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Moved to the Trivia tab.
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* ActorAllusion: The last part of the miniseries version of the book involves Mike fighting [[spoiler: Rogette]] in a bathroom [[spoiler: to the death,]] just when you think it's all over. Is it a wonder why they got [[PierceBrosnan Pierce]] [[Film/JamesBond Brosnan]] to play Mike?
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* WriteWhoYouKnow: Michael Noonan is another of Stephen King's large group of writer protagonists.
** The office being stiflingly hot in mid-summer is another detail taken directly from King's life--there was no other room in the house he could comfortably write in after his near-fatal car crash. And the sections dealing with the loss of Johanna are incredibly personal, though thankfully they are not inspired by real-life events.
** The office being stiflingly hot in mid-summer is another detail taken directly from King's life--there was no other room in the house he could comfortably write in after his near-fatal car crash. And the sections dealing with the loss of Johanna are incredibly personal, though thankfully they are not inspired by real-life events.
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** "You funny little man, said Strickland."
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Trope that doesn\'t exist.
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* SingleFather: [[spoiler: Mike hopes to be one to Kyra eventually]]
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* HopeSpot: When Max Devore drops the case. [[GenreSavvy Michael] immediately recognizes it as such, and unfortunately, he's right.
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* HopeSpot: When Max Devore drops the case. [[GenreSavvy Michael] Michael]] immediately recognizes it as such, and unfortunately, he's right.
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* AdultFear: Mattie has been living in terror of her father-in-law stealing her daughter away from her, and rightly so.
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* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler: Mattie Devore's murder is sudden, brutal, and completely senseless. Michael later realizes he has written many fictional murders of this type, and is disgusted with himself.]]
to:
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler: Mattie Devore's murder is sudden, brutal, and completely senseless. Michael later realizes he has written many fictional murders of this type, and is so disgusted with himself.himself that he gives up on his writing career.]]
* DropTheHammer: How Mike decides to eliminate the threat of an armed [[DirtyCop George Footman]].
* ExpositionDump: The first 100 pages of the novel are essentially all backstory.
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* HopeSpot: When Max Devore drops the case. Michael immediately recognizes it as such, and unfortunately, he's right.
to:
* HopeSpot: When Max Devore drops the case. Michael [[GenreSavvy Michael] immediately recognizes it as such, and unfortunately, he's right.
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* LoveTriangle: Done with Mike, Mattie, and John Storrow.
to:
* LoveTriangle: Done with Mike, Mattie, and John Storrow. Storrow.
** DeathOfTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler: Though, by this point, John Storrow was no longer in the running.]]
** DeathOfTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler: Though, by this point, John Storrow was no longer in the running.]]
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* ActorAllusion: The last part of the miniseries version of the book involves Mike fighting [[spoiler: Rogette]] in a bathroom [[spoiler: to the death,]] just when you think it's all over. Is it a wonder why they got [[PierceBrosnan Pierce]] [[JamesBond Brosnan]] to play Mike?
to:
* ActorAllusion: The last part of the miniseries version of the book involves Mike fighting [[spoiler: Rogette]] in a bathroom [[spoiler: to the death,]] just when you think it's all over. Is it a wonder why they got [[PierceBrosnan Pierce]] [[JamesBond [[Film/JamesBond Brosnan]] to play Mike?
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* ActorAllusion: The last part of the miniseries version of the book involves Mike fighting [[spoiler: Rogette]] in a bathroom [[spoiler: to the death,]] just when you think it's all over. Is it a wonder why they got [[PierceBrosnan Pierce]] [[JamesBond Brosnan]] to play Mike?
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* TheCameo: Ralph Roberts and Norris Ridgewick. A few other King characters are mentioned in passing(Bill Denbrough for example).
to:
* TheCameo: Ralph Roberts and Norris Ridgewick. A few other King characters are mentioned in passing(Bill passing (Bill Denbrough for example).
* DamselInDistress: Mattie Devore all over the place.
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* DistressedDamsel: Mattie Devore all over the place.
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** [[spoiler: Although. this applies to his descendent Max.]]
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** [[spoiler: Although. this applies to his descendent descendant Max.]]
