History Literature / GeraldsGame

* SettingUpdate: The 2017 film moves the setting to the present day, rather than 1992, when the book was written. By extension the day of the eclipse moves forward from 1963 to somewhere around 1989.

* CanonWelding: In the 2017 movie, when Jessie is coming to terms with the likelihood that she's going to die when the Moonlight Man returns, Gerald tells her "All things serve the Beam." This could be either a ShoutOut to ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'', or have considerably deeper implications.

* LivingShadow: How Jessie percieves The Space Cowboy

* PetTheDog: In the movie, Hallucination!Gerald is genuinely horrified that [[spoiler:Jessie was sexually molested by her father and gives her a proud farewell when she escapes her bondage.]]

* ShoutOut: In the film, "Gerald" calls the dog ''Literature/{{Cujo}}'', which is another Stephen King work. He also mentions that [[Franchise/TheDarkTower all things serve the Beam]].

* SettingUpdate: The 2017 film moves the setting to the present day, rather than 1992, when the book was written. By extension the day of the eclipse moves forward from 1963 to somewhere around 1989.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: In the book, Prince (Jessie's canine visitor) is shot by police. The film version doesn't tell us the dog's ultimate fate.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the book, Prince (the dog that feasts on Gerald) is shot by the police. In the 2017 film, we don't learn his fate.
* {{Xenofiction}}: Some parts of the book are told from the perspective of Prince, the stray dog.

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:Jessie's father sexually molested her when she was 10 (12 in the film).]]
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: A ''very'' small example, but along with the PetTheDog example below, in the film [[spoiler: Gerald is a LITTLE less aggressive and backs off, angry but also disappointed, when Jessie struggles against him via biting his lip, before he has his heart attack. In the book Gerald refuses to back down at all, forcing Jessie to kick him repeatedly, which is suggested to have been the last bit of stress that triggers said heart attack. Whether Movie!Gerald would have uncuffed Jessie then had he not suffered said heart attack, or reverted to his book behavior is left up in the air.]]
* AdaptationNameChange: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. It doesn't apply to a character's birth name, but ''nick''name. In the book, Jessie's father nicknamed her "Punkin", in the movie, it's "Mouse".
** In the book, Jessie refers to the mysterious stranger in the room as "the Space Cowboy". In the film, he's dubbed "the Moonlight Man".
* AdaptationalModesty: In the book, Jessie is topless and wears nothing but a pair of underwear throughout her ordeal. In the film, she wears a full slip.
* AdaptedOut: Ruth Neary, Nora Callahan, Meggie Landis, Brandon Milheron... basically, if the character wasn't physically in the house with Jessie in the book, they don't show up in the 2017 film.
* AffectionateNickname: Jessie's father calls her "Punkin". In the movie, he calls her "Mouse".

* AmoralAttorney: Gerald is slowly revealed to be one.
* ArcWords: "You're not real. You're only made of moonlight."
* AscendedExtra: In the book, Gerald lies dead on the floor and never shows up in Jessie's head at all. In the 2017 movie, he serves as a major hallucination that tries to talk her down and manipulate her.
* AttemptedRape: Causes Jessie to kick Gerald in the groin, giving him a fatal heart attack.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Jessie's father first appears as a caring, devoted FamilyMan but is really a manipulative, sexually abusive asshole.]]
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Jessie successfully broke free of the handcuffs and she even started a foundation to help victims of sexual abuse. But her husband is still dead, her right hand will likely never fully recover from her injury, her world was turned completely upside down, and it seems her nights were (and may continue to be) plagued with visions of the Moonlight Man. Though she did confront said Moonlight Man on his court date and said essentially that she’s no longer afraid of him.]]
* BodyHorror: [[spoiler: Jessie is forced to essentially deglove her right hand with a piece of broken glass and use her blood as lubrication in order to escape her bonds.]] It's precisely as horrible as it sounds.
* BondageIsBad: Surprisingly averted; it's the ''motivation'' that can be bad, yes, but not the act itself. Of course, you probably won't want to run off and play with some handcuffs right after reading this.
* CanonWelding: In the 2017 movie, when Jessie is coming to terms with the likelihood that she's going to die when the Moonlight Man returns, Gerald tells her "All things serve the Beam." This could be either a ShoutOut to ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'', or have considerably deeper implications.
* ChainedToABed: One of the most famous (and horrifying) examples in fiction.
* ContrivedCoincidence: ''Gerald's Game'' is set in motion by the stars aligning in such a ludicrous fashion that you kind of have to laugh. But the protagonist's ensuing predicament is awful enough that you won't be laughing for long.

* CreepilyLongArms: One of the more noticable traits of The Space Cowboy.
* CreepySouvenir: The Space Cowboy's attire is littered with the bones of past victims.
* DaddysGirl: Jessie was like this... [[spoiler:until her father sexually molested her.]]
* DangerousKeyFumble: [[spoiler: Befalls Jessie when she tries to escape in her car.]]
* TheDarknessGazesBack: Jessie never is sure whether or not there is someone in the shadows, watching her at night.

