What It Is: At the end of most King novels, the good guys come out on top. That being said, these victories don't come without a cost, whether emotional, physical or something elseĀ A bittersweet ending is one that on the surface appears good, but deep down is maybe not such a victory after all. What It Means: In the real world, nothing is black and white or cut and dry, and King's novels tend to masterfully portray that. Even unanimous victories are fleeting, and after the pleasures of success fade, reality creeps back in. Take The Shining, for example. A lesser horror writer would likely have written the possessed Jack Torrance as purely a force of evil, or written his defeat as triumphant. The novel, however, ends with Jack telling Danny that he loves him, and travels forward a year to show us that Danny is still deeply grieved over his father's death. Another example comes at the end of Carrie. When it seems like Carrie's telekinetic threat has died with Carrie herself, the novel ends on a letter from a woman to her sister detailing her daughter's strange powers. That's Stephen King's reality. Everybody pays the price, and victory only lasts a moment.
