Sword in the Darkness

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Sword in the Darkness is the title of an unpublished novel by American author Stephen King.

Sword in the Darkness is the longest of King's unpublished works, at approximately 485 pages (150,000 words) in length. Upon its completion in April 1970, it was rejected by twelve publishers. King has said that he now considers it unpublishable and intends for it never to be released to the public.

The book's plot includes a character dealing with the suicide of his pregnant sister and the death of his mother from a brain tumor, and another character, a black activist lawyer, who incites a riot after speaking at a local high school.

In 2006, a lengthy excerpt from the book was published in Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished, by Rocky Wood et al (Cemetery Dance Publications, March 2006). The excerpt related the back-story of one character, a teacher named Edie Rowsmith. It is effectively a stand-alone horror-story in the style of the early Stephen King.