History Literature / TheRegulators

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* ExtremelyShortTimespan: flashbacks aside, the main story takes place over the course of a single afternoon (of course, Tak tempering with reality screws up time untill his defeat makes reality snap back to normal).

* OrphanedPunchline: When Mary Jackson is shot to death and falls down, Johnny sees that she's not wearing underwear, and thinks of a punchline of an old joke: "I don't know about the other two, but the guy in the middle looks like Creator/WillieNelson". (The joke itself is never told in the book; [[http://jokes.cc.com/funny-sports/pdautx/the-middle-man it's about a woman]] who has the faces of celebrities tattooed to her thighs.)

* MauveShirt: Mary Jackson is introduced and given a rather full backstory, such as the fact that she's on her way back from cheating on her husband, and how she realizes she's not wearing any underwear, ''while she's in the act of dying.'' This is done to the point that she even believes that her husband and the neighbors, who are gathered after the death of the paper boy have figured out she is cheating are there to confront her moments before she is killed.

* KitschCollection: Kirstie Carver collects Hummel figurines. Her goal in life is to design one that looks like her son.

* MauveShirt: A character is introduced and given a rather full backstory, such as the fact that she's on her way back from cheating on her husband, and how she realizes she's not wearing any underwear, ''while she's in the act of dying.'' This is done to the point that she even believes that her husband and the neighbors, who are gathered after the death of the paper boy have figured out she is cheating are there to confront her moments before she is killed.

* EnemyMine: In Seth's favorite show, the heroes team up with their enemy to stop a something from destroying Earth. Tak channels this as the final assault on the protagonists.

* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler: Marielle Soderson gets her arm completely blown off by the Regulators]].

In the town of Wentworth, Ohio, an autistic boy named Seth has gained power to control the reality around him thanks to the machinations of the sinister Tak into a caricature of The WildWest based off the shows that Seth watches. Creatures from Seth's imagination begin to attack the town and the residents are forced to work together to stop Tak.

* HypotheticalCasting: After Johnny Marinville and his black neighbor, Brad Josephson have a hard time climbing a fence to escape from monsters, Johnny jokingly suggests that they should make a movie called ''[[Film/WhiteMenCantJump Black Men Can't Climb Fences]]'', where Brad would be played by LaurenceFishburne.

* MissingEpisode: This was marketed as a lost Bachmann book...that just happens to have many of the same characters as a story Stephen King just wrote, in an AlternateUniverse.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Was originally a script that King wrote for Sam Peckinpah.
* YourHeadAsplode: [[spoiler: The result of Tak's failed attempt to possess Cammie.]]

* HypotheticalCasting: After Johnny Marinville and his black neighbor, Brad Josephson have a hard time climbing a fence to escape from monsters, Johnny jokingly suggests that they should make a movie called ''Black Men Can't Climb Fences'', where Brad would be played by LaurenceFishburne.

* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: Various television characters from Seth's imagination wreck havoc on the town.

* ScrapbookStory: Interweaved within the narrative are diary entries from Audrey detailing her life with Seth and Tak's growing influence.

* SiblingSwitchSquick: Thanks to the alternate universe, the Carver family from one version of the story reverts who are siblings and who is married. In other words, David and Pie would be brother and sister in ''Desperation'', and their parents Ellen and Ralph, but in ''The Regulators'', they're married, with Ellen and Ralph as their children.

'''''The Regulators''''' is a 1996 novel written by Creator/StephenKing under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.

In the town of Wentworth Ohio, an autistic boy named Seth has gained power to control the reality around him thanks to the machinations of the sinister Tak into a caricature of The WildWest based off the shows that Seth watches. Creatures from Seth's imagination begin to attack the town and the residents are forced to work together to stop Tak.

* AlternateUniverse - ''Literature/{{Desperation}}'', another book by Creator/StephenKing, is an alternate universe version of ''The Regulators''. It has the same characters, but in different roles (a brother and sister become a married couple for example, with their parents in one book becoming their children in the other).