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* FauxShadow: Mike lives in the town of Derry, which will lead the savvy King reader to assume that its dark history will play a role. All of the creepy, supernatural stuff only starts to happen after he leaves, however, and he never goes back once he's gone.
to:
* FauxShadow: {{Fauxshadow}}: Mike lives in the town of Derry, which will lead the savvy King reader to assume that its dark history will play a role. All of the creepy, supernatural stuff only starts to happen after he leaves, however, and he never goes back once he's gone.
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* SignatureLaugh: Sara has one, which is why the lake is called "Sara Laughs"
** [[spoiler: later counts as EvilLaugh as well]]
** [[spoiler: later counts as EvilLaugh as well]]
to:
* SignatureLaugh: Sara has one, which is why the lake is called "Sara Laughs"
Laughs".
** [[spoiler:later Later counts as EvilLaugh as well]]well.]]
** [[spoiler:
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* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Sara Tidwell]].
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* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Sara Tidwell]].Tidwell.]]
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* CanonWelding: It's a Creator/StephenKing novel. What did you expect? Several of his works are referenced, including ''{{IT}}'', ''TheDarkHalf'', and cameos by the main character of ''Literature/{{Insomnia}}'' and Norris Ridgewick, who appeared in several Castle Rock stories in various capacities.
to:
* CanonWelding: It's a Creator/StephenKing novel. What did you expect? Several of his works are referenced, including ''{{IT}}'', ''TheDarkHalf'', ''Literature/{{IT}}'', ''Literature/TheDarkHalf'', and cameos by the main character of ''Literature/{{Insomnia}}'' and Norris Ridgewick, who appeared in several Castle Rock stories in various capacities.
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* CreepyChild: A few of the ghosts haunting Sara Laughs is that of a crying child and a drowned boy. They appears to disturb Mike more than the others.
to:
* CreepyChild: A few of the ghosts haunting Sara Laughs is are that of a crying child and a drowned boy. They appears appear to disturb Mike more than the others.other ghosts.
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Not necessarily - the audiobook Darla has could very easily be one of his pre-writer\'s-block works.
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* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Mike not only loses his wife at the outset, he also loses Mattie to an act of post-mortem revenge, the stupid brutality of which turns him off writing (though, ''Lisey's Story'' implies that he later changes his mind about that). All he has left in the world is Kyra, and at the end of the story, Mike is equally optimistic and frustrated about the process which will allow him to adopt her.]]
to:
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Mike not only loses his wife at the outset, he also loses Mattie to an act of post-mortem revenge, the stupid brutality of which turns him off writing (though, ''Lisey's Story'' implies that he later changes his mind about that).writing. All he has left in the world is Kyra, and at the end of the story, Mike is equally optimistic and frustrated about the process which will allow him to adopt her.]]
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* CanonWelding: It's a Creator/StephenKing novel. What did you expect? Several of his works are referenced, including ''{{IT}}'', ''TheDarkHalf'', and cameos by the main character of ''{{Insomnia}}'' and Norris Ridgewick, who appeared in several Castle Rock stories in various capacities.
to:
* CanonWelding: It's a Creator/StephenKing novel. What did you expect? Several of his works are referenced, including ''{{IT}}'', ''TheDarkHalf'', and cameos by the main character of ''{{Insomnia}}'' ''Literature/{{Insomnia}}'' and Norris Ridgewick, who appeared in several Castle Rock stories in various capacities.
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* BigBreastsBigDeal: Sara has this attitude.
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* SpeechImpediment: Lance Devore was a stutterer.
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* SignatureLaugh: Sara has one, which is why the lake is called "Sara Laughs"
**[[spoiler: later counts as EvilLaugh as well]]
**[[spoiler: later counts as EvilLaugh as well]]
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* BigBreastsBigDeal: Sara has this attitude.
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* TheCameo: Ralph Roberts and Norris Ridgewick. A few other King characters are mentioned in passing.
* CanonWelding: It's a Creator/StephenKing novel. What did you expect? Several of his works are referenced, including ''IT'', ''TheDarkHalf'', and cameos by the main character of ''Insomnia'' and Norris Ridgewick, who appeared in several Castle Rock stories in various capacities.
* CanonWelding: It's a Creator/StephenKing novel. What did you expect? Several of his works are referenced, including ''IT'', ''TheDarkHalf'', and cameos by the main character of ''Insomnia'' and Norris Ridgewick, who appeared in several Castle Rock stories in various capacities.
to:
* TheCameo: Ralph Roberts and Norris Ridgewick. A few other King characters are mentioned in passing.
passing(Bill Denbrough for example).