* DepravedHomosexual: [[spoiler: The Moonlight Man is revealed to be a serial killer who mutilates and sexually defiles male corpses.]]
* {{Determinator}}: In between increasingly unsettling and haunting flashbacks that go way back to her childhood, the book is sectioned with Jessie's various attempts at releasing herself from the handcuffs.
* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Jessie's father is first shown as a loving father but shows his true colors when he sexually molests her. And just oozes his assholishness when he emotionally manipulates his daughter to keep his abuse of her secret.]]
* {{Gorn}}: [[spoiler: Jessie's method of freeing herself]] is shown in all its nauseating glory in the film version.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Due to her angle on the bed, Jessie is mostly able to only hear Prince eating Gerald's corpse. Mostly.
* GunmanWithThreeNames: Raymond Andrew Joubert, although the name only comes up in the book's denouement.
* TheGrimReaper: Jessie thinks the Moonlight Man is Death coming for her. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a serial killer that was stalking her]].
* HearingVoices: In the book, Jessie hears four voices in her head: Ruth Neary (her old college roommate), Nora Callahan (a psychiatrist she stopped seeing), "Goodwife Burlingame" (a version of herself that is a devoted wife), and her 12-year-old self from the day the eclipse happened. In the 2017 movie, these are condesned into two characters: Gerald and herself as she is now.

* HumanoidAbomination: How Jessie sees The Space Cowboy, in her dazed and near mad state.
* ILoveTheDead: [[spoiler:The creepy stranger Jessie sees is Raymond Andrew Joubert, a necrophiliac serial killer and cannibal, who regularly broke into crypts and mortuaries for years and violated male corpses.]]

* InnocenceLost: [[spoiler:When Jessie's father sexually molested her and manipulated her into silence, she lost her childhood and sense of self.]]
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Jessie's father is presumably never faced comeuppance for his crime.]]
* KinkyCuffs: After a while, Gerald only finds Jessie sexually attractive if she's tied to the bed. Unfortunately, he likes to use real handcuffs. However, he could only get the type made for males; [[spoiler:this is what makes Jessie's escape possible.]]
* LifeOrLimbDecision: Not exactly, but close enough. Jessie [[spoiler:eventually breaks a glass and effectively degloves her hand, so blood would serve as a lubricant and allow her to pull her hand through the cuff.]]
* LikeParentLikeSpouse: Jessie's inner self speculates that her sexually abusive history with her father is why she married Gerald: an older man, someone who objectifies her, and happens to be a lawyer as well. It's the only dynamic she really knows.
* LivingShadow: How Jessie percieves The Space Cowboy
* LooksLikeOrlok: [[spoiler:The creepy stranger, mostly.]]
* MaritalRapeLicense: Gerald gives off this vibe when he attempts to rape Jessie despite her explicitly saying no to him.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Jessie remains uncertain if the "Space Cowboy" is just a hallucination or an apparition of Death itself. [[spoiler: He's real, but a merely mortal SerialKiller.]]

* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: References to a dog barking in the woods are spread throughout the first two chapters or so.
* ParentalFavoritism: Jessie was her father's favorite out of his three children. Their close relationship took a dark turn however [[spoiler:when he sexually molested her.]]
* ParentalIncest: [[spoiler:And not just confined to backstory either. No, King tackles this ugliness head on.]]
* PetTheDog: In the movie, Hallucination!Gerald is genuinely horrified that [[spoiler:Jessie was sexually molested by her father and gives her a proud farewell when she escapes her bondage.]]
* PlotTriggeringDeath: Gerald's death causes most of the plot.
* PsychologicalHorror: In spades.
* ScarsAreForever: [[spoiler: Jessie has undergone multiple skin grafts on her right hand by the end of the story, and it seems unlikely that she'll regain full usage of it.]]
* SecondaryCharacterTitle: The title of the book/movie is the protagonist's husband who dies early on.
* ShadowArchetype: Possibly the Space Cowboy to Jessie, given his implied back story.
* ShoutOut: In the film, "Gerald" calls the dog ''Literature/{{Cujo}}'', which is another Stephen King work. He also mentions that [[Franchise/TheDarkTower all things serve the Beam]].
** In the book, Jessie refers to the creepy stranger as [[Music/SteveMillerBand "the Space Cowboy"]].
* SettingUpdate: The 2017 film moves the setting to the present day, rather than 1992, when the book was written. By extension the day of the eclipse moves forward from 1963 to somewhere around 1989.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: In the book, Prince (Jessie's canine visitor) is shot by police. The film version doesn't tell us the dog's ultimate fate.
* StressVomit: As a child, Jessie vomits after [[spoiler: being molested by her father.]]
* TooDumbToLive: The couple break one of the most intrinsic rules of bondage in that the restrained person must ''always'' be able to escape or call for help if the restrainer is incapacitated for any reason. Likewise metal police handcuffs are not recommended for the same reasons.[[note]] Handcuffs sold for bondage enthusiasts ALWAYS have quick release catches to avert the possibility of the scenario in this novel occurring.[[/note]] Justified in that the fact that he didn't bother with any of the safety measures and insisted on real handcuffs is used deliberately to establish Gerald's character. There's also the fact that, at the time the novel was written (1992), the internet effectively did not exist for the average person, removing one of the primary means of easily discovering typical safety procedures for this sort of activity. You would have to know someone "in the scene" or do a ''lot'' of surreptitious research, neither of which Gerald is likely to do, not to mention he's not exactly the type who would care that much about his wife's safety anyway.
* UrbanLegend: A much darker take on an [[http://www.snopes.com/risque/kinky/hero.asp old yarn]] regarding, of all things, Batman.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the book, Prince (the dog that feasts on Gerald) is shot by the police. In the 2017 film, we don't learn his fate.

