Woman Causes Author Stephen King Misery By Suing Him

Stephen King has a reputation for writing entertaining stories about scary psychotic women, and now he’s dealing with one of his own. Anne Hiltner, a freelance writer who lives in New Jersey, has filed suit against the author, claiming that the character of Annie Wilkes in King’s best-selling novel "Misery" is actually a caricature of her. Hiltner claims that King "invaded her privacy" by creating a character so similar to her, and that she is the real Annie Wilkes.

One of King’s scariest characters was that character, the role that won Kathy Bates a Best Actress Oscar when the book was made into a movie in 1990. In the story, Psycho Nurse Wilkes causes her favorite writer, Paul Sheldon, to have a car accident that results in him suffering major injuries. She pretends to nurse him back to health at her remote country house, but actually doesn’t intend for him to leave because she is obsessed with him and the characters he has created in his books.

It might actually be hard to doubt Hitlner’s claims of being a psycho obsessed fan, because she has previously sued Stephen King on several occasions. She sued him several years ago for claims that his novel "Riding the Bullet" was plagiarized from her brother’s manuscript. In her current federal lawsuit, Hiltner accuses King of "defaming" her and "exploiting private events" in her real life, but she gives no details of those events. She also claims that the main character of Sally Druse in King’s television miniseries "Kingdom Hospital," is also based on her. And prior to her current suit, Hitlner reportedly claimed in another lawsuit in the 1990’s that "Misery" was plagiarized from her own writings, a lawsuit that was summarily dismissed.

Several of King’s best-selling novels and short stories have become best-selling and award-winning movies, including "The Shining," "Stand By Me," and "The Shawshank Redemption." All of his stories have been pure fiction. But "Misery," the tale of a psycho fan obsessed with an author, is the only King best-seller that is evidently turning into a true story.