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Gerald's Game (1992)

Before reading: I'm very excited to read Gerald's Game! I really enjoyed the movie when it came out. To be honest, I had never heard of it until the movie. Since getting more into Stephen King I do know that people enjoy this book. I am also excited to get a woman-led story for the first time since Carrie (yes, Carrie, as in his first book written in the 70's). Here we go!

After reading: Whew. That was a short book but it was a tense read. That was a very dark, emotional, scary read. It takes a lot out of you. I definitely would not call this an easy read by any means. I did enjoy it and like the book but I don't think I'd read it again. While I think the book was better than the movie, I prefer the movie. That was a very heavy book. I almost want to take a King break and read a funny story to cleanse myself after that one. I don't have too many notes since it was a shorter book so this one should be short and sweet. 

My first note is a little random and I'm about to go on a tangent (sorry not sorry) but if you read my most recent post this will make more sense. The map I had found to try and figure out the counties in King's Maine came from this book, which was kind of funny. However, later on in the book they mention Oxford County. According to the map Castle Rock is in Oxford County. But it's in Castle County? So where is Castle County? I thought, hmm, maybe this book is in a different universe (beam, if you will). Nope. Castle County and Castle Rock are mentioned along with Castle Rock characters. Thought we were done with Castle Rock? It's back in the very next book?! Also they mention Sheriff Pangborn by name but spell it like Pang-born? What? And THEN...we have a little Carrie callback to Chamberlain which is all fine and dandy except it mentions Chamberlain County?! So now there's another made up county...and there's an Oxford County...but there's still only 16 counties?! Someone get Stephen King on the phone before I lose my mind.

You can ignore all of that but it felt good to get off my chest. Moving on. This book is another bottle episode-type book and King does these very well. We can be stuck in one location and feel very claustrophobic without feeling bored or redundant. This novel reminded me a lot of Misery. We are stuck to a bed with one character and a lot of the story happens in their memories or their mind. Like I mentioned after I read Misery, this also makes things a lot scarier. This is a could-really-happen scenario. This is a worst case scenario. I think terror and fear works especially well with stories like this because you can imagine yourself in the situation. You can feel scared without having that thought of, "oh, well, this could never really happen because *insert supernatural creatures here* aren't real." To me, horror books and movies without supernatural elements are the scariest. This book is extremely scary. I had to stop reading at one point because I was reading at night and couldn't keep reading in the dark. Also, since I had seen the movie I knew what was going to happen and I managed to scare myself before the scary stuff even started happening. However, this book is mostly sad. Jessie's story is very sad and we are in her head and in her thoughts and memories more than we are in the room with her. This is a sad story that has scary parts throughout, making it a tough read. On top of that, it has some of the most gruesome body horror I've ever read (in the book) and seen (in the movie). It's a lot!

My feelings about this book are mixed. It is a good book, I want to make sure that comes across. However, it is not a fun read at all. This book could also be extremely triggering, as well. Before going into it I think you need to be aware that there are very graphic horrific scenes of sexual assault and incest. It is an interesting read for sure. If you don't think the book is for you, I would at least recommend the movie. In Mike Flanagan we trust.

Keeping on the theme of short books, up next we have some more short stories in Nightmares and Dreamscapes.



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