"The Gingerbread Girl" is a novella by American writer Stephen King, originally published in the July 2007 issue of '' Esquire''. It was later included in King's ''

Just After Sunset ''Just After Sunset'' is the fifth collection of short stories by Stephen King. It was released in hardcover by Scribner on November 11, 2008, and features a holographic dust jacket. On February 6, 2008, the author's official website revealed t ...

'' collection in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. "The Gingerbread Girl" was also released as an audiobook, read by

Mare Winningham A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four y ...

, by Simon & Schuster Audio on May 6, 2008. The title is an

allusion Allusion is a figure of speech, in which an object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly. It is left to the audience to make the direct connection. Where the connection is directly and explicitly stated (as ...

to the fairy tale " The Gingerbread Boy" (also known as "The Gingerbread Man").

Plot summary

After her only daughter, Amy, suffers a

crib death Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usual ...

, Emily takes up running as a way to deal with her pain. She believes that "only fast running will do"—she pushes her body to its limits, often vomiting and sweating profusely. Her husband, Henry, finds out about this habit, and treats it as a psychological reaction to grief. Emily is hurt and runs out of the house, down to a local

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

. She contacts her father and explains her situation. After their conversation, Emily decides to stay in her father's summer home, near

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

. She also speaks with Henry, and the two agree that a

trial separation Marital separation occurs when spouses in a marriage stop living together without getting divorced. Married couples may separate as an initial step in the divorce process or to gain perspective on the marriage and determine whether divorce is warra ...

is a good idea. Emily's life becomes quite simple. She eats plain meals and runs for miles every day. As her body shrinks, she gets to know the few people that hover around the island (Vermillion Key is mostly devoid of tourists). The only person Emily visits is Deke Hollis, an old friend of her father who runs the drawbridge on the island. During a chance meeting, Hollis tells Emily that Jim Pickering, a man who own an estate on the island, is back. He has brought along a "

niece In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of the subject's sibling or sibling-in-law. The converse relationship, the relationship from the niece or nephew's perspective, is that of an ...

"—Hollis's polite name for the young women who Pickering lures to his home. Emily prepares to continue, but Hollis warns her that Pickering is "not a very nice man." As Emily continues her daily run, she notices a shiny red car outside a house along the beach that she deduces belongs to Pickering. When Emily approaches the car and discovers a woman whose throat has been slashed, she is knocked unconscious. She wakes up to find herself inside Pickering's house and bound to a kitchen chair with

duct tape Duct tape (also called duck tape, from the cotton duck cloth it was originally made of) is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesi ...

. Emily realizes that Pickering is insane, and hints that she let someone know where she was going. When Pickering presses her for details, Emily blurts out Hollis's name; Pickering leaves, presumably to murder the old man. Emily knows that she does not have much time, and hears her father's voice in her head, giving her advice. She uses her strong legs to splinter the duct tape and free her lower body. She looks for a

knife A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidence ...

to release her arms, but settles on the corner of the island in the middle of the kitchen. Now freed, Emily attacks Pickering when he returns. After temporarily knocking him out, Emily escapes from his house and makes it to the beach. She hears Pickering behind her and realizes, in a rather odd

coincidence A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances that have no apparent causal connection with one another. The perception of remarkable coincidences may lead to supernatural, occult, or paranormal claims, or it may lead t ...

, that she has been "training" for this moment. Though exhausted from her imprisonment, Emily's months of running serve her well. She keeps well ahead of Pickering, who has armed himself with a pair of scissors. Emily encounters a young Latino man on the beach and begs for help, but he doesn't understand her cries. Pickering appears and tries to use

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

to convince the man that Emily is with him, but Emily's fearful expression convinces the young man otherwise. Enraged, Pickering brutally slaughters the man with his scissors. Emily, tiring quickly, runs into the ocean. Pickering follows her, but begins to flounder. Emily gasps as she figures out what is happening—Pickering cannot swim. Emily manages to escape him, and sits on the shoreline to watch as Pickering

drown Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer as ...

s. When he finally goes under, Emily tells herself that a

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

or some other creature attacked him. She wonders why, and guesses that it is a part of the human condition. Her long ordeal over, Emily stands and shouts at the birds flying about, and prepares to go home.

Critical reception

A review in

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

says the story is "reminiscent of '' Misery''". A review in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' calls it "a harrowing almost-novella,

hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...

anchors the book and bridges the inner-psyche thrillers of King's 1990s work with his more recent stories. A story of abuse, psychosis and loneliness, it is physically exhausting to read — an astounding thing to say for a short work of fiction." A ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'' reviewer calls it "a flat-out suspense novella that could have been penned by

Richard Bachman Richard Bachman is a pen name (as well as fictional character) of American horror fiction author Stephen King. King portrays Bachman in the third season of the FX television series '' Sons of Anarchy''. Origin At the beginning of King's car ...

, King's literary alter ego ...

n which N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

bloody chaos ensues."

Connection to King's other works

A man named Charlie Pickering, a relative of Jim Pickering, appears as a minor antagonist in King's

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

novel ''

Insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

''. A brief reference is made to the Gingerbread Girl in ''

Gerald's Game ''Gerald's Game'' is a 1992 suspense novel by American writer Stephen King. The story is about a woman whose husband dies of a heart attack while she is handcuffed to a bed, and, following the subsequent realization that she is trapped with litt ...

'', where Jessie shows signs of physical abuse from her brother's friend and talks about sexual abuse from her brother.

Film adaptation

In May 2018, it was announced that

Brainstorm Media Brainstorm Media is a full service American film distributor and production company based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1995, it is recognized for its expertise in video on demand, TV, and theatrical release strategies. In addition to distr ...

would produce a film adaptation.

Craig R. Baxley Craig Redding Baxley (born October 20, 1949) is an American director, stunt coordinator, stunt performer and occasional actor. He is best known for his work in the action and thriller genres. Beginning his career as a stunt performer, he was ...

is set to direct, with the screenplay being written by Baxley and Stephen King.

References

External links