History Literature / Misery

* PetTheDog: Deconstructed; Annie's more humanizing moments towards Paul and Misery the pig highlight how dangerous she is. These include [[spoiler:treating his amputation wounds after he nearly bleeds to death]] Paul even notes that he has to go along with those moments or she'll punish him in some way.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After being kidnapped, tortured and maimed, Paul eventually fights his way for freedom and the new ''Misery'' book he wrote during his ordeal is a smashing hit. In the book, he also rediscovers his love of writing after seeing the kid with the skunk]].

* BodyHorror: The novel is truly nauseating in describing the damage to Paul's legs: multiple compound fractures that require numerous re-breakings to heal anywhere close to properly. This was thankfully toned down to three simple fractures in te film. The "hobbling" scene in the film also counts - it's a lot less destructive than what's in the book, but actually ''seeing'' a human's foot get mangled like that is horrifying.

* BodyHorror: The novel is truly nauseating in describing the damage to Paul's legs: multiple compound fractures that require numerous re-breakings to heal anywhere close to properly. This was thankfully toned down to three simple fractures in the film. The "hobbling" scene in the film also counts - it's a lot less destructive than what's in the book, but actually ''seeing'' a human's foot get crippled like that is horrifying.

** The actual ending of the book. Paul underwent incredible suffering and will be a cripple for the rest of his life, but at least he got his wish to write something fresh (though it was ''Misery'' as a Gothic romance and character study rather than the gritty crime thriller he planned) and he admits it's the best thing he's ever written. He also starts writing again, without needing Annie breathing down his neck and threatening him.

* CuteAndPsycho: Annie.

* MadDoctor: Annie, killer nurse.

* NewspaperBackstory: Paul realizes just who he's dealing with when he finds a scrapbook filled with clippings showing that Annie had been charged numerous times for infanticide while she was a nurse. Many of them have normal obits which seem out of place -- til Paul cottons to the fact that while everyone thought they were natural deaths, Annie knew they were people she murdered.

** Subverted and zigzagged in the film: at first the sheriff Buster seems to be just a rustic old man warming a chair, but he turns out to be quite competent and thorough despite a bickering [[CluelessDeputy deputy]] who doubles as his wife. In the end he is however [[spoiler:taken by surprise and killed, but not in vain.]]
** Justified and averted in the book. The first cop that comes out to talk to Annie is young, inexperienced, and alone, and he was sent out on a shit detail to look for some numbnuts author who most likely wrecked his car in a snowstorm, then wandered off into the woods to die. However, when he doesn't report back in (because Annie killed him when Paul got his attention by breaking the bedroom window), the cops not only send out a more experienced cop, they send two of them. However, Paul weighs his chances and decides not to try alerting the pair, as there is still an outside chance that Annie might be able to kill both of them as well. The pair is ''not'' stupid, however. They get a search warrant for Annie's house, sensing all is not right, and [[spoiler:successfully break in when Paul kills Annie and calls for help]].

** Annie Wilkes in the book, with her usage of the N-word to refer to the character Hezekiah in Paul Sheldon's Misery series

** The Roydmans, Annie's oft-mentioned but never seen neighbors, whom she detests (and vice-versa, apparently)[[note]]If Annie can be believed on that point. She's not the most reliable narrator[[/note]].

* GoshDangItToHeck: Annie doesn't like it when your characters are dirty birds who use cockadoodie foul language... Paul also comes to realize that on the few occasions [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness she actually uses outright swearwords]] he should be even more afraid of her than usual.

Novelist Paul Sheldon crashes his car in a Colorado snowstorm while drunk-driving to Los Angeles to celebrate finishing the manuscript for his latest book. His legs shattered, he is rescued by Annie Wilkes, a former nurse, who takes him to her isolated house in the countryside. Annie claims she's Paul's "number one fan" and loves his ''Misery'' romance novels as well as their main heroine Misery Chastain. However, the latest ''Misery'' novel is released while he's in her care, and on finding out that Misery dies at the end, the mentally-unstable Annie becomes enraged and coerces Paul – who, being too injured to leave her house and thus entirely dependent on her, has no choice but to comply – to write a new ''Misery'' novel that undoes her death. Paul therefore must fight to find a way to write Misery back to life, even while Annie subjects him to all manner of deranged (and sometimes horrific) ministrations.

