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50 free Misery trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
42 free Misery trivia questions with answers. Stephen King dreamed up Annie Wilkes on a transatlantic flight, wrote the first pages at Rudyard Kipling's desk in a London hotel, and published the novel in 1987; three years later Rob Reiner's film turned an unknown stage actress named Kathy Bates into an Oscar winner and put the words 'number one fan' into the language. This quiz covers the book, the film and the 2015 Broadway play: the plot from the snowbank to the typewriter, the differences between page and screen, the casting saga, the box office and the awards. The easy questions ask who plays Annie, what Paul writes and what Annie does to his ankles; the harder ones want the novel's working title, the pseudonym it was nearly published under, the actors who turned down Paul Sheldon, the real nurse Annie was loosely based on, the town where the exteriors were shot and Annie's favourite musician. It suits horror fans, King completists and anyone who flinches at the word 'cockadoodie'. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the novel, the film, the character and the cast, and each question carries the sentence that backs it up.
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Q 01Who wrote the 1987 novel Misery?
Stephen King
The book took fourth place on the year's bestseller list and won the first Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.
Q 02Who plays Annie Wilkes in the 1990 film?
Kathy Bates
She was a stage actress effectively unknown to film audiences when the screenwriter suggested her.
Q 03Who plays the captive novelist Paul Sheldon?
James Caan
He said the appeal was that 'being a totally reactionary character is really much tougher.'
Q 04Who directed the film?
Rob Reiner
His producing partner Andrew Scheinman read the novel on a plane and recommended it to him.
Q 05Which screenwriter, also behind The Princess Bride, adapted the novel for the screen?
William Goldman
He later wrote a separate stage version, which reached Broadway in 2015.
Q 06What kind of books has Paul Sheldon made his fortune writing?
Victorian romance novels
He despises the series and hopes his new manuscript will launch a more serious career.
Q 07What is the surname of Misery, the heroine of Paul's book series?
Chastain
The title of the novel refers both to her and, King said, to his own state of mind while writing it.
Q 08In the novel, what is the title of the crime manuscript Paul has just finished when he crashes?
Fast Cars
Annie later forces him to burn it, ending the career he hoped it would start.
Q 09In which US state does Paul crash his car in a blizzard?
Colorado
The film's exteriors for the town of Silver Creek were actually shot in Genoa, Nevada.
Q 10What car is Paul driving when he goes over the embankment?
A Mustang
'Shotgun' by Junior Walker and the All-Stars plays on the soundtrack just before the crash.
Q 11What was Annie's profession before she settled in her remote farmhouse?
Nurse
The character became a stereotype of the nurse as torturer and 'angel of mercy'.
Q 12How does Annie describe herself to Paul?
His number one fan
The film's final scene has a waitress use the same phrase, and Paul hallucinates Annie's face.
Q 13What sends Annie into a rage after she reads Paul's latest book?
The heroine dies at the end
In the novel she then abandons him for over two days without food, water or painkillers.
Q 21Annie despises profanity. Which of these is one of her signature minced oaths?
Cockadoodie
'Dirty bird' is another; King said Annie 'seems perfectly sane and reasonable to herself'.
Q 22Which pianist and showman is Annie's favourite musician, heard on three recordings in the film?
Liberace
The rest of the score was written by Marc Shaiman.
Q 23In the film, how does Annie kill the sheriff who finds Paul in her basement?
With a shotgun
In the novel the lawman is a state trooper, and she runs him over with her riding lawnmower.
Q 14What does Annie make Paul do with the only copy of his new manuscript?
Burn it
She then buys typing paper and an antique typewriter so he can bring Misery back from the dead.
Q 15What is the title of the new book Annie forces Paul to write?
Misery's Return
In the novel he ends the ordeal by seemingly burning it, but the copy on the fire is a decoy.
Q 16What does Paul use to unlock his bedroom door while Annie is out?
A bobby pin
Exploring the house by wheelchair, he finds the phone dead and every outer door locked.
Q 17The scrapbook Paul finds reveals that Annie was tried in connection with what?
Several infant deaths at a hospital
The case lacked evidence and the trial collapsed; in the novel her clippings suggest more than thirty victims.
Q 18In the film, what does Annie use to break Paul's ankles in the infamous 'hobbling' scene?
A sledgehammer
Bravo ranked the moment number 12 on its list of the 100 scariest movie moments.
Q 19In the novel, how does Annie punish Paul for leaving his room, in a scene the film softened?
She cuts off his foot with an axe
The director insisted on the change, arguing an amputation would make audiences hate Annie rather than pity her madness.
Q 20In the novel, what does Annie remove with an electric knife when Paul complains about the typewriter?
His thumb
The typewriter is missing a letter, and complaining about it costs him dearly.
Q 24Which veteran actor and former stuntman plays Sheriff Buster?
Richard Farnsworth
He was later Oscar-nominated for The Straight Story, at the time the second-oldest Best Actor nominee ever.
Q 25Who plays Buster's wife and deputy, Virginia?
Frances Sternhagen
She was also Esther Clavin on Cheers and Bunny MacDougal on Sex and the City.
Q 26Which Hollywood legend plays Paul's literary agent, Marcia Sindell?
Lauren Bacall
Her final scene has her suggesting Paul write a nonfiction book about his ordeal, which he declines.
Q 27What does Paul use to finally kill Annie in the film's climactic fight?
A heavy iron doorstop
The typewriter is used earlier in the struggle, and she briefly knocks herself out falling onto it.
Q 28How long after the ordeal does the film's final restaurant scene take place?
Eighteen months
Paul now walks with a cane and admits the experience revived his passion for writing.
Q 29Why was the 1991 Best Actress Academy Award for Annie Wilkes a landmark?
It is the only Oscar won by a movie based on a King novel
It is also one of the very few acting Oscars for a horror-genre performance.
Q 30Which two actresses turned down the role of Annie Wilkes before Bates was cast?
Anjelica Huston and Bette Midler
One of them later said she deeply regretted the decision.