The Strange Dream That Gave Stephen King the Idea for 'Misery'

Renowned author Stephen King conceived one of his most celebrated psychological thrillers, Misery, following a sudden flash of inspiration during a transatlantic airplane nap. The story centers on a fictional writer named Paul Sheldon, who crashes his car in a blizzard and is subsequently held captive by a dangerously obsessive former nurse named Annie Wilkes. Because Wilkes is enraged that Sheldon has killed off the main character in her favorite book series, she forces the injured author to write a brand-new manuscript where the heroine survives. Published in 1987, the novel won the inaugural Bram Stoker Award and achieved massive commercial success on bestseller charts. This terrifying narrative reached an even broader audience in 1990 through a critically acclaimed film adaptation starring James Caan and Kathy Bates.

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