* AdaptedOut: Ruth Neary, Nora Callahan, Meggie Landis, Brandon Milheron... basically, if the character wasn't in the house with Jessie in the book, they don't show up in the 2017 film.

* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Jessie's father is first shown as a loving father but shows his true colors when she sexually molests her. And just oozes his assholishness when he emotionally manipulates his daughter to keep his abuse of her secret.]]

* AdaptedOut: Ruth Neary, Nora Callahan, Meggie Landis, Brandon Milheron...basically, if the character wasn't in the house with Jessie in the book, they don't show up in the 2017 film.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Jessie remains uncertain if the "Space Cowboy" is just a hallucination or an apparition of Death itself. [[spoiler: He's real, but a merely a mortal SerialKiller.]]

[[JustForFun/IReadThatAs Definitely not to be confused with]] ''WesternAnimation/GerisGame''.

* InnocenceLost: [[spoiler:When Jessie's father sexually molested her and manipulated her into silence, she loss her childhood and sense of self.]]

* HopeSpot: In the book, Jessie remembers the jar of Nivea cream on the self above the bed, and attempts to open it, hoping to use the cream as lubricant to free herself. [[spoiler: As she's concentrating intensely on opening the jar one-handed, however, Prince the dog chooses the worst possible moment to run into the room, startling Jessie and causing her to drop the jar.]]

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: A ''very'' small example, but along with the PetTheDog example below, in the film [[spoiler: is a LITTLE less aggressive and backs off, angry but also disappointed, before he has his heart attack. In the book Gerald refuses to back down at all, forcing Jessie to kick him repeatedly, which is suggested to have been the last bit of stress that triggers said heart attack. Whether Movie!Gerald would have uncuffed Jessie then had he not suffered said heart attack, or reverted to his book behavior is left up in the air.]]

* AdaptionalNiceGuy: A ''very'' small example, but along with the PetTheDog example below, in the film [[spoiler: is a LITTLE less aggressive and backs off, angry but also disappointed, before he has his heart attack. In the book Gerald refuses to back down at all, forcing Jessie to kick him repeatedly, which is suggested to have been the last bit of stress that triggers said heart attack. Whether Movie!Gerald would have uncuffed Jessie then had he not suffered said heart attack, or reverted to his book behavior is left up in the air.]]

* AdaptionalKindness: A very small example, but along with the PetTheDog example below, in the film [[spoiler: is a LITTLE less aggressive and backs off, angry but also disappointed, before he has his heart attack. In the book Gerald refuses to back down at all, forcing Jessie to kick him repeatedly, which is suggested to have been the last bit of stress that triggers said heart attack. Whether Movie!Gerald would have uncuffed Jessie then had he not suffered said heart attack, or reverted to his book behavior is left up in the air.]]

Somewhat amazingly, a film adaptation was produced by Creator/{{Netflix}} in 2017, starring Creator/CarlaGugino as Jessie and Creator/BruceGreenwood as Gerald.

* {{Gorn}}: [[Jessie's method of freeing herself]] is shown in all its nauseating glory in the film version.

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:Jessie's father sexually molested her when she was 12.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Jessie successfully broke free of the handcuffs and she even started a foundation to help victims of sexual abuse. But her husband is still dead, her world was turned completely upside down, and it seems her nights were (and may continue to be) plagued with visions of the Moonlight Man. Though she did confront said Moonlight Man on his court date and said essentially that she’s no longer afraid of him.]]
* BodyHorror

* ChainedToABed

* SettingUpdate: The 2017 film moves the setting to the present day, rather than 1992 when the book was written. By extension the day of the eclipse moves forward twenty-six years from 1963 to somewhere to around 1989.

* YourCheatingHeart: {{Implied|Trope}}. Hallucination!Jessie implies that Gerald would have "late work nights" and "trips" to cheat on Jessie.

[[IReadThatAs Definitely not to be confused with]] ''WesternAnimation/GerisGame''.