Gerald's Game

by Stephen King

Book Overview

A different kind of bedtime story from Stephen King, as a game of seduction between a husband and wife ends in death. But the nightmare has only just begun...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670846503
• ISBN13: 9780670846504
• Release Date: September 1992
• Publisher: Viking
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Great book for the price! Love Stephen king books. Very pleased!

Great book! Great price! Love Stephen king books! Very pleased!

Stellar

As with almost all of King's books, this was no exception to greatness. Very scary. I couldn't put it down!

Intense!

Jessie Burlingame has become ever more tired of her husband Gerald's kinky sex games, but when he suddenly dies during a session, leaving her handcuffed to a bed in a remote house, the game becomes deadly. And now Jessie finds herself caught like a spider in a web, unable to move, afraid of the monster that may lie right outside the house (or inside for that matter!). However, listening to the voices in her own head, she begins to find that not all of the monsters are "out there," some are right inside her own mind! This is an intense book, a book about horror, but not knife-wielding killers. Instead this is a deep and intense look at the horrors that people inflict on others and on themselves. I found this to be a challenging book - hard to keep reading, but impossible to put down. It's not a happy book, but it is a fascinating and horrifying read, one that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

A Tense Psychological Thriller!

After finishing Gerald's Game, I feel like I have just fallen out of the visionary world Stephen King has written, and anybody can journey to it by picking up this book. From start to finish, this is psychological terror at its best, and if a person was entranced as I was they could finish this book in about 2 days if they felt the need to, because the reader just has to know the outcome to the story or he would go insane waiting to see what happens. Although Gerald's Game deals with some very controversial subject matter, such as child abuse and sex, this book is not overshadowed by the mature subject matter. This was once in fact supposed to be a movie, but the producers had no idea how to show somebody topless for the entire movie without recieving an NC-17 rating, so they just dropped the whole movie idea. Here below is a quick overview of the story and the writing:Story: As the novel opens, we meet timid Housewife Jessie Burlingame, who is still haunted by an accident from the past, and her husband, Gerald Burlingame, the curious husband who has a slight heart problem. Both of them are vacationing at their Lake House when Gerald decides to pull out his handcuffs and test them out on Jessie. Jessie is then handcuffed to both of the bedposts, with only 6 inches of armroom allowed. With Jessie still locked up and the keys all the way across the room, Gerald suffers a fatal heart attack, leaving Jessie hopelessly handcuffed with no way to get out of the bed. As time passes, Gerald's body starts looking pretty scrumptious to a hungry stray, who ventures into the house and starts turning Gerald into Dogfood. All the while Jessie valiantly tries to get a water glass full of water off the shelf that is just barely out of her reach, but she has to try or else she fears she may just go insane. As her hunger and thirst deepens, Jessie begins having recurring dreams about her disturbing childhood that is tarnished by the memory of her father abusing her as a child. As she learns to deal with her inner demons, she soon notices demons aren't only in her dreams, but in the corner of her bedroom. A gaunt shadow stands there watching her throughout the night, and she realizes to her dismay the shadow is real. The only way Jessie can get out of her predicament is to overcome her inner demons and and try not to go mad, while at the same time she must figure out a way to get out of her impenetrable stronghold with all of her options gone except for an empty glass on the bedstand. Jessie learns to overcome fear and herself in the ultimate battle for survival.Writing: Stephen King constantly amazes me at his always changing and everdevoloping writing styles, and with Gerald's Game, he once again he has done it. Although not as descriptive as say Cujo or The Shining, Gerald's Game describes things beautifully through similes and metaphors that are well-crafted and thought-out. What really amazes me about the writing is the relentlessness of the plot and how he sou

The Most Underrated King Novel

I can see why some people might be turned off from Gerald's Game due to the kinky theme. But it's hard to deny that this is probably his most wickedly terrifying novel to date. An upper class lawyer's wife, chained to a bed, out in the middle of nowhere is forced to face her past. All the while, the sound of a chainsaw is heard in the distance, and a starving dog enters the house. She is hearing voices in her head, she thinks she sees an awful looking man in the shadowed corner, staring at her. There was one part in particular that grossed me out (it's towards the end, you'll see when you get there). Also, this is one of the best endings that King has ever come up with. It wrapped up nicely, not leaving me with any questions or doubts. If you are into psycological horror, and are not bothered by the sexual content, then give this one a try. Chau.

A coup for King.

Taking a break from universe-expanding fare like The Tommyknockers and Insomnia, King strips down to one key character in a static situation, and takes us into a horrific (but human) world of guilt, helplessness, and fear.Don't let the kinky premise -- husband dies while his wife is handcuffed to the bed for sex games -- scare you off. It's really just a device to get our protagonist alone and helpless. Unlike your average hack writer, however, King has something in mind for this helpless female other than voyeurism and violent exploitation. King's going for more than tittilation and cheap scares. He's going for deep psychological terror and dread, not just presenting them but exploring the hows and the whys.The most interesting parts of the book aren't the fingernail-biting scary parts, of which there are plenty. The most intriguing is when our main character is alone with her internal dialogue. King makes the female voice utterly convincing; a difficult trick for a male writer, especially one with such a distinctive voice of his own.If your average horror novel is a bucket of popcorn, this one is a four-course meal. Dig in, if you have the stomach for it.

KING'S MOST TERRIFYING BOOK EVER!

First off, I'm not one easily frightened...and I've read all of King's work (including the vastly overrated THE STAND). GERALD'S GAME scared the bejabbers out of me! I'm deeply puzzled at all the criticism leveled at this exercise in sheer horror. The most common complaint, oddly enough, is that the book is BORING, of all things...but GERALD'S GAME is anything but dull. It is the story of Jessie, a woman handcuffed to the bedposts by her husband who, in the excitement of their kinky little sex game, literally drops dead, leaving her shackled miles away from any other human being. "Lucky to be alive," Jessie thinks at first. Then she becomes doubtful. Her doubt quickly turns to terror when the brutal hours swell into agonizing days and she begins to suffer...to grow weak...to die. I won't ruin the suspense by divulging any more of the gory, creepy details--you'll just have to go to your closest bookseller and buy the darned novel--but let me say two more things: Read the book after dark at your own risk...and if you do not want a truly terrifying, chilling experience, then do not read GERALD'S GAME.