An arrogant, obese lawyer ran over a gypsy whilst his wife was giving him a hand job. Billy - the lawyer - is a pal of the judge, and the case is dismissed. As he leaves the court, a gypsy man comes up to him, strokes his cheek and says "Thinner". Billy experiences extreme weight loss and realises he has been cursed. The judge in the case has develops scales all over his body, and the Town police chief develops severe acne. Both men kill themselves. With the help of his friend Richie, a skeletal Billy tracks down the gypsy man and pleads with him to reverse the curse. The man refuses to do so and Billy is turfed out of the camp. Richie, who is a mobster, gives the camp a hard time. The old gypsy agrees to help Billy, he tells him that if a person eats a piece of pie with his blood in it, the curse is transferred to them instead and Billy will be well. The old man urges him to eat the pie himself and die with dignity. However, Billy has different intentions... The last book written by King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, and a seemingly minor entry into his canon, Thinner, nonetheless has its charms as a frightening Stephen King book. For starters, it has scary gypsies in it. Scary gypsies are always good at unsettling the reader due to an implicit fear that gypsies really can curse people. I could give you a multitude of gypsy curse stories from my own life and the people I know. Secondly Billy's wasting away is a horrifying scenario as he goes from "Woo hoo! I'm losing weight!" to "Oh God, a gypsy has cursed me and I'm going to waste away". The ending to the book is dark, frightening and sober as Billy realises that he has royally jiggered himself and no hope remains. Billy is a very well realised character and the pace of the book is zippy - turning the book into a disturbing, frightening page turner.
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
An arrogant, obese lawyer ran over a gypsy whilst his wife was giving him a hand job. Billy - the lawyer - is a pal of the judge, and the case is dismissed. As he leaves the court, a gypsy man comes up to him, strokes his cheek and says "Thinner". Billy experiences extreme weight loss and realises he has been cursed. The judge in the case has develops scales all over his body, and the Town police chief develops severe acne. Both men kill themselves. With the help of his friend Richie, a skeletal Billy tracks down the gypsy man and pleads with him to reverse the curse. The man refuses to do so and Billy is turfed out of the camp. Richie, who is a mobster, gives the camp a hard time. The old gypsy agrees to help Billy, he tells him that if a person eats a piece of pie with his blood in it, the curse is transferred to them instead and Billy will be well. The old man urges him to eat the pie himself and die with dignity. However, Billy has different intentions... The last book written by King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, and a seemingly minor entry into his canon, Thinner, nonetheless has its charms as a frightening Stephen King book. For starters, it has scary gypsies in it. Scary gypsies are always good at unsettling the reader due to an implicit fear that gypsies really can curse people. I could give you a multitude of gypsy curse stories from my own life and the people I know. Secondly Billy's wasting away is a horrifying scenario as he goes from "Woo hoo! I'm losing weight!" to "Oh God, a gypsy has cursed me and I'm going to waste away". The ending to the book is dark, frightening and sober as Billy realises that he has royally jiggered himself and no hope remains. Billy is a very well realised character and the pace of the book is zippy - turning the book into a disturbing, frightening page turner.