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 c... read full description
reviews
Dec 17, 2009
Shanti
rated it: 
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 proble More...
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 proble More...
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(6 people liked it)
Jun 22, 2010
Kemper
rated it: 
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.
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(15 people liked it)
Mar 26, 2010
Margaret
rated it: 
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.
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(1 person liked it)
Oct 01, 2007
Kent
rated it: 
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
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8 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Dec 28, 2011
Gwynhwyfar
rated it:
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
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Jul 20, 2011
Draickinphoenix
rated it:
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 pre More...
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 pre More...
Apr 30, 2011
Typicalfrost
rated it:
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 More...
It begins boring and tedious. You struggle through till it picks up. Eventually you become deeply engaged, the climax builds More...
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(1 person liked it)
Nov 07, 2011
Myles
rated it:
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 More...
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 More...
Jan 18, 2009
Rachel
rated it:
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 thrille More...
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 thrille More...
Jun 29, 2007
Lindsay
rated it:
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.
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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Jul 03, 2011
Stephanie
rated it:
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"
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Jun 08, 2011
Basementreading
rated it:
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 More...
Aug 14, 2010
Jason
rated it:
Awesome, and quite dark with lots of intrigue, action, and suspense. A lot of it involves how people react to situations that are impossible in a normal world (but come on, not only is this SK land, it involves Castle Rock, ME, so you know nothing normal is going to happen here). Writer Thad Beaumont's pseudonym (George Stark) is about to be exposed by an opportunist, so Thad kills the pseudonym. However, it comes to life, and starts killing people who helped kill him, but it can't kill Thad
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Jul 19, 2009
Blake
rated it:
A novelist decides to eliminate his own highly successful pseudonym, only to find the more insidious side of his own nature has taken on a life of its own. George Stark lives, and he wants to go on living. While not King's best work, it's a good one, an interesting examination of how fiction dominates a writer's life, and how that may go too far -- although with a more supernatural bent than we see in, for instance, "Misery." The biggest weakness is probably the fact that this, like an
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Jun 24, 2010
Stephen
rated it: 
2.0 to 2.5 stars. It has been a long time since I read this, but I remember thinking it was one of my least favorite Stephen King novels. I think the fact that I remember so little of it is probably indicative of my relative lack of interest in it at the time. I will probably go back and read it again at some point so I can do a proper review.
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Jul 03, 2010
Jess
rated it:
This is one of the more twisted of King's books that I've read. Thad Beaumont had an operation when he was a kid. In the course of the operation, the surgeon discovered remnants of a partially absorbed twin inside Thad's skull--a twin that was removed, before the internal pressure inside his head could kill him.
Years later, Thad is a successful writer. Except his most profitable series is written under the name George Stark, instead of his own. George is a mighty crafty, awfully More...
Years later, Thad is a successful writer. Except his most profitable series is written under the name George Stark, instead of his own. George is a mighty crafty, awfully More...
Jul 30, 2011
Stephen King, the Master of masters in storytelling, again did not disappoint.
You have horror, action, explosion, gun shots, mystery, supernatural, detective work, crazy and powerful villain, innocent good guy, the caring wife, the smart cop, and drama, mixed together masterfully in this novel, and the end result is a great book which I awarded 5-stars.
Writing in response to exposure of Stephen King's "Richard Bachman" pseudonym, I am sure what King described in this novel about the du More...
You have horror, action, explosion, gun shots, mystery, supernatural, detective work, crazy and powerful villain, innocent good guy, the caring wife, the smart cop, and drama, mixed together masterfully in this novel, and the end result is a great book which I awarded 5-stars.
Writing in response to exposure of Stephen King's "Richard Bachman" pseudonym, I am sure what King described in this novel about the du More...
May 02, 2011
La Stamberga dei Lettori
rated it:
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...
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...
Sep 01, 2011
Josh
rated it:
The Dark Half is vintage Stephen King circa 1989 in which the reader is taken to a world infused with the supernatural and most heinous of crimes. Thad is a writer, his alter ego, dark half if you will - George Stark (ode to Westlake), is also a writer albeit a far more successful one who likes to emphasise the macabre. By some freak turn of events, Thad's piece of fiction turns to reality - no one is safe as the very pages that made Thad wealthy, turn against him. The Dark Half was a lot of fun
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Jul 27, 2011
good but strange King novel.
feels like he wanted to write two different stories (one about evil and sparrows and one about writing) but ended up mushing them together instead. and its all the better for it.
the first half is intense and gruesome, lots of murders and mystery, then the second half is an inevitable slog to what we know has to happen.
the supernatural stuff is great, but the story as a whole is quite unlike Steven King.
anyways, action packed, convoluted and manic (it reads like a vas More...
feels like he wanted to write two different stories (one about evil and sparrows and one about writing) but ended up mushing them together instead. and its all the better for it.
the first half is intense and gruesome, lots of murders and mystery, then the second half is an inevitable slog to what we know has to happen.
the supernatural stuff is great, but the story as a whole is quite unlike Steven King.
anyways, action packed, convoluted and manic (it reads like a vas More...