* CanonWelding: It's a Creator/StephenKing novel. What did you expect? Several of his works are referenced, including''IT'', ''{{IT}}'', ''TheDarkHalf'', and cameos by the main character of ''Insomnia'' ''{{Insomnia}}'' and Norris Ridgewick, who appeared in several Castle Rock stories in various capacities.
* CanonWelding: It's a Creator/StephenKing novel. What did you expect? Several of his works are referenced, including
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* CreepyChild: One of the ghosts haunting Sara Laughs is that of a crying child. It appears to disturb Mike more than the others.
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* CreepyChild: One A few of the ghosts haunting Sara Laughs is that of a crying child. It child and a drowned boy. They appears to disturb Mike more than the others.
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**[[spoiler: Although. this applies to his descendent Max.]]
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* LoveTriangle: Done with Mike, Mattie, and John Storrow.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: We eventually find out that Rogette Whitmore is Max Devore's daughter.]]
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: We eventually find out that Rogette Whitmore is Max Devore's daughter.]]
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* SingleFather: [[spoiler: Mike hopes to be one to Kyra eventually]]
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* TitleDrop: Several times throughout the book and one literal Bag of Bones the bones of [[spoiler: Sara Tidwell and her son]]
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** The office being stiflingly hot in mid-summer is another detail taken directly from King's life--there was no other room in the house he could comfortably write in after his near-fatal car crash. And the sections dealing with the loss of Johanna are incredibly personal, though thankfully they are not inspired by real-life events.
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* AbusiveParents: Averted. The main allegation against Mattie Devore in Max Devore's custody case is that Mattie is abusive and neglectful towards her daughter. The charges are ridiculously false, but money has a way of making people ignore this.
* AdaptationDecay: The A&E miniseries.
* AdaptationDecay: The A&E miniseries.
to:
* AbusiveParents: Averted.Subverted. The main allegation against Mattie Devore in Max Devore's custody case is that Mattie is abusive and neglectful towards her daughter. The charges are ridiculously false, but money has a way of making people ignore this.
* AdaptationDecay: The A&E miniseries.this.
* AdaptationDecay: The A&E miniseries.
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* MamaBear: Even death doesn't stop Johanna from protecting Michael and Kyra [[spoiler: Sara Tiddwell.]]
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* MamaBear: Even death doesn't stop Johanna from protecting Michael and Kyra [[spoiler: from Sara Tiddwell.]]
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* MamaBear: Even death doesn't stop Johanna from protecting Michael and Kyra [[spoiler: Sara Tiddwell.]]
--> '''Johanna:''' LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!
--> '''Johanna:''' LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!
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Dead Little Sister was renamed. Check to see if the example actually fits before readding.
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* DeadLittleSister: Bill Dean. He doesn't like talking about it, either.
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Renamed trope.
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* ItGotBetter: Mattie's husband dies, leaving her a poor, single mother with few prospects. [[ItGotWorse Enter husband's father]], who intends to take away her daughter--mostly out of spite--and has more than enough money to make sure it will happen. Then, when things seem completely hopeless, a fortuitous encounter with Mike Noonan changes everything.
to:
* ItGotBetter: Mattie's husband dies, leaving her a poor, single mother with few prospects. [[ItGotWorse [[FromBadToWorse Enter husband's father]], who intends to take away her daughter--mostly out of spite--and has more than enough money to make sure it will happen. Then, when things seem completely hopeless, a fortuitous encounter with Mike Noonan changes everything.
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* WriteWhoYouKnow: Michael Noonan is another of Stephen King's large group of writer protagonists.
to:
* WriteWhoYouKnow: Michael Noonan is another of Stephen King's large group of writer protagonists.protagonists.
* WritersBlock: Michael Noonan suffers from it since the death of his wife.
* WritersBlock: Michael Noonan suffers from it since the death of his wife.
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He makes immediate acquaintance with little Kyra Devore and her young mother, Mattie. They are the target of Mattie's extremely wealthy, extremely old, and extremely wicked [[CompleteMonster father-in-law]], who is determined to take Kyra away from Mattie. Michael's chance encounter with them draws him into the struggle. Charmed by the child, deeply attracted to her mother, and sitting on a few million dollars of his own, he decides to help Mattie fight back.
to:
He makes immediate acquaintance with little Kyra Devore and her young mother, Mattie. They are the target of Mattie's extremely wealthy, extremely old, and extremely wicked [[CompleteMonster father-in-law]], father-in-law, who is determined to take Kyra away from Mattie. Michael's chance encounter with them draws him into the struggle. Charmed by the child, deeply attracted to her mother, and sitting on a few million dollars of his own, he decides to help Mattie fight back.
