Misery was the 21st work of fiction by prolific novelist Stephen King, and is no less thrilling than his earlier beloved books, such as Salem’s Lot (1975) and The Shining (1977).

In the same year Misery came out – 1987 – King published three other novels. While he didn’t necessarily write them all in that short period of time, that fact is testament to his undeniable talent and dedication to the craft. How does one author churn out so much content and manage to keep it, well, good?

And ‘good’ it was. Psychological thriller-horror Misery won the first Bram Stoker Award for Novel, a prestigious award named after the writer of world-famous Dracula. But what do we think of this novel?

At times intensely stream-of-consciousness, we couldn’t help but slip into the palpitating world of Misery. King manages to perfectly encapsulate internal turmoil and the mind-bending experience of kidnapping. 

Misery has as tight a grip on you, the reader, as its antagonist has on our main character. It follows Paul, an author whose works of fiction are loved around the world, through his entrapment by ex-nurse Annie Wilkes.

Inside Annie’s remote, snow-laden home, King creates a world of rules and manipulation so deep that you find yourself looking out for the signs of Annie’s next ‘turn’. One minute a sweet, childish schoolgirl, the next a homicidal, weapon-wielding force of nature, Wilkes is not a character to be messed with.

It’s King’s masterful character-building and aptitude for truly surprising twists that make this one of the real classics of psychological suspense. A study of the psyche, prescription drugs, writer’s block, isolation, trauma, and more, it really is a tour de force.

In this 300-page epic, King explores a question that’s been asked for as long as celebrities have existed: what happens when fans take it too far? We encourage you to find out the answer to that yourself by bagging a copy of Misery, in which every glorious and grotesque detail is cleverly revealed drop by drop.