Paul Sheldon, known all over the world for his famous novels, is the creator of Misery Chastain, a beautiful woman from nineteenth-century England, whose love life fills eight volumes and has sold many millions of copies. He felt trapped by Misery, so he killed off her character in the last book, “Misery’s Child”. Her death made him free and he immediately wrote a serious novel “Fast Cars”. He always finishes his books in the same hotel room in the mountains of Colorado. On his way to the airport, for the publication of “Misery’s Child” and to deliver the typescript of “Fast Cars”, it happens. He is driving his car through the mountains, when a storm strikes. The car’s wipers are unable to keep the windows clear and the road is so slippery that the tyres can’t grip the surface anymore. He has got no control of the car and crashes it into a streambed. Paul is lucky, he is found by a woman, Annie Wilkes, who takes him into her house. She claims to be his biggest fan, Misery is her heroine and she even named her pig after Misery. He finds it quite strange that she didn’t take him to a hospital, as both his legs are broken. Although she takes good care of him, he thinks she is probably off her head, so he starts wondering. At first Paul was only aware that something was wrong with her, without knowing exactly what. But after a seemingly ordinary conversation, Annie totally looses it, and it becomes clear to Paul that she is psychotic. He tries to find an outlet, but Annie is cunning, and keeps him dopey, by giving him Novril, a powerful drug. After a while, Paul really gets addicted to the painkillers, for the pain is unbearable. When Paul’s last Misery-Novel comes out, Annie immediately buys it. She finishes it in no time and makes Paul pay for killing her idol. She forces him to burn his typescript of “Fast Cars” and she wants him to breathe new life into Misery, by writing a new novel about her, called “Misery’s Return”. When Paul doesn’t comply with her requests, she punishes him in many dreadful ways, by making him drink filthy water, leaving him behind for hours, sometimes even days, without food or Novril, and with just a small amount of water to drink. At a certain point, she flies in such a rage that she actually chops off his thumb and his foot. So there is no alternative left to Paul, he is forced to start writing.
After a while Paul starts taking advantage of Annie’s absence. In his wheelchair, he examines the house and is able to steal a knife and some doses of Novril, which he hides under his mattress. Apparently, Annie has got no clue of what Paul has been up to. One time, when he’s in her living room, he finds a scrapbook in which she has glued some press cuttings. They reveal the dark side of Annie to Paul, as he finds out that she has assassinated her father, her brother and several babies, when she worked in the hospital as a nurse. When he leafs through the scrapbook, he finds an article concerning his loss. Suddenly he’s aware of the shocking truth: he will end up as a press cutting, just like Annie’s father and brother. She will kill him as soon as he finishes the book.
When the snow finally melts away, the police find Paul’s car and they start to investigate the area, searching for witnesses. When a police officer comes to Annie’s place, Paul tries to draw his attention. The policeman spots Paul and recognises him, but Annie is fast and kills the cop before he can do anything. She hides the corpse in the storeroom, and locks Paul up in the cellar. A couple of days later two policemen come to ask Annie some questions about Paul and the missing cop and to take a statement from her. But Annie is able to dodge them.
In the meantime, Paul has finished the Misery-story, Annie forced him to write. She feels like celebrating it and thus she sees no harm in giving Paul a cigarette. He puts the typescript on fire, like she once did with his precious novel “Fast Cars”. Annie rages at him, trying to kill him. But Paul is faster, and throws her on the burning book, her clothes catch fire and Paul seizes the opportunity to shove a gag in her throat. After a long struggle, Annie collapses, with blisters all over her body and choking on the ball of paper. Weary from the battle, he falls asleep in the hallway. He is startled by some kind of noise. He dreads that it is Annie, awoken from the dead, but his fear is unfounded, as it are the two policemen that came to the house earlier. They are able to comfort Paul and bring him to the hospital.
Apparently Paul had hidden the real typescript of “Misery’s Return” under his mattress in his room, as he thought it was his best work so far. So he had set fire to some empty pages, with a tittle-page on top, to make Annie believe that it was the real novel he was burning.
The book gets published, and becomes a best seller. Paul recovers slowly, both physically as mentally. But he still sees Annie Wilkes waiting for him in corners, in shadows, on the streets and in every woman who ever tells him that he is her favourite author.
Misery door Stephen King




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