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the namespace fixed, yo
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A 1998 novel by StephenKing. Michael Noonan is a popular novelist who is living an idyllic existence with his loving wife Johanna, until she unexpectedly dies one hot summer day. Losing Johanna leads directly to him losing his ability to write--grief has so crippled him that the mere act of writing causes severe panic attacks.
to:
A 1998 novel by StephenKing.Creator/StephenKing. Michael Noonan is a popular novelist who is living an idyllic existence with his loving wife Johanna, until she unexpectedly dies one hot summer day. Losing Johanna leads directly to him losing his ability to write--grief has so crippled him that the mere act of writing causes severe panic attacks.
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* CanonWelding: It's a StephenKing novel. What did you expect? Several of his works are referenced, including ''IT'', ''TheDarkHalf'', and cameos by the main character of ''Insomnia'' and Norris Ridgewick, who appeared in several Castle Rock stories in various capacities.
to:
* CanonWelding: It's a StephenKing Creator/StephenKing novel. What did you expect? Several of his works are referenced, including ''IT'', ''TheDarkHalf'', and cameos by the main character of ''Insomnia'' and Norris Ridgewick, who appeared in several Castle Rock stories in various capacities.
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None
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* CosmicHorror: It is implied that the intervention of an "outsider" is what caused the ghost of Dark Score Lake to become vindictive, though its nature or origin is never explored.
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* CosmicHorror: CosmicHorrorStory: It is implied that the intervention of an "outsider" is what caused the ghost of Dark Score Lake to become vindictive, though its nature or origin is never explored.
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[[quoteright:264:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Bag-of-Bones-King-Stephen-9781439106211_477.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:264:Sara Laughs. Just not on this cover image.]]
->''"...any good marriage is secret territory, a necessary white space on society's map. What others don't know about it is what makes it yours."''
A 1998 novel by StephenKing. Michael Noonan is a popular novelist who is living an idyllic existence with his loving wife Johanna, until she unexpectedly dies one hot summer day. Losing Johanna leads directly to him losing his ability to write--grief has so crippled him that the mere act of writing causes severe panic attacks.
Haunted by memories of good times and by terrifying dreams taking place at their long-neglected summer home, Mike decides to finally attack the problem and see if returning there might help him get his life back on track. He returns to the summer home, named Sara Laughs after long-ago blues musician Sara Tidwell, to find it haunted with several different ghosts, which seem to have different agendas.
He makes immediate acquaintance with little Kyra Devore and her young mother, Mattie. They are the target of Mattie's extremely wealthy, extremely old, and extremely wicked [[CompleteMonster father-in-law]], who is determined to take Kyra away from Mattie. Michael's chance encounter with them draws him into the struggle. Charmed by the child, deeply attracted to her mother, and sitting on a few million dollars of his own, he decides to help Mattie fight back.
What Michael doesn't realize is that what appears to be a simple custody battle is really the final act of a vindictive ghost haunting the town, bent on avenging itself on the descendants of the men who murdered her a hundred years ago... and the seemingly nice country folks of this town are more than ready to let her finish.
----
!!Contains the following tropes:
* AbusiveParents: Averted. The main allegation against Mattie Devore in Max Devore's custody case is that Mattie is abusive and neglectful towards her daughter. The charges are ridiculously false, but money has a way of making people ignore this.
* ArcNumber: "Go Down 19". 19 is Stephen King's ArcNumber.
* ArcWords: "Well, ''that's'' all right, isn't it?"
* {{Badass}}: George Kennedy gets shot in the leg during a scene of particular carnage, yet calmly gets to his feet and returns fire, ensuring that one of the two assailants dies and the other is brought to justice.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Though Mike describes himself as more-or-less normal, Mattie is very beautiful. Max Devore and Rogette Whitmore, the villains, are both the scary-looking variety of old people.
* BigBad: Max Devore.
