Tak (Stephen King)
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''Desperation'' is a
horror novel Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defi ...
by American author
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
. It was published in 1996 at the same time as its "mirror" novel, '' The Regulators'', itself published under King's
Richard Bachman Richard Bachman is a pen name (as well as a fictional character) of American horror fiction author Stephen King, adopted in 1977 for the novel '' Rage''. King hid the link between himself and Bachman, until allowing for his identification in 1985 ...
pseudonym. It was also made into a
TV film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrestr ...
starring
Ron Perlman Ronald N. Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire (film), Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose (film), The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in th ...
,
Tom Skerritt Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor and director, who has appeared in over 170 film and television productions since 1962. The beginning of his film career coincided with the New Hollywood movement, with a breakthroug ...
and
Steven Weber Steven Robert Weber (born March 4, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Brian Hackett on the television series '' Wings'', and as Dr. Dean Archer on NBC’s Chicago Med. He also voiced Charlie B. Barkin in '' ...
in 2006. The two novels represent parallel universes relative to one another, and most of the characters present in one novel's world also exist in the other novel's reality, albeit in different circumstances. ''Desperation'' is a story about several people who, while traveling along the desolated Highway 50 in Nevada, get abducted by Collie Entragian, the deputy of the fictional mining town of Desperation. Entragian uses various pretexts for the abductions, from an arrest for drug possession to "rescuing" a family from a nonexistent gunman. It becomes clear to the captives that Entragian has been possessed by an evil being named Tak, who has control over the surrounding desert wildlife and must change hosts to keep itself alive. They begin to fight for their freedom, sanity and lives before realizing that if they are ever to escape Desperation, they must trap Tak in the place from which he came.


Plot

Peter and Mary Jackson are driving quietly on a desolate
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
highway when they are pulled over and arrested by the disturbed Collie Entragian. They are taken to the police station of a deserted small mining town named Desperation, where Entragian kills Peter. Several other people are held captive here: the Carver family, whose daughter was also killed by Entragian; Johnny Marinville, a writer who was on a cross-country motorcycle trip to gather new material; and Tom Billingsley, the town veterinarian. Meanwhile, Johnny's assistant Steve, who had been trailing him at a distance, finds Johnny's bike and searches for him with Cynthia, a hitchhiker. Entragian takes Ellen Carver with him, and during his absence, the intensely devout Carver son, David, manages to free everyone, and the party takes him on as a spiritual guide. They take refuge in an abandoned theater and are joined by Steve, Cynthia and Audrey, an employee of the mine. They realize that they are the only survivors of a wave of carnage committed by an evil supernatural entity named Tak. Tak had been imprisoned in an old mine shaft and can take possession of human beings, but this possession quickly deteriorates the host and requires Tak to change hosts. Tak can also manipulate desert wildlife such as coyotes, buzzards, spiders and scorpions. Billingsley is killed by a
cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...
controlled by Tak, and Audrey, also under its influence, attempts to kill David. She nearly succeeds in strangling him, but is prevented by the intervention of Steve and Johnny. Tak occupies Ellen's body and takes Mary captive. The survivors contemplate leaving the town, but David, having come out of a trance, reveals to them that God has other plans for them. Mary takes advantage of the rapid deterioration of Ellen's body to escape her, and upon Ellen's death, Tak occupies the body of a golden eagle. The group gather some
ANFO ANFO ( ) (or AN/FO, for ammonium nitrate/fuel oil) is a widely used bulk industrial high explosive. It consists of 94% porous prilled ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) (AN), which acts as the oxidizing agent and absorbent for the fuel, and 6% number ...
to blow up the well from which Tak escaped. Tak attacks David, but kills his self-sacrificing father Ralph. Johnny prevents the now-orphaned David from giving his own life, and takes his place by blowing up the well and sealing Tak inside. David, Mary, Steve and Cynthia begin to leave the town of Desperation. While in Mary's car, David finds in his pocket the hall pass from his previous "deal with God" with a message from Johnny written on it.


