History Literature / DifferentSeasons

--> ''"It is the tale, not he who tells it."''

* {{Main/Mossad}}: When Dussander is discovered, Dick Bowden is worried about the police and the Israeli agent speaking to Todd as he thinks that the Israeli agent is part of the Mossad and he has heard they are "a little ''too'' professional" in their dealings. The Israeli agent isn't Mossad, however.

* TheLoinsSleepTonight: Todd has a girlfriend because he wants to [[StepfordSmiler look normal]]. However, by this time, he is a misogynistic, hateful monster, and he's only able to perform when he's thinking of rape and abuse; eventually, not even ''then''.

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Morris Heisel is a Holocaust survivor whose first wife, Heather, died in a concentration camp. He imagines what he would say, if God appeared to him like he did to [[Literature/BookOfJob Job]] and said "Where were you when I made the world?"
-->Where were You when my Heather was dying, You potzer, You? Watching the Yankees and the Senators? If You can't pay attention to Your business better than this, get out of my face.

* {{Main/Mossad}}: When Dussander is discovered, Dick Bowden is worried about the police and the Israeli agent speaking to Todd as he thinks that the Israeli agent is part of the Mossad and he's "heard stories about those guys' tactics". The Israeli agent isn't Mossad, however.

* GenerationalFriendship: A very twisted friendship at that.

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Invoked in-universe. Todd started to "groove" on the Holocaust by reading old war magazines which condemned the murders of six million Jews, then ran ads selling Nazi paraphernalia.

* ''The Breathing Method (or, A Winter's Tale)'' - A woman wants to keep her child, no matter what. Has never been made into a movie, and it would probably be really hard to do so.

* NothingIsScarier: Only one sentence is used to describe [[spoiler: Todd's shooting spree at the end of the book.]]

* MeaningfulName: Hard to say if it's intentional, but "tod" is German for death.

[[folder:Tropes present in ''Apt Pupil'']]

[[folder:Tropes present in ''The Breathing Method'']]

* KarmaHoudini: Todd in the film version, which removes [[spoiler: his final massacre]]. It's left ambiguous whether he does manages to escape the wrap for his involvement with Dussander, with the [[NoEnding film ending]] after he states his intention to blackmail Ed into keeping quiet, by claiming he's made inappropriate gestures towards him in exchange for good grades.

* HollywoodAtheist: Morris Heisel survived the Holocaust, while his first wife and his two daughters perished. Decades later, after he falls from a ladder, breaks his spine and becomes crippled, he declares what he has long suspected is true; there is no God. [[spoiler:He regains his faith in God after he ends up in the same hospital room with Dussander, who was the commander of the camp he was imprisoned in, and manages to identify him, which leads to Dussander's capture.]]

[[folder:Tropes present in ''Apt Pupil'':]]

[[folder:Tropes present in ''The Breathing Method'':]]

''Different Seasons'' is a collection of four novellas by Creator/StephenKing. Published in 1982, it represented something of a departure for King at that point, as three of the novellas were straight dramatic stories (albeit with ''some'' horrific elements) that did not deal with the supernatural fiction that he was known for.

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Morris Heisel is a Holocaust survivor whose first wife, Ruth, died in a concentration camp. He imagines what he would say, if God appeared to him like he did to [[Literature/BookOfJob Job]] and said "Where were you when I made the world?"
-->Where were You when my Ruth was dying, You potzer, You? Watching the Yankees and the Senators? If You can't pay attention to Your business better than this, get out of my face.

* ''Apt Pupil (or, Summer of Corruption)'' - A teenage boy learns about the Holocaust right from the source. Made into a movie starring Sir IanMcKellen.

** Although [[FromACertainPointOfView technically]] he's [[MetaphoricallyTrue not lying]] about being a German emigrant who fought in "the army" during the war, only that he fought on the ''Allied'' side as everyone assumes he means.

* SequelHook: "Yes, always more tales. And perhaps, one day, I'll tell you another." (In fact, there is a SequelOfSorts about the club: "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands" from ''LiteratureSkeletonCrew''.)