* BiggerOnTheInside: In a dream/living projection, Mike and Kyra are chased into a county fair's haunted house which is much bigger than it looks from outside.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Mike not only loses his wife at the outset, he also loses Mattie to an act of post-mortem revenge, the stupid brutality of which turns him off writing (though, ''Lisey's Story'' implies that he later changes his mind about that). All he has left in the world is Kyra, and at the end of the story, Mike is equally optimistic and frustrated about the process which will allow him to adopt her.]]
* TheCameo: Ralph Roberts and Norris Ridgewick. A few other King characters are mentioned in passing.
* CanonWelding: It's a StephenKing novel. What did you expect? Several of his works are referenced, including ''IT'', ''TheDarkHalf'', and cameos by the main character of ''Insomnia'' and Norris Ridgewick, who appeared in several Castle Rock stories in various capacities.
* ChekhovsGun: The Stenomask and bottle of lye.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Also Max Devore, though his business in TR-90 is strictly personal.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The [[http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166254250l/10589.jpg American paperback version]] depicts a lake, which is the extent of its accuracy. The naked woman in the badly-done CG of the lake and the little shack in the distance bear no resemblance to anything in the story, and the denuded trees seem a bit unlikely considering that the part of the story set on the lakeside takes place in ''July''.
* CosmicHorror: It is implied that the intervention of an "outsider" is what caused the ghost of Dark Score Lake to become vindictive, though its nature or origin is never explored.
* CreepyChild: One of the ghosts haunting Sara Laughs is that of a crying child. It appears to disturb Mike more than the others.
* DeadLittleSister: Bill Dean. He doesn't like talking about it, either.
* DirtyCop: George Footman.
* DistressedDamsel: Mattie Devore all over the place.
* TheDragon: Rogette Whitmore is one of the more unlikely examples in literature.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler: Mattie Devore's murder is sudden, brutal, and completely senseless. Michael later realizes he has written many fictional murders of this type, and is disgusted with himself.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: The fate of most of Jared Devore's accomplices, though not Jared himself.
* EroticDream: Mike has an explosive and disturbing three-way orgy with Jo, Mattie and Sara Tidwell in one of his dreams.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Max Devore provided well for his children and truly seemed to love his youngest son, Lance, though even that love had its limits.
* FauxShadow: Mike lives in the town of Derry, which will lead the savvy King reader to assume that its dark history will play a role. All of the creepy, supernatural stuff only starts to happen after he leaves, however, and he never goes back once he's gone.
* FaceHeelTurn: The result of certain individuals becoming a LivingBodysuit. Max Devore ''appears'' to pull one of these late in the book, in the opposite direction.
* GenreSavvy: Mike is a novelist, so he knows a good trope and frequently identifies them when he comes across one in his life.
* HappilyMarried: Mike and Johanna.
** Mattie and Lance.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Frank Arlen seems to want this kind of relationship with brother-in-law Mike, but Mike's too much of a loner for it to really work out.
* HiveMind: The residents of TR-90 fall into this near the end.
* HopeSpot: When Max Devore drops the case. Michael immediately recognizes it as such, and unfortunately, he's right.
* ISeeDeadPeople: Both Mike and Kyra see them all over Sara Laughs near the end, and have been communicating with them less directly throughout most of the story beforehand.
* ItGotBetter: Mattie's husband dies, leaving her a poor, single mother with few prospects. [[ItGotWorse Enter husband's father]], who intends to take away her daughter--mostly out of spite--and has more than enough money to make sure it will happen. Then, when things seem completely hopeless, a fortuitous encounter with Mike Noonan changes everything.
* JerkAss: Max Devore, again. Mike himself has a pretty cynical outlook, and his personal thoughts on people, even those he likes, have a tendency to be less than flattering.
* LivingBodysuit: When [[spoiler: Sara's rapists/murderers]] go crazy and murder their children, it is not because they thought of doing it themselves. This may have been averted by [[spoiler: Max Devore]], who is taking it upon himself to carry out the ritual, knowing he'd be forced to anyway.
* MagicFeather: Michael believes that it was discovering his old IBM typewriter which enabled him to start writing again. His superstition regarding the apparent defeat of writer's block is so strong that he's afraid to even take it out of his office, which has no air conditioner and is uncomfortably hot in mid-July.
* ManipulativeBastard: Max Devore is throwing around scads of money at the townspeople of TR-90 to buy their good opinion and grease the skids for his custody battle.
* MayDecemberRomance: Mike and Mattie. [[spoiler: Almost.]]
