The Gingerbread Girl (Collected Within Just After Sunset)
Dream Director: Adam Wingard (You’re Next), Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe)
This novella of King’s is some of his finest suspense work, and the more I read “The Gingerbread Girl,” the more it reminds me of the rhythms of Misery. The story tells the tale of Emily, a mother who’s recently lost her infant child and has relocated to an island in Florida as a means of escaping and decompressing. Not to mention also developing an obsessive hobby for running (“only fast running will do). “The Gingerbread Girl” talks plenty on grief and rebirth, but it also features a vicious serial killer in the form of Jim Pickering. Emily’s kidnap and ticking clock scenario where she must escape from Pickering is hypnotic stuff, and it’ll never make you think about scissors the same way again. Adam Wingard has repeatedly proven that he can handle suspenseful, nailbiting escape sequences, but Fee Alvarez in Don’t Breathe mode would also be a solid fit. Hell, even let Rob Reiner of Misery fame return to King territory and give this a stab. It could end up being a late-career renaissance for the director.
