Desperation Totally Explained

Desperation is a horror novel by Stephen King. It was published in 1996 at the same time as its "mirror" novel, The Regulators. It was made into a TV movie starring Ron Perlman in 2006.

Plot summary

Desperation is the story of several people traveling along the desolate Highway 50 in Nevada who all get abducted by Collie Entragian, the deputy of the fictional ghost town of Desperation. Entragian uses various pretexts for his abductions, from an arrest for drug possession to “rescuing” a family from a nonexistent gunman.
   The travelers quickly realize that something is very wrong with Entragian, as his bizarre statements and mannerisms soon escalate to brutal assaults and murder. They come to understand that he's possessed by an ancient evil, a supernatural entity which calls itself Tak, that had been imprisoned in an old abandoned mineshaft until recent activity by a local mining company unearthed it. Tak has the ability to control the local desert wildlife, such as vultures, snakes, spiders, scorpions, and coyotes, and can also take more direct control of human hosts, though such manifestation causes rapid deterioration of the host's body. As such, Tak needs to frequently find new hosts to inhabit in order to travel outside of the ini, a well in an underground chamber, and Tak’s entryway into this world. The story suggests that Tak is actually a physical being trapped in another dimension, but can send its spirit into our world through this opening.
   Among the travellers is a boy named David Carver, who is able to commune with and receive guidance from God. This aspect brings a philosophical, religious depth unseen in some of King's other, earlier works. In this regard, it's similar to Dean Koontz's The Taking, which also introduces philosophical and theological considerations.
   As the survivors eventually manage to escape the clutches of Entragian/Tak, their first inclination is to escape Desperation, until David reveals that it's God's will that they confront Tak and seal the ini again.

Inspiration

Stephen 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, near U.S. 50. 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. In 1994, he took another cross-country trip, this time astride his motorcycle, and heard the tale of Chinese laborers who had been trapped inside a collapsed mine near Ruth. Rather than risking the loss of would-be rescuers, the Chinese men were abandoned to their fate. This anecdote was the germ of King's plot for the novel.

Release with The Regulators

Desperation was released simultaneously with the novel The Regulators (published by King under the name Richard Bachman). The two novels share many similarities, most notably the cast of characters. Although, in some instances, the ages of the similar characters are vastly different. The original hardcover versions of the novels had artwork on the cover that connected when the two books were placed side by side. It can be assumed that the two books are alternate realities.

Dark Tower connections

The term can-toi (that is, 'children of the desert') is used in the Dark Tower series to describe the Low Men in Yellow Coats.
There was some debate as to whether or not Tak was a manifestation of the Crimson King, the primary villain in The Dark Tower. In Desperation, there are references to the ini (Tak’s place of origin) looking like a crimson eye. In The Dark Tower, the Crimson King’s sigul is an open eye on a crimson background. But it seems unlikely, given Tak's dependence on possessing people to survive (a trait the Crimson King doesn't possess) and being buried in the catacombs for most of its existence.

Other novel connections

Cynthia Smith, the drifter who gets mixed up in the events of the novel after being picked up by Steve Ames, was a resident of the shelter Daughters and Sisters from Rose Madder. She mentions sustaining a broken nose in Norman's crazed attack. In the movie adaptation her bi-colored hairdo is absent.

Ellen Carver mentions reading the novel Misery's Paradise (by Paul Sheldon, the main character of Stephen King's book Misery).

Steven Ames mentions having lived his childhood in the fictional town of Arnette, which was also Stuart Redman's hometown in The Stand.

TV movie

Desperation was adapted into a television movie, written by King himself, was filmed in 2004 and broadcast in 2006. The film was directed by frequent King collaborator Mick Garris and starred Ron Perlman as Collie Entragian, Tom Skerritt, Steven Weber, and Annabeth Gish. Filming primarily took place in Bisbee, Arizona, in the nearly deserted Lowell borough, with other sequences in Old Bisbee, the outskirts of Bisbee, and in Tucson, Arizona. During filming, a set in the Tucson Convention Center (TCC) caught fire. Five people were injured. The fire destroyed everything on the set, including all production gear and equipment, and the TCC was heavily damaged.
The film closely followed the plot of the novel, and received moderate reviews, including a 46 rating from Metacritic. Though originally intended as a two-part miniseries, Desperation aired in its three-hour entirety on May 23, 2006, on ABC, after a red-carpet premiere screening at Tucson's historic Fox Theatre (built in 1929). ABC aired Desperation on the same time as Fox's American Idol, an action that King himself was upset with, and thus didn't do well at all in the ratings. Even the bemused populace of Bisbee was torn between the two programs.

Cast

Tom Skerritt as John Edward Marinville

Ron Perlman as Collie Entragian

Steven Weber as Steve Ames

Annabeth Gish as Mary Jackson

Charles Durning as Tom Billingsley

Shane Haboucha as David Carver

Matt Frewer as Ralph Carver

Kelly Overton as Cynthia Smith

Henry Thomas as Peter Jackson

Sylvia Kelegian as Ellen Carver

Sammi Hanratty as Pie Carver

Trivia

The name "Entragian" is an anagram for "near giant." In the novel, Collie Entragian is described as being giant like (tall, large body).

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