* MeaningfulName: Devore = devour.
* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: Max Devore, unfortunately for everyone on Mattie's house.
* NewHouseNewProblems: Mike's life, none too good before coming to Sara Laughs, gets a whole lot more complicated once he does.
* OffingTheOffspring: How [[spoiler: Sara]] punishes the men who murdered her and her son.
* RapeAsBackstory: [[spoiler: Sara Tidwell, though she implies that it has happened to her before and it really is the least of her problems.]]
* SelfDeprecation: As with his other writer-characters, King uses Noonan to occasionally mock the habits and pretensions of writers.
* TownWithADarkSecret: TR-90.
* TrappedInAnotherWorld: Michael fears that if he and Kyra can't make it out of their shared dream of the 1901 Fryeburg Fair, they'll be trapped in it forever. He even speculates about what he'd do for a living if it happened.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Sara Tidwell]].
* WriteWhoYouKnow: Michael Noonan is another of Stephen King's large group of writer protagonists.
[[caption-width-right:264:Sara Laughs. Just not on this cover image.]]
->''"...any good marriage is secret territory, a necessary white space on society's map. What others don't know about it is what makes it yours."''
A 1998 novel by StephenKing. Michael Noonan is a popular novelist who is living an idyllic existence with his loving wife Johanna, until she unexpectedly dies one hot summer day. Losing Johanna leads directly to him losing his ability to write--grief has so crippled him that the mere act of writing causes severe panic attacks.
Haunted by memories of good times and by terrifying dreams taking place at their long-neglected summer home, Mike decides to finally attack the problem and see if returning there might help him get his life back on track. He returns to the summer home, named Sara Laughs after long-ago blues musician Sara Tidwell, to find it haunted with several different ghosts, which seem to have different agendas.
He makes immediate acquaintance with little Kyra Devore and her young mother, Mattie. They are the target of Mattie's extremely wealthy, extremely old, and extremely wicked [[CompleteMonster father-in-law]], who is determined to take Kyra away from Mattie. Michael's chance encounter with them draws him into the struggle. Charmed by the child, deeply attracted to her mother, and sitting on a few million dollars of his own, he decides to help Mattie fight back.
What Michael doesn't realize is that what appears to be a simple custody battle is really the final act of a vindictive ghost haunting the town, bent on avenging itself on the descendants of the men who murdered her a hundred years ago... and the seemingly nice country folks of this town are more than ready to let her finish.
----
!!Contains the following tropes:
* AbusiveParents: Averted. The main allegation against Mattie Devore in Max Devore's custody case is that Mattie is abusive and neglectful towards her daughter. The charges are ridiculously false, but money has a way of making people ignore this.
* ArcNumber: "Go Down 19". 19 is Stephen King's ArcNumber.
* ArcWords: "Well, ''that's'' all right, isn't it?"
* {{Badass}}: George Kennedy gets shot in the leg during a scene of particular carnage, yet calmly gets to his feet and returns fire, ensuring that one of the two assailants dies and the other is brought to justice.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Though Mike describes himself as more-or-less normal, Mattie is very beautiful. Max Devore and Rogette Whitmore, the villains, are both the scary-looking variety of old people.
* BigBad: Max Devore.
* BiggerOnTheInside: In a dream/living projection, Mike and Kyra are chased into a county fair's haunted house which is much bigger than it looks from outside.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Mike not only loses his wife at the outset, he also loses Mattie to an act of post-mortem revenge, the stupid brutality of which turns him off writing (though, ''Lisey's Story'' implies that he later changes his mind about that). All he has left in the world is Kyra, and at the end of the story, Mike is equally optimistic and frustrated about the process which will allow him to adopt her.]]
* TheCameo: Ralph Roberts and Norris Ridgewick. A few other King characters are mentioned in passing.
* CanonWelding: It's a StephenKing novel. What did you expect? Several of his works are referenced, including ''IT'', ''TheDarkHalf'', and cameos by the main character of ''Insomnia'' and Norris Ridgewick, who appeared in several Castle Rock stories in various capacities.
* ChekhovsGun: The Stenomask and bottle of lye.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Also Max Devore, though his business in TR-90 is strictly personal.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The [[http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166254250l/10589.jpg American paperback version]] depicts a lake, which is the extent of its accuracy. The naked woman in the badly-done CG of the lake and the little shack in the distance bear no resemblance to anything in the story, and the denuded trees seem a bit unlikely considering that the part of the story set on the lakeside takes place in ''July''.
