Misery

Misery is a psychological horror novel by the American author Stephen King, first published by Viking Press on 8 June 1987. It hinges on the relationship between two characters, the novelist Paul Sheldon and his self-proclaimed number one fan, Annie Wilkes.

The plot is a captivity narrative with a professional deadline. Sheldon is injured in a car accident and is taken in by Annie, who is a former nurse and therefore able to keep him alive in an isolated farmhouse while refusing to let him leave. Her reason for holding him is a piece of writing: he killed off the heroine of his popular series, and she requires him to restore her.

The novel took fourth place on the 1987 bestseller list and was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film directed by Rob Reiner in 1990, and into a theatrical production starring Laurie Metcalf and Bruce Willis in 2015. The title refers both to the fictional heroine and to King's own state of mind while writing it, which he outlined in a memoir, and the book's power comes from the ordinariness of the household in which the violence happens.