Stephen King's bibliography often brings to my mind the image of a menacing Santa's workshop, perhaps located at the South Pole.

The elves seem especially active in the mid-1980s. In 1986, the publication of "It" (which is so long that it could be considered four novels) and in 1987, four more novels ("The Eyes of the Dragon", "Misery", "The Dark Tower II", "The Tommyknockers") were released.

Production quotas like these make "Misery" even more special. It is a superbly written gothic thriller that had me turning the pages with great speed, like a leafblower. It explores a question that every honest writer of suspense should ask: what scares me?

"Misery" is set in the present day and introduces us to Paul Sheldon, a 42-year-old author who writes two types of books: good ones and bestsellers. Divorced twice and a heavy smoker, he realizes something very bad has happened to him as he wakes up in a haze of pain. His caretaker, Annie Wilkes, is administering him painkillers and taking care of his badly injured legs.

Annie describes herself as Paul's number one fan. She claims to have pulled him out of his '74 Camaro after a horrible accident on a remote stretch of I-70 headed into the Rockies. Paul, a New Yorker, is the author of a series of Victorian-era bodice rippers centered on Misery Chastain. He was on his way west with the sole manuscript of his new novel, a "good one" about slum kids that he had just completed in Boulder at the Hotel Boulderado.

Paul senses that Annie isn't right and that he's in trouble. This becomes even more evident when she returns with a paperback copy of his latest book, "Misery's Child", which concludes with the death of his popular heroine. Annie's reaction to this is extreme, and she accuses Paul of murdering Misery.

The story then unfolds with Paul trying to defend himself and figure out how to escape from Annie's clutches. King does an excellent job of creating a sense of dread and suspense, constantly upping the ante and making the situation more and more dire for Paul.

Overall, "Misery" is a thrilling and engaging read that showcases King's talent for creating vivid characters and intense situations. It's a must-read for fans of horror and suspense.

October is a month that is all about the spooky for me, and Stephen King is my go-to author for all things creepy. I have read approximately a third of his extensive body of work, and while I have enjoyed most of them, most have been suitably creepy without truly scaring me. However, there are exceptions, such as "Revival" and the first time I attempted to read "IT". Now, I can add "Misery" to that list.

This book actually gave me nightmares while I was reading it because, although not highly probable, every event in the story is actually possible.

For the majority of the book, there are only two main characters: Paul Sheldon, a severely injured and highly talented writer, and Annie Wilkes, a former nurse and Paul's number one fan. When Paul has a terrible car accident during a snowstorm, he is discovered and rescued by Annie. Instead of taking him to a hospital like a normal person would, she brings him home and becomes his caretaker. Over the course of the novel, Paul comes to wish that he had died in the accident. Since these two characters form the backbone of the narrative, I will spend some time analyzing them.

Let's start with the bad guy. Annie Wilkes is perhaps the most terrifying villain that King has ever created, and what makes her even more terrifying is that there is nothing supernatural about her. King's description of her as unnaturally solid, like an idol from an ancient civilization with no room for blood vessels or organs, is truly disturbing. I firmly believe that if Annie Wilkes and Pennywise were to meet in a back alley, the sometimes-clown would flee in mindless terror. I was petrified of her. She is a deeply disturbed woman, and every artist fears attracting such a fan during their career. However, there were times when I found it difficult to read about her, not because she was disturbing but because her manner of speaking when enraged made me groan and roll my eyes. This is the only reason why this book wasn't a 4.5-star read for me.

I think that Paul Sheldon represents some of King's deepest and darkest fears. Every artist is afraid of being trapped by their own creation, forced to repeat the same popular story or song over and over again instead of having the freedom to create something new. And every artist is afraid of the critics, of being relegated to the realm of popular fiction and not being respected for their work. Paul Sheldon is a highly successful author who has just killed off his cash cow, so to speak, in the hope of writing something more refined and finally being taken seriously. This has happened countless times throughout literary history, with the most famous example being Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's decision to kill off Sherlock Holmes. After the huge public outcry, he was forced to bring the character back to life, finding himself once again confined to writing stories about a character he had come to despise. Sheldon completely understands Doyle's pain, and although the fury he faces is on a much smaller scale, it is also deadlier.

One thing that King repeatedly emphasizes through Sheldon's character is the fact that he writes stories first and foremost for himself, just like all authors do. While the plot of "Misery" is incredibly compelling and disturbing, what I loved the most about this book was the raw honesty that King allows to shine through his protagonist. What he has to say about writing and being an author rings true. I found these passages to be impactful and moving, which I wasn't expecting from this book. King has this openness in his writing that I really respect, and the way he allows himself to be seen and known even in his most disturbing fiction feels like a gift to his readers.

I didn't expect this particular King book to become one of my favorites, but here we are. "Misery" is incredibly scary, far scarier than King's more supernatural works. And the thoughts it contains about writing, what makes a good story, and the dangers of becoming or attracting radical fans will stay with me for a long time. If I ever manage to become a famous writer or musician, I know that the words "I'm your number one fan" will fill me with dread and make me want to run away screaming. Anonymity seems like a much safer option.

You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.

I just watched the movie and I can safely say that the book was 100x more enjoyable for me. I didn't like the changes that they did, but the cast was spot on. Couldn't ask for a better Paul and Annie.

After a two-month hiatus from Stephen King, I promised myself that I wouldn't let the fact that he's my favorite author affect my rating of whatever book of his I read next. I think I proved myself before by giving Wizard and Glass a 2-star rating, even if it was damn hard. I'm very straightforward when it comes to wasted time because of reading a horrible book. Misery is not one of those books. Misery is one of those I'd recommend to everybody I know kind of books.

I'm not going to dwell much on the summary because spoilers can ruin one's book experience. I've had a few encounters with spoilers, and that's the real reason why I haven't read Stephen King's "It" yet. I already know the secret/mystery to it, but I'm getting a first edition hardbound copy, so I'll read it soon. Anyway, back to Misery. In short, it's about Paul Sheldon, a writer, being held captive by the crazy psycho Annie. She's obsessed with him, but that's not the only reason for her crazy actions. She's just plain nuts.

Just like most of the King novels I've read, the greatness lies in the characters. King has the gift of creating characters that leave a mark. They're so well-developed that you learn to love them one way or another. Paul was similar to Louis Creed from Pet Sematary in some ways, but they both had their own great qualities. Paul had a genuine personality in this novel. It was hard not to like him because his panicky behavior from the first ten chapters made me like him a lot. He remained true to his character until the end. Annie, on the other hand, was completely terrifying. I love psychological thrillers, but King managed to incorporate a lot of horror into the genre. Annie wasn't just scary; she gave me a phobia of crazy psychos capable of doing what she did in the novel. I liked her despite her craziness because she delivered what she was supposed to. In the psycho thriller genre, the crazier and scarier, the better. King can write anything he wants.

Aside from the characters, I really liked the violence. Annie didn't hold back; she did crazy, gut-wrenching things. I've read and seen worse, but what she did was still quite scary. It fit the situation well. All I can say is "MY LEEEEEG" if you used to watch Spongebob.

5/5 stars. As I said in the first part of my review, I wasn't biased when I rated this a 5. This novel deserves no less. It was amazing, and I can't believe I've only read it now. I highly recommend it, but be warned that you might lose a few nights of sleep. Pet Sematary was still a bit scarier, but Misery gave a different kind of scare because it didn't have the supernatural element that I knew wouldn't happen in Sematary. Misery felt real because there might be an Annie out there waiting to kidnap me like that. King can give you different kinds of scares, and all of them are equally terrifying. This is one of those King novels I plan to read again in the future.