Characters

*Mary Jackson; poet and wife of Peter Jackson. *Peter Jackson; English professor and husband of Mary Jackson. *Collie Entragian; former police officer in Desperation, now the third host of Tak but first one introduced in the novel. *Kirsten Carver; daughter of Ralph and Ellen Carver, 7-year-old sister of David Carver, who calls her 'Pie'. *David Carver; son of Ralph and Ellen Carver, 12-year-old brother of Kirsten Carver. Has a close relationship with God that reveals itself throughout the novel. *Ralph Carver; husband of Ellen Carver and father of David and Kirsten Carver. *Ellen Carver; wife of Ralph Carver and mother of David and Kirsten Carver. Becomes Tak's fourth host. *Tom Billingsley; retired town veterinarian, former town councilman and alcoholic. *John Edward Marinville; author acclaimed for his novel ''Delight'', now an old washed up has-been traveling the country on a motorcycle. *Steve Ames; Johnny's assistant, following him across the country in a truck. *Cynthia Smith; a hitchhiker picked up by Steve on Highway 50. *Brian Ross; David Carver's best friend. David made a deal with God so that Brian would come out of his coma after being hit by a drunk driver. *Cary Ripton; pit-foreman of the mining pit and Tak's first host. *Brad Josephson; receptionist for Desperation Mining Corporation and Tak's second host. *Tak; an extradimensional demonic entity which possesses humans.


Release and adaptation

King was inspired to write ''Desperation'' as a result of a cross-country drive in 1991, during which he visited the small desert community of
Ruth, Nevada Ruth is a census-designated place (CDP) in White Pine County, Nevada, United States. Founded in 1903, it had a population of 440 at the 2010 census. Ruth was built as a company town for the adjacent Robinson Mine, a large open-pit copper mine ...
, near
U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...
. His first thought was that the town's inhabitants were all dead. He then wondered who had killed them, and the idea occurred to him that the town's sheriff had done so. ''Desperation'' was released simultaneously with the novel '' The Regulators'' (published by King under the name
Richard Bachman Richard Bachman is a pen name (as well as a fictional character) of American horror fiction author Stephen King, adopted in 1977 for the novel '' Rage''. King hid the link between himself and Bachman, until allowing for his identification in 1985 ...
). In 2006, American network
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
broadcast a
television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...
based on Stephen King's screenplay adaptation of his novel. The film was directed by frequent King collaborator
Mick Garris Mick Garris (born December 4, 1951) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter and novelist born in Santa Monica, California. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, as well as making Stephen King adaptations. Early life Garris was b ...
and stars
Ron Perlman Ronald N. Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire (film), Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose (film), The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in th ...
,
Tom Skerritt Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor and director, who has appeared in over 170 film and television productions since 1962. The beginning of his film career coincided with the New Hollywood movement, with a breakthroug ...
,
Steven Weber Steven Robert Weber (born March 4, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Brian Hackett on the television series '' Wings'', and as Dr. Dean Archer on NBC’s Chicago Med. He also voiced Charlie B. Barkin in '' ...
and
Annabeth Gish Anne Elizabeth "Annabeth" Gish (born March 13, 1971) is an American actress. She played roles in the films '' Shag'', '' Hiding Out'', '' Mystic Pizza'', '' SLC Punk!'', '' The Last Supper'' and ''Double Jeopardy''. On television, she played Spe ...
.


Connections to other works

*The term ''
can-toi ''The Dark Tower'' is a series of eight novels, one novella, and a children's book written by American author Stephen King. Incorporating themes from multiple genres, including dark fantasy, science fantasy, horror, and Western, it describes ...
'' is used in the '' Dark Tower'' series to describe the
Low Men in Yellow Coats ''Hearts in Atlantis'' (1999) is a collection of three novellas and two short stories by Stephen King, all connected to one another by recurring characters and taking place in roughly chronological order. The stories are loosely autobiographica ...
, which are strange animal-human hybrids. *In the ''Dark Tower'' short story "
The Little Sisters of Eluria ''The Little Sisters of Eluria'' is a fantasy novella by American writer Stephen King. It was originally published in 1998 in the anthology '' Legends''. In 2002, it was included in King's collection '' Everything's Eventual''. In 2009, it was ...
", the
vampiric A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
Sisters speak to each other in a language Roland does not recognize. All he can make out is "can de lach, mi him en tow", phrases from ''Desperation''. *Tak also appears in '' The Regulators''. *The character of Cynthia Smith first appeared in ''
Rose Madder Rose madder (also known as madder) is a red paint made from the pigment madder lake, a traditional lake pigment extracted from the common madder plant '' Rubia tinctorum''. Madder lake contains two organic red dyes: alizarin and purpur ...
''. *The character Ellen Carver is shown recalling a book, ''Misery in Paradise'', which was a book written by Stephen King's fictitious character Paul Sheldon in his novel ''Misery''. *The Tommyknockers are mentioned by the character Tom.


References

{{Locus Award Best Horror Novel 1996 American novels 1990s horror novels American horror novels Novels set in Nevada Novels set in deserts Novels set in one day Novels about kidnapping Novels about spirit possession American novels adapted into films Horror novels adapted into films American novels adapted into television shows Novels by Stephen King Viking Press books Locus Award–winning works