Stephen King, author of horror novels including It, Carrie and The Shining, has written an essay on Baby Reindeer.
King posted on his official X account earlier this week: “I have an essay about BABY REINDEER in the London Times. I can’t believe they paid me for writing about such a cool show, but they did. Of course, I DID pay Netflix.”
The article in The Times sees King discuss the hit Netflix series, which has garnered more than 22million views in just three weeks.
The series is adapted from a one-man play written by, and starring Richard Gadd, who plays a fictionalised version of himself in the Netflix show. A semi-autobiographical story, it tells the tale of a struggling comedian named Donny, who is relentlessly stalked by an older woman named Martha.
King praised the show’s stamina, writing (via GamesRadar): “Unlike most streaming series’ episodes, which can feel bloated at 50minutes — or even longer — the episodes of Baby Reindeer, each about 30minutes, are like short, swift stabs administered by a very sharp knife.”
As well as describing the seven-part series as “one of the best things” he’d ever seen, he drew comparisons between it and his 1987 thriller novel, Misery.
Adapted into a film in 1990 starring James Caan and Kathy Bates, Misery tells the story of a novelist who is rescued by a former nurse after a car crash. However, things take a turn when it is gradually revealed that he is in fact being held hostage in the home of his number one fan.
“My first thought was to thank God my novel came first, or people would assume I’d stolen it from Richard Gadd,” King wrote about the two stories’ similarities.
Speaking on one of the show’s key takeaways, King commented: “The great gift (I will not call it a trick) of Baby Reindeer is that we come to understand why it has taken so long for Donny to report his abuse.”
He continued: “In his heart, Donny believes he deserves it. We feel empathy for him rather than impatience, and we come to feel empathy for Martha as well.”
Meanwhile, TV presenter and author Richard Osman has claimed that “everyone” in the industry knows the identity of the real person behind Donny’s abuser in Baby Reindeer.