History Literature / TheDarkHalf

* BlackmailBackfire: The whole plot is kicked off when a man named Fred Clawson discovers the link between Beaumont and Stark, then tries to blackmail him, threatening to reveal to the media that Beaumont and Stark are the same person. However, Beaumont was already considering to give up his pseudonym, and this blackmail attempt is the final push he needs to reveal his secret to the media and officially declare Stark dead, leaving Clawson with nothing. As if that wasn't bad enough for the unsuccessful blackmailer, it gets worse when "Stark" comes to life as a separate entity and begins a murder spree to hunt for Beaumont. One of his first victims is Clawson, since it was his blackmail attempt that drove Beaumont to kill off Stark in the first place.

* EyeScream: During Thad's childhood his fetal twin begins to regrow ''in his brain'' including an eyeball and several teeth. A surgeon lances the eyeball and extracts it. Cut to the future where the Thad is an author writing crime fiction about a character who -- you guessed it -- lances someone's eyeball with a paperclip.

* GroinAttack: George Stark combines a old fashioned straight razor, an upward slashing attack, and the groin of an unfortunate cop. All described with typical King [[{{Squick}} skill]]. Did you just wince? Imagine reading it.

* KickTheDog: Stark brutally killing Homer Gamache, a CoolOldGuy who had nothing to do with Stark’s “death”, simply to steal his truck.

* SerialKiller: Alexis Machine, the arch villain of George Stark's crime novels, is one of these.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: An in-universe example. The protagonist has written several highly intellectual novels with great reviews and poor sales. In the meantime he has also written under Stark's name intentionally trashy books that engorge themselves on sex and violence which have gone on to become bestsellers. King wrote the book in part as a response to his own pen name Richard Bachman becoming public knowledge. The stories he wrote under the pen name in turn tended to be less psychological than those with his own name on them.

Thad Beaumont is a [[MostWritersAreWriters novelist]] who writes thrillers under the pseudonym of George Stark. As he moves on with his career, he begins using his real name and puts the pseudonym to rest, going so far as to hold a symbolic funeral and erect a headstone for the late Stark. Not long afterwards, someone with Thad's fingerprints and going by the name of George Stark starts killing people...

* BlackmailBackfire: The whole plot is kicked off when a man named Fred Clawson discovers the link between Beaumont and Stark, then tries to blackmail him, threatening to reveal to the media that Beaumont and Stark are the same person. However, Beaumont was already considering to give up his pseudonym, and this blackmail attempt is the final push he needs to reveal his secret to the media and officially declare Stark death, leaving Clawson with nothing. As if that wasn't bad enough for the unsuccessful blackmailer, it gets worse when "Stark" comes to life as a separate entity, and begins a murder spree to hunt for Beaumont. One of his first victims is Clawson, since it was his blackmail attempt that drove Beaumont to kill off Stark in the first place.

* RealAwardFictionalCharacter: That's first novel, ''The Sudden Dancers'' was nominated for the National Book Award.

* KnifeNut: Alexis Machine, the VillainProtagonist of ''Machine's Way'' and ''Riding to Babylon'', prefers to use a straight razor to kill his victims. So does George Stark.

** Stark also cuts of Fred Clawson’s penis and tongue off, then stuffs his penis inside his mouth.

* CanAlwaysSpotACop: After one of his murders, Stark is hiding near the scene when a black man dressed in ridiculously stereotypical 80s clothing goes running by to check out the scene. Stark is amused thinks to himself about how cops just can't seem to help themselves and always go over the top when dressing "undercover". He thinks the guy might as well be carrying around a giant sign saying "I am a police officer" in bold letters.

* CanAlwaysSpotACop: After one of his murders, Stark is hiding near the scene when a black dressed in ridiculously stereotypical 80s clothing goes running by to check out the scene. Stark is amused thinks to himself about how cops just can't seem to help themselves and always go over the top when dressing "undercover". He thinks the guy might as well be carrying around a giant sign saying "I am a police officer" in bold letters.

* Dedication: The book is dedicated to the late Richard Bachman.

* BlackmailBackfire: The whole plot is kicked off when a man named Fred Clawson discovers the link between Beaumont and Stark, then tries to blackmail him, threatening to reveal to the media that Beaumont and Stark are the same person. However, Beaumont was already considering to give up his pseudonym, and this blackmail attempt is the final push he needs to reveal his secret to the media and officially declare Stark death, leaving Clawson with nothing. As if that wasn't bad enough for the unsuccesful blackmailer, it gets worse when "Stark" comes to life and begins to hunt for Beaumont. One of his first victims is Clawson, since his actions are what drove Beaumont to kill off Stark in the first place.