History Literature / Desperation

* AnyoneCanDie: Well, it's a Creator/StephenKing book. Out of the group of 8 people that Johnny nicknames the "Collie Entragian Survivors Society", [[spoiler:only four survives until the end.]]

'''''Desperation''''' is a 1996 novel by Creator/StephenKing turned into a movie in 2006. It begins on Highway 50 in Nevada, a place some refer to as the loneliest place on Earth. A couple, Mary and Peter Jackson, are on their way back from a visit with friends when they are stopped by a sheriff who behaves strangely and discovers pot in their trunk, (accidentally left in there by Peter's stoner sister) and takes them to jail in the seemingly abandoned mining town of Desperation.

** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the BigBad is an eternal EldritchAbomination who can control the wildlife - the smaller and less complex the creature, the more absolute his control over it is. It's possible it could have called the spiders from hundreds of miles away.

* AnyoneCanDie: Well, it's a Creator/StephenKing book.

* StupidSacrifice: Johnny is told by [[spoiler:God that David's family will have to die to stop Tak, so he brings everybody down the tunnel. After Tak kills Ralph, he tells everyone to go back to safety,]] accomplishing absolutely nothing else in the process.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Although Johnny is not technically a veteran because he only went to the VietnamWar as a journalist, the trope still applies to him. It's eventually revealed that his experiences [[spoiler:basically killed his soul.]]

Desperation is a 1996 novel by Creator/StephenKing turned into a movie in 2006. It begins on Highway 50 in Nevada, a place some refer to as the loneliest place on Earth. A couple, Mary and Peter Jackson, are on their way back from a visit with friends when they are stopped by a sheriff who behaves strangely and discovers pot in their trunk, (accidentally left in there by Peter's stoner sister) and takes them to jail in the seemingly abandoned mining town of Desperation.

* TheFilmOfTheBook: The 2006 movie with RonPerlman as the sheriff.

* {{Trigger}}: The song "Good Lovin'" from The Young Rascals triggers Johnny's Vietnam War flashbacks.

* 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 Kirsten/Pie would be brother and sister in ''Desperation'', and their parents Ellen and Ralph, but in ''The Regulators'', they're married, and Ellen and Ralph are their children.

* MyCarHatesMe: When Mary takes the sheriff's car to escape [[spoiler:Ellen possessed by Tak]], the car takes a long time to start.

* MyCarHatesMe: When Helen takes the sheriff's car to escape [[spoiler:Helen possessed by Tak]], the car takes a long time to start.

* 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, and Ellen and Ralph are their children.

* ShootingTheLock: Johnny opens a cabin like this.

On the way there, he recites the Miranda report, only mixing "I'm going to kill you" in with it, which unnerves the couple.

* EldritchAbomination: Tak

* ShellShockedVeteran: Although Johnny is not technically a veteran because he only went to the VietnamWar as a journalist, the trope still applies to him. It's eventually revealed that his experiences [[spoiler:basically killed his soul.]]

* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: Desperation? Sounds like a great place to live.

* 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, and Ellen and Ralph are their children.

* ArtifactOfDoom: The ''can tahs'', which transform anybody who touches it into an [[AxCrazy homicidal maniac]] controlled by Tak.

* PossessionBurnout: Those possessed by Tak.

* VerbalTic: Sheriff Collie Entragian has a habit of adding "TAK!" to the end of random sentences. He was [[spoiler: possessed by UltimateEvil at the time]].

* VerbalTic: Sheriff Collie Entragian has a habit of adding "TAK!" to the end of random sentences. He was [[spoiler: possessed by UltimateEvil at the time]]

Several of them are killed by the cop, whose bizarre statements and mannerisms escalate into violence and murder sprees. The dead appearance of the town is no coincidence.
Among the survivors is a boy named David, who seems to have a special connection and communication with God. With little time and little choice, the group must establish a chain and fight to survive against the growing evil. The miners DugTooDeep, and Tak, an Ancient Evil driving this nightmare, wants to play.

* NamesTheSame: One character is called PeterJackson (which is also the name of a cigarette brand).

Desperation is a 1996 novel by StephenKing turned into a movie in 2006. It begins on Highway 50 in Nevada, a place some refer to as the loneliest place on Earth. A couple, Mary and Peter Jackson, are on their way back from a visit with friends when they are stopped by a sheriff who behaves strangely and discovers pot in their trunk, (accidentally left in there by Peter's stoner sister) and takes them to jail in the seemingly abandoned mining town of Desperation.

The cop proceeds to abduct more people as they pass through the lonely Nevada road, using one excuse or another. He repeatedly speaks in a strange, guttural language and seems to have literal control over the local animals, such as coyotes, insects, and birds.

* AlternateUniverse: ''Literature/TheRegulators'', another book by StephenKing, is an alternate universe version of ''Desperation''. 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).

* AnyoneCanDie: Well, it's a StephenKing book.

* [[BreadEggsMilkSquick Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick]]: The sheriff casually inserts the words "I'm going to kill you" into the middle of the Miranda rights.

* [[NamesTheSame Name's The Same]]: One character is called PeterJackson (which is also the name of a cigarette brand).
* [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace I Don't Like The Sound Of That Place]]: Desperation? Sounds like a great place to live.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Although Johnny is not technically a veteran because he only went to the VietnamWar as a journalist, the trope still applies to him. It's eventually revealed that his experiences [[spoiler:caused him to literally die inside.]]

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