# Misery **Stephen King** **Save to Your Books** [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/Ashreadshorror/9781501143106) [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1501143107?tag=pagesandash-20) 100% of affiliate revenue supports ash.reads.horror The #1 New York Times bestseller about a famous novelist held hostage in a remote location by his “number one fan.” One of “Stephen King’s best…genuinely scary” (USA TODAY), Paul Sheldon is a bestselling novelist who has finally met his number one fan. Her name is Annie Wilkes, and she is more than a rabid reader—she is Paul’s nurse, tending his shattered body after an automobile accident. But she is also furious that the author has killed off her favorite character in his latest book. Annie becomes his captor, keeping him prisoner in her isolated house. Annie wants Paul to write a book that brings _Misery_ back to life—just for her. She has a lot of ways to spur him on. One is a needle. Another is an axe. And if they don’t work, she can get really nasty. “Terrifying” (San Francisco Chronicle), “dazzlingly well-written” (The Indianapolis Star), and “truly gripping” (Publishers Weekly), _Misery_ is “classic Stephen King...full of twists and turns and mounting suspense” (The Boston Globe). ## Horror Personal Journey I kicked off this year reading the fantastic _Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature_ edited by Becky Siegel Spratford. You can find my review HERE, but I wanted to take this space to dive a little further on my own personal Horror journey. I'm often asked "What's the scariest book you've ever read?" And this is a very valid question. But it's also a loaded question as well, because what is scary to me may not be scary to you. This is because horror is subjective. What scares me? I think what gets under my skin the most is bleak horror. When there's no hope. One book that does this well is _The Ruins_ by Scott Smith. It's a survival horror about four friends that take a vacation to Mexico and wind up getting stuck in some ancient ruins. One by one the characters are picked off, with hope dwindling with each life lost. While the characters annoyed me in this book, the hopelessness really got to me. Where did my love for Horror start? Let's take a journey into the past. As stated in my Instagram post, watching my dad play _Resident Evil One_ really stuck with me as a kid. The scene with the giant snake truly traumatized little me. Looking back on it now, it makes me laugh. Everything was so cringy. The graphics weren't great and the dialogue was corny. But its a classic for a reason and I still love it dearly. "You were almost a Jill Sandwich!" So what made me stop being such a scaredy cat? Honestly, I think playing _Resident Evil 4_ made me start appreciating horror more. I slowly started building myself up, until I could handle movies like _Sinister_ (WHICH PHEW terrified me a lot). Final Destination also terrified me. To think that near death experiences had become a death sentence had me on the edge of my seat. And death definitely gets creative when taking back what it's owed. I love chasing that rush I feel when watching something scary. I love looking in the background for something subtly creepy (i.e. Haunting of Hill House ghosts in the background). I feeling my heart race as I wait for the jump-scare to pop up on the screen, or the fake out to cue the scare when I least expect it. ### Books to Recommend So what books got me into reading horror? Well of course Stephen King kick started me. Now you may think I'm going to mention _The Shining_. While that is a FANTASTIC book of his and an all time favorite, _Misery_ was one of my first and favorite works. When I joined bookstagram, my world was opened to all kinds of horror novels. I never knew so many horror books/authors existed. Some of the wonderful books I've discovered and will forever recommend are as follows: - Come Closer by Sara Gran - The Reformatory by Tananarive Due - Below by Laurel Hightower - I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid - Mary by Nat Cassidy - Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven - Bat Eater and Other Names by Cora Zeng - Night Film by Marisha Pessl - We Used To Live Here by Marcus Kliewer - Slewfoot by Brom - The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher - Eynhallow by Tim McGregor I love that Horror has a little bit of something for everyone. Love Romance? How about a gothic horror with a dash of romance on the side? Love Thrillers? So many horror books toe the line of thrillers. Love History? There are so many historical horrors out there to try out. Your favorite genre has a place in horror. There is a horror book out there for everyone! Want a rec to get you kickstarted? Ask for a rec on my profile page. Thanks for coming to my TED talk lol.