Dead Brothers

I think it was King who once said that every author has a button in him he likes to push.
I think he meant a kind of readily written plot-point for all purpose use, like the one we find prominently in his work: The death of a brother.
If you read through Kings body of work you will notice this recurring theme. It is plot essential in his short Sometimes they come back and his novel The Dark Half, makes the opener for It, and is one of the more memorable shock moments from Tommyknockers.

The list could be continued on, and I hazard to say that we could make a case in which we would find a variation of this in all of his writing, for all of his major characters. I’m not sure if King himself ever gave a definite answer to the question if this is just that to him, a plot vehicle, or if there is something personal to it.

On a side note.
The tag on Sometimes they come back reads:

With Pet Sematary and Misery Stephen King scared you to death.
Now he's going to scare you back to life.

Ladies and Gents we have a new member for the not so elusive Stupid Tag Club!