Stephen King's Gerald's Game begins with a situation that could almost be a part of a black comedy, only it's not funny. When Jessie and Gerald Burlingame retire to the bedroom of their Maine summer-house, Jessie knows what Gerald's game will be, but she really doesn't want to play.
Tied to the bed-posts by handcuffs, Jessie implores Gerald to stop, but Gerald is intent on playing the game. Jessie lashes out at her husband with her foot and he falls, hits his head, and dies.
That leaves Jessie alone and with no means of escape. As if that wouldn't be enough on its own to scare the living daylights out of you, Jessie also discovers that there is something is lurking in the shadows,
Trapped in her bed, Jessie comes to face to face with her own fears and she knows that the open back door of the house is an invitation for more horrors to come inside. While her own memories haunt her, she is tormented by voices and shrieks. Her only companion through her ordeal is stray dog and even he has some pretty horrific plans for the body of Jessie's dead husband.
Gerald's Game is quite probably one of the most intense Stephen King books you might read. The horror of a woman being left chained to a bed is as frightening as the horror of some of Jessie's childhood memories. There are some scenes in the book that will genuinely shock and even disgust some people and some have called the novel exploitative.
On the other hand, the book is extremely well written and it includes what is one of Stephen King's most intense character studies. The memories that come back to haunt Jessie include her father abusing her and that is what has led some people to call that book tasteless.
There is plenty of gore in Gerald's Game too, and some of it is vividly described. The method that Jessie turns to as a means of escape from the handcuffs will have you squirming, as will the description of what the stray dog has for its dinner.
This Stephen King book takes a peek at some of our darkest fears and some of those fears are of the type that we don't even want to think about. It also looks at the monsters that might lurk in the shadows as well as the monsters that lurk inside human beings. The strangest thing about Gerald's Game is that, while you may not want to turn the next page, you do.
There is, apparently, a movie adaptation of the novel being made that will be premiered on Netflix. It's hard to envisage, though, how such a deep and disturbing tale could be transferred to a 90 minute film. The film went into production in October 2016, will be directed by Mike Flannigan, and is set for a release sometime in 2017.
If you want to be shocked and unsettled, then Stephen King's Gerald's Game would be the book to do it. Don't read the book, however, if you are looking for a light-hearted read!
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By
Neil Savin