Misery by Stephen King

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😱 Book Review: Misery by Stephen King

🚑 When Your #1 Fan Turns Into Your Worst Nightmare
✨ Rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars)

⚠️ SPOILER WARNING!
I am about to go full Paul Sheldon on this plot—everything gets revealed. So if you haven’t read Misery yet and want the pure terror of discovering it for yourself, go grab it now and then come back. I’ll wait. 🪓

👋 Let’s Start with a Confession

Stephen King is THE KING for a reason. I mean… HOW DOES HE DO THIS?! The man loves his words (seriously, no one is editing this guy), but wow, does he know how to use them. Misery is slow—but like, glued-to-the-page-even-though-you’re-cringing-and-sweating slow.

I don’t usually read horror, but when I do, I want it to be this good. The characters are so alive, they practically climb out of the book and whisper in your ear. When Paul is terrified, I’m terrified. When his foot gets chopped off… let’s just say I found myself physically checking my own feet. 😅

This book is easily a 5 out of 5 for me—a masterclass in psychological horror and suspense.

📘 Overview

Misery (1987) is a psychological horror novel by Stephen King. It follows Paul Sheldon, a bestselling author famous for his romance series starring a 19th-century heroine named Misery Chastain. But when Paul tries to move on with a new gritty novel (bye-bye, Misery), fate—and a blizzard—have other plans.

After a car crash in snowy Colorado, Paul is “rescued” by Annie Wilkes, a lonely, mentally unstable woman who also happens to be his #1 fan. Spoiler: This woman is not well. She’s also not planning on letting Paul leave. Alive.

The book dives deep into themes like addiction, the perils of fame, trauma, and the prison of dependency. It's King at his most claustrophobic, disturbing, and brilliant.

🩻 Full Plot Summary (Spoilers Ahead!)

🚗 The Crash

We open with Paul Sheldon crashing his car after finishing his new manuscript (Fast Cars—his attempt at going “literary”). He’s drunk. He’s in a blizzard. It’s not going great. When he wakes up, he’s in a strange bed with shattered legs, doped up on Novril (a fictional codeine-based painkiller), and face-to-face with Annie Wilkes.

Annie says she’s a nurse. She also says she’s Paul’s biggest fan. She seems kind—at first.

😬 From Fan to Fanatic

Annie reads Fast Cars and is not impressed. Too much profanity, too dark. But what really sends her over the edge? She finishes Misery’s Child and finds out Paul killed off Misery.

Big mistake.

Annie disappears for days, then returns with a plan. Paul must burn his new manuscript and write a new one: Misery’s Return, where he brings her back to life. Oh, and she’s got a typewriter ready. With a missing "n" key. (Which is somehow one of the most unsettling details in the book.)

Paul, still helpless and in agony, has no choice but to comply.

✍️ Writing for His Life

Over the next few weeks, Paul writes like his life depends on it—because it literally does. Annie alternates between doting nurse and unhinged torturer. When Paul sneaks out of his room, he discovers her scrapbook—a nightmare journal of her life, revealing that Annie has been killing people since she was 11. As a nurse, she murdered dozens—including infants.

So yeah. Escape is not optional. She’s killed before. She’ll do it again.

When Annie finds out Paul’s been snooping, she punishes him by chopping off his foot with an axe. This scene? Vivid. Traumatizing. Iconic. And somehow still not the worst thing that happens.

👮‍♂️ The Cop Doesn’t Make It

Eventually, a young cop named Officer Kushner shows up. Paul screams for help. Annie, hearing the commotion, straight-up runs the guy over with a lawn mower. Yep. It’s horrifying and somehow 100% believable in Annie’s twisted little world.

Paul’s now convinced he’ll never make it out alive—unless he finishes the book and makes a move.

🔥 One Last Chapter (and a Typewriter to the Face)

Paul finishes Misery’s Return. Annie is thrilled.

Until he burns it in front of her.

She flips out. He uses the distraction to bash her with the typewriter, then stabs her with a charred manuscript page holder. They fight. It’s brutal. It’s desperate. Paul crawls out of the room and hides until state troopers finally arrive and rescue him.

But not before he faints in a panic after learning Annie’s body is missing.

🗽 Back to New York (But Still Not Free)

In the final chapter, Paul is back in NYC. He’s physically free, but emotionally wrecked. He’s drinking again. He can’t write. He’s haunted by Annie. Until one day, a vision—a kid with a skunk (don’t ask)—snaps him out of it. He sits at his typewriter and begins again.

Cue tears. From Paul. From me. From the ghost of Misery Chastain.

📌 Trigger Warnings

  • Physical torture & mutilation (yes, that foot scene)

  • Mental illness (depictions are disturbing and outdated)

  • Drug addiction and dependency

  • Alcoholism

  • Graphic violence

  • Claustrophobia

  • Psychological trauma

🧠 What Makes This Book So Brilliant?

  • Paul and Annie’s dynamic is chillingly real.
    Annie isn’t a monster in the supernatural sense—she’s human. And that’s way more terrifying.

  • The pacing is masterful.
    It’s slow, but never boring. The tension builds until you’re practically vibrating with dread.

  • King’s writing is next-level.
    Even with all the violence and horror, this is a book about writing, storytelling, and survival.

  • It feels like a locked-room mystery with no mystery—just pure, unrelenting fear.

🛒 Want to Read It? (You Should.)

Buy Misery by Stephen King on Amazon (affiliate link)
You won’t sleep. But you won’t regret it.

📚 If You Loved Misery, Try These Next:

  • The Shining by Stephen King – more isolation, more madness

  • Gerald’s Game by Stephen King – similar vibes, different kind of captivity

  • Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn – dark, psychological, disturbing

  • You by Caroline Kepnes – ever wondered what it’s like inside a stalker’s head?

So what do you think? Is Annie Wilkes the scariest character of all time? Or just a misunderstood bibliophile with boundary issues? 😅

Let me know in the comments. And if you’ve ever hobbled a writer in real life… I hope you’re reading this from prison.

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