History Main / TheStand

* Irony: [[spoiler: Harold]] spends at least two chapters writing and recording a Take That speech to be played by his bomb before it explodes. [[spoiler: Nick, the only deaf character,]] is the only person in the house when it detonates.

* Catch Phrase - Somewhat, in musical repetition, more so in the miniseries than the book. Larry's hit song "Baby Can You Dig Your Man" is often sung by the characters, though we only hear it in the first ten minutes of the miniseries.

* BeneathTheEarth: The [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel Lincoln Tunnel]]. Also, the Eisenhower Tunnel between Boulder and Flagg's realm.

* EscortMission: Larry and Rita [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel/TheStand leaving New York]].

* [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel/TheStand High Octane Nightmare Fuel]]: Has [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel/TheStand its own page]]. "Come down and eat chicken with me, beautiful. It's soooo ''dark!''"

* PragmaticAdaptation: The ABC tv mini-series. In order to get the mini-series greenlighted, King had to cull the darker aspects of the novel for network TV, which in turn led to some decent revisions of the story: removing the NightmareFuel "female zoo" sequence and expanding upon Nadine and Larry's relationship as far as the two hooking up in the city rather than once Larry's former companion died. Also, while some of the casting decisions (Frannie, Harold and Randall Flagg in particular) were widely reviled, the makers of the series did shockingly well when casting the rest of the cast: Miguel Ferrer as Lloyd Henried, Matt Frewer as Trashcan Man, pre-Hollywood A-List Gary Sinise as Stu Redman, Rob Lowe as Nick Andros and Bill Faggerbakke as Tom Cullen.

** Stu Redman name-checks ''WatershipDown'' when describing [[NightmareFuel/{{Literature}} how terrified he felt]] in the hospital: it made him go ''tharn''.

** Allusion to an [[{{ACDC}} AC/DC]] song (which had appeared in King's ''MaximumOverdrive'' movie) in the 1990 revised and expanded edition of the novel, where a survivor of the flu pandemic changes the lyrics to "Flu made who."

* CanonImmigrant / EnsembleDarkhorse: Flagg became a recurring villain. In ''Eyes of the Dragon'' he's an EvilChancellor. In ''TheDarkTower'', he was [[RetCanon revealed]] to be [[TheGunslinger Roland's]] primary nemesis. We learn he can reincarnate.

** Allusion to an AC/DC song title in the movie version of ''MaximumOverdrive'' in the 1990 revised and expanded edition of the novel, where a survivor of the novel's flu pandemic changes the lyrics to "Flu made who."

** Lest we forget, this work name-checks the works of H.P. Lovecraft, just like EVERY KING WORK.

** Also look for uncredited appearances by Ed Harris and KathyBates.

* CreatorCameo: King has one in the miniseries, as he does in most of his movies.

* {{Cameo}}: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the "Monster shouter." Also, JoeBobBriggs, SamRaimi, and JohnLandis.
** Also look for uncredited appearances by EdHarris and KathyBates.

* ParanoiaFuel: [[Invoked]][[DiscussedTrope Extensively talked about]] by the characters themselves. One of the original "Evil US Government quarantines innocent civilians at gunpoint and leaves them to die" plots, it seemed uncharacteristically cynical (even for King) until, say 2005 (as if!) Not to mention Capt. Trips itself. %% This trope is referenced in-work, so it is not YMMV insofar as it applies to the characters themselves.

** FridgeBrilliance: According to Abagail, the entire Free Zone was a XanatosGambit by God to get a few of the committee members further west.

* HoYay: Cmdr. Starkey and his lieutenant, especially in the miniseries.
** The scene where Larry is leaving Stu in the desert with his broken leg in the miniseries. Watch that scene, and don't deny that they come off as intimate lovers, with Stu comforting a crying Larry and holding him to his chest.

* GreenAesop: Nearly everyone on the planet dies. The planet [[HeGotBetter got better]], however.

* TooDumbToLive: During the chapter where King describes all the people killed in the aftermath of the outbreak, a heroin addict injects some of the drug into his system. The highest purity he ever hit was 12%, and that put him into a comatose sleep. He injected himself with 96% pure heroin. No great loss.

** The leaders in Boulder say that this is why they created the Burial Committee which buries the victims of the superflu. Actually, they did it for health reasons, they just don't tell it to the people becuse they don't want to cause panic.

* ShoutOut: "Captain Trips" was originally a nickname of [[TheGratefulDead Jerry Garcia]]. King had first used it much earlier, for ''another'' superflu, in his ''NightShift'' story "Night Surf".

* [[ScienceIsBad Technology Is Evil]]: Played straight. This book was written in the 70s and "back to the land" themes are prominent.

** Flagg is described as "the last magician of rational thought." Also, Glen speculates that Flagg is drawing all the "rationalist, engineer types" who want to quickly get the old society back up and running, military and all, while Mother Abigail attracts those seeking a HiddenElfVillage or {{Utopia}} and struggles to turn on the lights. It's not suggested that {{Straw Atheist}}s are attracted to Flagg, however; merely people looking for quick solutions.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Rita]], who Larry survived [[spoiler:the Lincoln Tunnel with]], commits suicide in his sleeping bag. Also Starkey and several others who were involved in Project Blue.

* DoomedExpedition: Most of the trips west to Las Vegas. The surviving protagonists discover they must [[WalkIntoMordor walk there]] with no food or packs. When they protest and suggest stocking up on canned food and a snowmobile, Glen Bateman says "that was the old world, and the old way was a death trip."