* BangBangBANG - Gunshots are incredibly loud; a sound of a shotgun is described as the sound of "a detonating backpack missile". Justified, because the shooters are actually figments of Seth's imagination, made real by Tak.
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind - Between Seth and Tak.
* BodyHorror - Less so than ''Desperation'' in which Tak's possession of the body would cause the host to expand and eventually fall apart; here, his possession of Seth is more of the psychic variety. That being said, Tak is unable to possess anyone else but Seth because their minds are too strong. When he tries, [[spoiler: their heads explode]].
* CaptainErsatz - The characters of Seth's favorite cartoon ''[=MotoKops 2200=]'' are a cross between GIJoe and the PowerRangers.
* DarkerAndEdgier - To ''Desperation'' given that it's written by Bachman.
* DemonicPossession - Tak's possession of Seth.
* EldritchAbomination - Tak.
* EnemyMine - In Seth's favorite show, the heroes team up with their enemy to stop a something from destroying Earth. Tak channels this as the final assault on the protagonists.
* EvilPhone - The Tak-Phone.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou - Various television characters from Seth's imagination wreck havoc on the town.
* {{Gorn}} - It's definitely of King's goriest works.
* HappyPlace - Seth manages to create such a refuge for his aunt/guardian Audrey (using a vacation she took in her college days as source material) to give her a way to get away from Tak's various torments.
* HypotheticalCasting - After Johnny Marinville and his black neighbor, Brad Josephson have a hard time climbing a fence to escape from monsters, Johnny jokingly suggests that they should make a movie called ''Black Men Can't Climb Fences'', where Brad would be played by LaurenceFishburne.
* KitschCollection - Kirstie Carver collects Hummel figurines. Her goal in life is to design one that looks like her son.
* LudicrousGibs - When one character gets shot by the Regulators, she's described as simply disappearing, and then a second later a rain of blood falls to the ground.
* MauveShirt - A character is introduced and given a rather full backstory, such as the fact that she's on her way back from cheating on her husband, and how she realizes she's not wearing any underwear, ''while she's in the act of dying.'' This is done to the point that she even believes that her husband and the neighbors, who are gathered after the death of the paper boy have figured out she is cheating are there to confront her moments before she is killed.
* MissingEpisode - This was marketed as a lost Bachmann book...that just happens to have many of the same characters as a story Stephen King just wrote, in an AlternateUniverse.
* NightmareFuelColoringBook - Seth draws pictures of the drive-by shooting in which his entire family was killed. The pictures are actually included in the text.

* TheRainman - Seth.
* RealityWarper - Tak.
* ScrapbookStory - Interweaved within the narrative are diary entries from Audrey detailing her life with Seth and Tak's growing influence.
* SiblingSwitchSquick - Thanks to the alternate universe, the Carver family from one version of the story reverts who are siblings and who is married. In other words, David and Pie would be brother and sister in ''Desperation'', and their parents Ellen and Ralph, but in ''The Regulators'', they're married, with Ellen and Ralph as their children.
* StepfordSuburbia - Creator/StephenKing spends the first 5 or 6 pages of the novel practically gushing over Poplar Street's all-American ''normalness'' with narration so upbeat it's almost manic. And then everything goes [[WouldHurtAChild straight]] [[{{Gorn}} to]] [[EldritchAbomination hell]], in typical King style.
* TrashOfTheTitans - The Wyler/Garin household; Seth/Tak doesn't care what the place is like, and his aunt/guardian Audrey, the only surviving adult in the household, has much bigger problems occupying her time and energy. As a result, the place is a huge mess.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen - Was originally a script that King wrote for Sam Peckinpah.
* YourHeadAsplode - [[spoiler: The result of Tak's failed attempt to possess Cammie.]]

* HypotheticalCasting - After Johnny Marinville and his black neighbor, Brad Josephson have a hard time climbing a fence to escape from monsters, Johnny jokingly suggests that they should make a movie called ''Black Men Can't Clmb Fences'', where Brad would be played by LaurenceFishburne.

* CaptainErsatz - The characters of Seth's favorite cartoon ''[=MotoKops 2200=]'' are a take on the PowerRangers.

'''''The Regulators''''' is a 1996 novel written by StephenKing under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.

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* AlternateUniverse - ''Literature/{{Desperation}}'', another book by StephenKing, is an alternate universe version of ''The Regulators''. It has the same characters, but in different roles (a brother and sister become a married couple for example, with their parents in one book becoming their children in the other).

* CaptainErsatz - The characters of Seth's favorite cartoon ''[=MotoKops 2200=]'' are a take on the PowerRangers.

* EldritchAbomination - Tak.

* StepfordSuburbia - StephenKing spends the first 5 or 6 pages of the novel practically gushing over Poplar Street's all-American ''normalness'' with narration so upbeat it's almost manic. And then everything goes [[WouldHurtAChild straight]] [[{{Gorn}} to]] [[EldritchAbomination hell]], in typical King style.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen - Was originally a script that King wrote for Sam Peckinpah.