Novelist Paul Sheldon crashes his car in a Colorado snowstorm while drunk-driving to Los Angeles to celebrate finishing the manuscript for his latest book. His legs shattered, he is rescued by Annie Wilkes, a former nurse, who takes him to her isolated house in the countryside. Annie claims she's Paul's "number one fan" and loves his ''Misery'' romance novels as well as their main heroine Misery Chastain. However, the latest ''Misery'' novel is released while he's in her care, and on finding out that Misery dies at the end, the mentally-unstable Annie becomes enraged and coerces Paul – who, being too injured to leave her house and thus entirely dependent on her, has no choice comply – begins his fight to find a way to write Misery back to life, all while Annie subjects him to all manner of deranged (and sometimes horrific) ministrations.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After being kidnapped, tortured and maimed, Paul eventually fights his way for freedom and the new Misery book he wrote during his ordeal is a smashing hit. In the book, he also rediscovers his love of writing after seeing the kid with the skunk]].

Novelist Paul Sheldon crashes his car in a Colorado snowstorm while driving west to celebrate finishing his latest book. His legs shattered, he is rescued by Annie Wilkes, a former nurse, who takes him to her isolated house in the countryside. She claims that she is his number one fan and loves his ''Misery'' novels, as well as their main heroine Misery Chastain. However, the next Misery novel is released while he's in her care, and Annie finds out that Misery dies at the end. She becomes enraged and forces Paul to write a new novel that undoes Misery's death. Paul, being too injured to leave her house, is totally dependent on Annie, and so begins his fight to find a way to write Misery back to life, all while Annie subjects him to all manner of deranged (and sometimes horrific) ministrations.

Creator/RobReiner directed a [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] in 1990, starring Creator/JamesCaan as Paul and then-unknown stage actress Creator/KathyBates as Annie, with Creator/LaurenBacall in a minor role as Paul's editor and Creator/RichardFarnsworth as the local sheriff. Bates won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actress for her acclaimed performance as Annie, making her the first (and to date the only) person to win an Oscar for a performance in an adaptation of a Stephen King novel. Her Oscar is also the only one received for any of Reiner's films as a director.

In 2015, a stage adaptation, written by Creator/WilliamGoldman (who also adapted the screenplay for the film version), and starring Creator/BruceWillis as Paul and Creator/LaurieMetcalf as Annie, premiered on Broadway, closing in early 2016.

* AffablyEvil: Annie Wilkes is very cordial when she isn't throwing a fit, but her madness makes it hard to guess if it's genuine, fake or even both.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm your number one fan..."'']]

* DownerEnding: Averted when Stephen King found Paul to be a more resourceful character than he anticipated; the original ending had us fade in on Annie's cabin and find a shrine bearing the only copy of ''Misery's Return''... bound in the skin of one Paul Sheldon. Misery the pig would have eaten the rest of him.

--> '''Paul''' (thinking about the Roydmans Annie insists are out to get her): ''I don't know about them... but '''I''' sure am.''

-->"If you can get into that chair all by yourself, Paul," she said at last, "then I think you can [[PrecisionFStrike fill in your own fucking n's]]."

-->"It's all right here..." ''*clicks lighter*''

** Paul surmises that he can't fault Annie for just being hurt by Misery's death, reflecting that rousing such a response in a reader is the goal of any author, and remembering feeling grief-sticking by the death of [[spoiler: Garp's son Walt]] in ''Literature/TheWorldAccordingToGarp.''

* HardTruthAesop: There's no romanticizing having only one copy of your books. Always have a backup, in case circumstances destroy it. In this case, a lady that wants it all burned.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Paul privately admits this:
--> ...he was his own dream-woman when he grabbed hold of himself and jacked off to the feverish beat of his fantasies.

* {{Cloudcuckoolanguage}}: Annie swears very colorfully, using expressions like "You cockadoodie dirty birdie" and "I don't care if you're John Q. Jesus Johnnycake Christ from the planet Mars!", which highlights her deranged personality.

* StealthPun: In the book, Annie killed a young deputy. In the film, Annie [[Music/BobMarley shot the sheriff, but she did not shoot the deputy]].

** Also, those [[spoiler:patients]]? She thought she was [[spoiler: putting them out of their MISERY]].
*** Which, [[spoiler:considering the psychosis (i.e. the actual cause of the deaths) and her possessive desire of the title character, means she was putting them out of HER MISERY.]]

* NotTheFirstVictim: When he manages to escape from the bedroom, Paul finds a [[OrgyOfEvidence scrapbook]] kept by Annie where she reveals that she murdered her father, one of her husbands, and multiple babies at the hospital where she worked prior to holding Paul captive and killing a police officer to hide him, and has not been caught.

* HairpinLockpick: Paul opens the door of the bedroom with a hairpin lost by Annie. Lampshaded by the fact that he says that it must work because it works in his books.