“One of the best things I’ve ever seen on television”: Stephen King Heaps High Praise on Netflix’s Real-Life Horror Story Disguised as Comedy

Netflix’s newest drama-thriller is trending on Netflix as it tells the true story of Scottish Comedian Richard Gadd and his experience with a stalker using dark comedy. The series received tremendous praise from critics for being deeply unsettling while using dark humor to its benefit. Even Stephen King couldn’t help himself from singing praise for the show.

Writing a review of the miniseries for the London Times, Stephen King recalled how a friend of his told him that Baby Reindeer made his book look like it was made for children. Needless to say, the author was intrigued and couldn’t bring himself to look away from the screen once he started watching.

Stephen King Sings Heavy Praise for Baby Reindeer

On May 1^st, Stephen King took to his X account to state that he couldn’t believe the London Times was paying him to write about a show as awesome as Baby Reindeer, implying that he would’ve been honored to give his thoughts on the series, regardless of the money.

I have an essay about BABY REINDEER in the London Times. I can’t believe they paid me for writing about such a cool show, but they did. Of course, I DID pay Netflix. 🤣

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 1, 2024

On the London Times’ website, the King of Horrors’ review starts off with him assuming Baby Reindeer was a kids’ show, simply judging by the title. However, when an acquaintance hit him where it hurts by stating that it made his book Misery and the film made on it “look like a kids’ cartoon,” he couldn’t stop himself from seeing what the hype was all about.

Soon, King realized that Baby Reindeer was trending for a reason. He writes in his review,

“I tried it and found myself sucked in, unable to look away. My first thought was to thank God my novel came first, or people would assume I’d stolen it from Richard Gadd.”

Richard Gadd wrote, produced, and starred in the miniseries playing the role of Donny Dunn, a fictionalized version of his real self. King then added that the 30-minute-long episodes worked in the show’s favor and felt like “short, swift stabs administered by a very sharp knife.”

After King finished watching the sixth episode of Baby Reindeer, King deemed it one of the best things he had seen both in television as well as in movies.

“The struggle between Donny’s self-loathing and his self-esteem in this monologue makes the sixth episode of Baby Reindeer one of the best things I’ve ever seen on television (or in the movies, for that matter).

King ends his review by stating how viewers feel empathy when it comes to Donny, rather than impatience, as well as with his stalker, Martha. Such a positive and lengthy review coming from King who is a master when it comes to the horror genre is an accolade in itself, isn’t it?

Stephen King Compares Baby Reindeer to Misery

The 1987 novel by King has a similar storyline to that of Baby Reindeer. The psychological horror/thriller book follows the story of a romance author Paul Sheldon and his deranged number-one fan, Annie Wilkes, whose obsession with Paul has no limits.

After Paul gets into a car accident, Annie, who is a former nurse, brings her favorite author into her home and does not let him leave. After snooping around in her home, Paul comes across newspaper clippings that unmask Annie as a serial killer.

Comparing the miniseries to his book, King wrote in his review,

“Then comes Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning), who appears one day in the pub where Donny works. It’s a showstopper of an entrance, hands down the equal of our introduction (‘I’m your No 1 fan’) to Misery’s Annie Wilkes.”

He then talks about how the two main characters, Paul and Donny, differ from each other.

“In ‘Misery’ Sheldon — bedridden, held prisoner both by a growing drug addiction and Annie herself — reluctantly comes to the conclusion that Annie is right about his new novel, a departure from his Misery Chastain books. She says it isn’t very good, and she’s probably right. In any event, she burns it. She is the doer; Paul Sheldon is the helpless watcher. In ‘Baby Reindeer’ Donny finally takes action himself, knocking his sad suitcase of props to the floor and getting honest — brutally so — with his audience.”

So, while both stories have their differences and similarities, both are unique in their own ways and play their respective parts in taking the psychological thriller genre to the next level.

You can stream Baby Reindeer on Netflix and Misery is available to rent/buy on Prime Video.