Oct 14, 2010
Drew
rated it:
The kid has finger nails in his brain!
I read The Dark Half by Stephen King. The book centers on Thad Beaumont, who writes under the pen name, George Stark. Thad himself inst a very good writer, but the writer he created, is a national celebrity known for living life on the edge. After several successful books, Thad stops using the name George Stark which springs several murders in the small town in Maine where Thad lives. Soon he realizes Stark is very real, the and two sha More...
I read The Dark Half by Stephen King. The book centers on Thad Beaumont, who writes under the pen name, George Stark. Thad himself inst a very good writer, but the writer he created, is a national celebrity known for living life on the edge. After several successful books, Thad stops using the name George Stark which springs several murders in the small town in Maine where Thad lives. Soon he realizes Stark is very real, the and two sha More...
Apr 21, 2008
Raegan
rated it:
Stephen King in peak form with this ripping yarn about a murderous pseudonym who comes to life and causes much trouble for his creator/alter ego.
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Oct 30, 2011
Brittany
rated it:
In the book The Dark Half by Stephen King Thad Beaumont, the main character, has been a successful and popular writer. When he writes he uses an alias, "George Stark". Writing as Stark, Beaumont created a fearsome embodiment of evil, robotlike killer named Alexis.
I would rate this book as a 4 out of 5. Something I have always disliked about Stephen Kings writing is, he over obsesses the details in his books. Some parts are boring because he is explaining a minor detail past More...
I would rate this book as a 4 out of 5. Something I have always disliked about Stephen Kings writing is, he over obsesses the details in his books. Some parts are boring because he is explaining a minor detail past More...
Jan 08, 2011
Julia
rated it:
Extremely dark and creepy.
When Thad Beaumont was young he had a very unusual brain tumor removed.
Many years later Thad is a writer whose books under the pseudonym George Stark were much more popular then the ones written under his real name. After confessing about the pseudonym and symbolically killing Stark off, bizarre and heinous murders begin to occur. Thad is the main suspect because his finger prints match exactly those of the killer. At the same time, some of the or More...
When Thad Beaumont was young he had a very unusual brain tumor removed.
Many years later Thad is a writer whose books under the pseudonym George Stark were much more popular then the ones written under his real name. After confessing about the pseudonym and symbolically killing Stark off, bizarre and heinous murders begin to occur. Thad is the main suspect because his finger prints match exactly those of the killer. At the same time, some of the or More...
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Apr 11, 2011
Heather
rated it:
This had to be the weirdest shit I have ever read, or one of the weirdest. It started off slow like most of King’s books, IMO, start off. Dragging, too much detail, etc. Then it started to get interesting once the whole serial killer aspect got on a role, mysterious deaths, and the murder (possibly) being the protagonist. Out of fucking nowhere, NOWHERE, the book throws you this weird curve and I had no idea what the fuck I was reading. It got confusing at one point, then boring, confusing again
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Mar 13, 2011
Wonderfully dark and scary! : Allegory or not,King here manages to write a classic novel ultra true to the genre. The writer was once operated on, to remove the remains of his "twin" from his head. These event somehow disturbs him in life,creating a shadow he can never outrun. When the mock grave of his writer's alias is dug up, he thinks it to be a bad joke, until he realizes it has been dug up from within..
Alexis Machine, a violent killer in his books, is born to life and starts kil More...
Alexis Machine, a violent killer in his books, is born to life and starts kil More...
Aug 23, 2009
Mark
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Oct 18, 2011
Christina
rated it:
I've read only a few Stephen King books, but I'm consistently surprised by the lack of attention this book receives in comparison to the rest of his body of work. It's not the best novel he's written, but it's got some surprisingly vivid plot points (including a nightmare-inducing stinger in the opening), and really creepy phenomena. It's hard to look at a mass of sparrows the same way again.
Again, I'm surprised that this book gets so little attention in comparison to others he's wri More...
Again, I'm surprised that this book gets so little attention in comparison to others he's wri More...
Sep 18, 2011
Dan
rated it:
very much incorrectly billed as a "tale of terror." it is not at all. it is a good book, and people seem to think that they had to review it as a horror book just because it was written by stephen king. i have read most of his books, and this is one of the least scary of them all. it is a dark thriller, with a supernatural element, but by no means a horror novel. it was well developed, i was rooting for the main character, and the ending was crazy, and no one would ever see it coming.
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Apr 20, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
This was my first Stephen King novel, read when I was fifteen and it holds a special place in my heart - I inspired me to read and collect all of his works. It is seventeen years later and, though not his best work by any means, it is still a great story. I love the serial killer aspect and the way the main character is forced out of his mundane daily life to face his worst nightmare, literally. The fact that the villain is the creation of the protagonist is just mind-blowing; i think the reason
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