Thinner

This was my first foray into the Stephen King universe and I loved it back in the mid 1980s, and after a reread in 2026, these are my updated thoughts.

Mess with the wrong people and gradually waste away into bones and dust through a gypsy curse. Start the month on 250 pounds and end it considerably thinner.

I dismissed this book as good entertainment but throwaway at the time, and 40 years later can't quite remember why? A reread helped to understand that.

Stephen King is so good at character development the horror element sometimes seems negligible. You know Billy is getting thinner and wasting away while as a reader you're content to find out about his personal life, family and flaws and remain in his cozy bubble of domestic and professional affairs.

The story starts to ramp up as Billy has to find a solution or waste away completely, while retaining enough intrigue and plausibility to potentially make for a fantastic read.

And then it becomes a different type of book at 75% - a thriller - and that's where Stephen King gets it slightly wrong - the believability - going into third-person perspective and away from the main character. Gypsy curses and still wasting away after eating a three-course meal might seem unrealistic and silly, but for some reason still plausible, whereas the major action felt tacked on.

Thinner is a spicy thriller with twists and turns but not one of Stephen King's best, especially as the horror of the unseen gypsy curse turns into full blown action drama.

Speaking of gypsies, the attitude to minorities that was acceptable in 1984 is definitely not tolerable 40 years later, constantly being discriminated against, marginalized, and forced to move on.

My initial instincts at Thinner being throwaway were eerily accurate and this is another Bachman book that isn't a must read in comparison to some of Stephen King's stronger works.