By any measure, Stephen King is one of the most successful authors of the modern era. His books have covered everything from time travel thrillers to high fantasy and dystopian landscapes, but if there's one genre he's most closely associated with, it's surely horror. King excels at matching the everyday with the macabre, and his 1987 novel Misery stands as one of his best.
A Writer's Worst Nightmare
The fantastic plot revolves around author Paul Sheldon, who is trapped by his success writing historical romance novels. Determined to create something different, he pens the final installment of his highly popular series, which focuses on the life of the titular Misery Chastain.
Having completed the manuscript for a new crime novel, Sheldon sets out on an ill-advised drive through the snow. He suffers a terrible car crash and awakes to find he's been "rescued" by former nurse Annie Wilkes. It turns out Wilkes is a super fan of the Misery novels, to the point of pathological obsession. When she discovers Sheldon's plans to end the series, with Misery dying, Wilkes keeps the severely injured writer locked up and incapacitated until he agrees to write a new version in which Misery survives. This sets up a wonderful cat-and-mouse psychological horror ride in which Sheldon must use all of his mental and physical resources to outwit and escape the clearly unhinged Wilkes.
Upon initial publication, Misery received favorable reviews, scooping the inaugural Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel and hitting number four on The New York Times bestseller chart. The novel's renown was further boosted in 1990, when it was adapted for film by the great director Rob Reiner (Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally). James Caan played Paul Sheldon and the wonderful Kathy Bates starred as Annie Wilkes.
A Transatlantic Epiphany
Amazingly, King has revealed in interviews that the inspiration for Misery came to him during a dream he had while on a transatlantic flight to England. Upon waking, King scribbled down notes on the back of a napkin, and this was the catalyst for all that followed. Here is King's recollection of what was actually jotted down at the time:
"She speaks earnestly but never quite makes eye contact. A big woman and solid all through; she is an absence of hiatus. (Whatever that means; remember, I had just woken up.) 'I wasn’t trying to be funny in a mean way when I named my pig Misery, no sir. Please don't think that. No, I named her in the spirit of fan love, which is the purest love there is. You should be flattered.'"