THE DARK HALF by Stephen King ⭐⭐⭐

I took a very last minute detour into a spooky season read this year, and pulled up one of the more mediocre ones in the house. Nonetheless, The King’s consistent ability to make my skin crawl at least once in a story still stands strong.

I think we’ve been desensitized over the last four decades, because a lot of the murder and gore was shruggable. Thanks, true crime documentaries. But the last third of the book includes some choice details about a certain character that reminded me why I always find myself knee-deep in another King story. He just knows how to unsettle.

I lost count a while ago on how many King books I’ve read, and while I found it hard to ignore his usual tropes and habits, they fit so much better in older books like this. Maybe because that’s where the habits began. But unlike Fairy Tale, they meld with the overall atmosphere and world of the twentieth century. Part of me wonders if King is stuck in the Eighties in his head, and he just writes what he knows. I think he managed to get away with that habit for a long time. But his newer work suffers from it.

This has some interesting meta-like insights into a novelist’s head and life, many I’m sure directly relate to King’s own experience. And the use of sparrows to connect the threads was an imagery bullseye. But besides a few other nasty notes, I found this more of a yawn than a howl. I’d place it probably in the bottom half of his stuff. Not the worst, but not worth a return visit anytime soon.