Enough Darkness to Scare the Whole Family
The Dark Half is a novel written by Stephen King published in 1989. The story takes place in Main of 1988. In case you are unfamiliar with the author to correct the title this is a graphic horror book that can give nightmares to small children. It is recommended that you do not read this book aloud to anyone under the age of fourteen. The Dark Half is a good suspenseful story with several deeper ideas.
One of the deep ideas is the character George Stark. The Dark Half is the last novel Stephen King wrote with a bottle of beer in hand. George Stark is a written manifestation of his fears that if he stops drinking he will lose his ability to write. Another idea that can be taken from the novel is what leads to true complete fear: helplessness and lack of understanding. In the novel the characters are forever unable to stop the serial killer and are not sure what is actually going on. Not until the very end do some of the surviving members learn how everything is related.
The Dark Half has an extensive list of minor characters: Rick, Homor, and many different police agents. These people are important to the plot and explaining events but have no real individual influence. Thad and Liz Beaumont, Alan Pangborn the local police sheriff, and George Stark the pseudonym turned serial killer are the main characters. In the words of everyone who knows Stark, “Not a nice guy.” These four are the only perspectives the book is written from and their interactions are the main points of the story.
The Dark Half opens with an exert from Thad’s childhood. This point is very important for the events to follow but is hard to determine quite how in the begining. Following this is the celebration of George Stark’s death. A large part of the novel is suspense of not knowing and George going on a grizzly murder spree killing everyone who had a hand in erecting his tombstone. During this time Alan appears and begins to learn more and more about some very strange events occurring all over the place. Near the end everything hits high gear and raps up rather quickly. George needs help writing because the first time he tried writing alone he got: “The george George Stark George starked over the Starky stark.”
The Dark Half is a good novel with a suspenseful plot with many ideas and concepts to explore. It is a fighting book at times and should not be allowed into the hands of small children. The book is well written but at times can feel rather slow. I would rate it a nine out of ten and two reads. To get the most out of it would be best to read it twice to catch up on all the hints and such give though out the novel.
The reviewer is a high school student. The reviewer is a novice writer and a large fan of supernatural stories. He reads light novels frequently and partakes in limited social activities. The reviewer has interest in morbid themes and darker superpowers. The reader has limited life experience with lose and personal death.