors in Norwegian. But after I started reading books by King in English, I now prefer to read his books in English ‘cause I feel like he lose his unique telling voice in the translation. It’s somehow not the same (hard to explain but I hope you know what I mean). But since I already had this one in Norwegian I didn’t have a choice than to just read it in Norwegian (even though I prefer to read his books in English). Anyway, but after standing unread for so long on one of my bookshelves and since I’m joining Stephen King Reading Challenge hosted by Book Chick City I thought it was about time to read it. I’ve read many SK books in my life and last year I read a lot of them. So, after like six months without a SK book I thought it was about time to read some of his books again since he is my all time fave author and I haven’t read all his books yet and this challenge gives me the chance to read even more books by him which I’m really looking forward to.

I remember I saw the movie based on this book many years ago (but I still remember it well), and even though I prefer to read the books before I see the movies, I don’t feel like it ruined the good reading experience. George Stark is a creepy guy who I find very interesting. He shows no mercy, is pretty violent, has a dark sense of humor and he knows what he wants. The scary part is how much power he has over Thad Beaumont who is forced to write another George Stark book or else Thad and his family will not have a happy ending. And Thad wants to get rid of George Stark for good but how? How is it possible to get someone who is created by his own imaginary to go away? I think it’s a very interesting and weird concept and I was pretty nervous about how this all would end for Thad and his family. ‘Cause George Stark is not a person you want to mess with. He is not that kind of a guy who gives up that easily.

Even though I spent days to finish the book it was because of reading for the finals as well so I allowed myself to read this book only in short periods between readings for the finals. I didn’t spend so many days to finish the book ‘cause it was boring. No way. I enjoyed the The Dark Half very much and couldn’t wait to get to know how this all would end ‘and only hoped the best for Thad and his loved ones. You never know what’s gonna happen in a Stephen King book, right?

This book made me realize that the author himself has a lot in common with the main character, Thad Beaumont and made me think of this could be sort of a secret biography of Stephen King or something.
The main character Thad is an author who lives in Maine (yeah I know several main characters in Stephen King books and also lives in Maine and many of them are authors but that’s not the only common thing).
Thad is an ex-alcoholic and so is King. He had drinking problems in the beginning of his career (maybe that’s why his books was best in the early years of his career? I love many of his new novels as well but his books in the 70s and the 80s are the best. They were very vivid and much darker. Maybe he was more creative and had dark imagine while drinking? Who knows?)

So, is it sort of a biography or is it just coincident? I think it’s an interesting thought! And King is a very interesting guy.

To be honest I thought I would bore myself to death with this book since I’ve already seen the movie many years ago and remember it well. The book is a bit slow at first, in the first half but in the second half it really got exciting! And I also found out that the movie is very different from the book. It’s the same concept but the movie has made a lot of own turns as well. I know many movies that are based on books do a few things different and that’s normal but I think the movie maybe was just 30% true to the book.

I loved the characters in the books very much and I liked Thad more and more. He seemed kind and loving family man who would do anything to make his family feel safe. And I was hoping that he and the rest of the family would survive this hell they went through.

The Dark Half is a dark book about being true to yourself and a dangerous game in a dark world. And what a person is willing to do to save himself and the people he loves. I never thought the book would be so exciting since I had seen the movie but it didn’t matter. I enjoyed reading it a lot and got sad when it was over.(less)

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About Stephen King

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family...more Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.(less)

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Trivia About The Dark Half

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Quotes from The Dark Half

“You're dead, George. You just don't have the sense to lie down.” — 38 people liked it

“He didn’t know if that was really true or not, but he discovered something which was tremendously liberating: he didn’t care. He was very tired of thinking and thinking and still not knowing. He was also tired of being frightened, like a man who has entered a cave on a lark and now begins to suspect he is lost. Stop thinking about it, then. That’s the solution.” — 4 people liked it

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