* CosmicHorror: It is implied that the intervention of an "outsider" is what caused the ghost of Dark Score Lake to become vindictive, though its nature or origin is never explored.
* CreepyChild: One of the ghosts haunting Sara Laughs is that of a crying child. It appears to disturb Mike more than the others.
* DeadLittleSister: Bill Dean. He doesn't like talking about it, either.
* DirtyCop: George Footman.
* DistressedDamsel: Mattie Devore all over the place.
* TheDragon: Rogette Whitmore is one of the more unlikely examples in literature.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler: Mattie Devore's murder is sudden, brutal, and completely senseless. Michael later realizes he has written many fictional murders of this type, and is disgusted with himself.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: The fate of most of Jared Devore's accomplices, though not Jared himself.
* EroticDream: Mike has an explosive and disturbing three-way orgy with Jo, Mattie and Sara Tidwell in one of his dreams.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Max Devore provided well for his children and truly seemed to love his youngest son, Lance, though even that love had its limits.
* FauxShadow: Mike lives in the town of Derry, which will lead the savvy King reader to assume that its dark history will play a role. All of the creepy, supernatural stuff only starts to happen after he leaves, however, and he never goes back once he's gone.
* FaceHeelTurn: The result of certain individuals becoming a LivingBodysuit. Max Devore ''appears'' to pull one of these late in the book, in the opposite direction.
* GenreSavvy: Mike is a novelist, so he knows a good trope and frequently identifies them when he comes across one in his life.
* HappilyMarried: Mike and Johanna.
** Mattie and Lance.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Frank Arlen seems to want this kind of relationship with brother-in-law Mike, but Mike's too much of a loner for it to really work out.
* HiveMind: The residents of TR-90 fall into this near the end.
* HopeSpot: When Max Devore drops the case. Michael immediately recognizes it as such, and unfortunately, he's right.
* ISeeDeadPeople: Both Mike and Kyra see them all over Sara Laughs near the end, and have been communicating with them less directly throughout most of the story beforehand.
* ItGotBetter: Mattie's husband dies, leaving her a poor, single mother with few prospects. [[ItGotWorse Enter husband's father]], who intends to take away her daughter--mostly out of spite--and has more than enough money to make sure it will happen. Then, when things seem completely hopeless, a fortuitous encounter with Mike Noonan changes everything.
* JerkAss: Max Devore, again. Mike himself has a pretty cynical outlook, and his personal thoughts on people, even those he likes, have a tendency to be less than flattering.
* LivingBodysuit: When [[spoiler: Sara's rapists/murderers]] go crazy and murder their children, it is not because they thought of doing it themselves. This may have been averted by [[spoiler: Max Devore]], who is taking it upon himself to carry out the ritual, knowing he'd be forced to anyway.
* MagicFeather: Michael believes that it was discovering his old IBM typewriter which enabled him to start writing again. His superstition regarding the apparent defeat of writer's block is so strong that he's afraid to even take it out of his office, which has no air conditioner and is uncomfortably hot in mid-July.
* ManipulativeBastard: Max Devore is throwing around scads of money at the townspeople of TR-90 to buy their good opinion and grease the skids for his custody battle.
* MayDecemberRomance: Mike and Mattie. [[spoiler: Almost.]]
* MeaningfulName: Devore = devour.
* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: Max Devore, unfortunately for everyone on Mattie's house.
* NewHouseNewProblems: Mike's life, none too good before coming to Sara Laughs, gets a whole lot more complicated once he does.
* OffingTheOffspring: How [[spoiler: Sara]] punishes the men who murdered her and her son.
* RapeAsBackstory: [[spoiler: Sara Tidwell, though she implies that it has happened to her before and it really is the least of her problems.]]
* SelfDeprecation: As with his other writer-characters, King uses Noonan to occasionally mock the habits and pretensions of writers.
* TownWithADarkSecret: TR-90.
* TrappedInAnotherWorld: Michael fears that if he and Kyra can't make it out of their shared dream of the 1901 Fryeburg Fair, they'll be trapped in it forever. He even speculates about what he'd do for a living if it happened.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Sara Tidwell]].
* WriteWhoYouKnow: Michael Noonan is another of Stephen King's large group of writer protagonists.
