Iranian Radio Drama Adapts Stephen King’s Misery as A Nurse’s Nightmare

Iran’s national audio broadcaster Namayesh Radio has produced and aired a six-part radio drama based on Stephen King’s classic 1987 novel Misery. Titled A Nurse’s Nightmare, the audio serial translates the claustrophobic thriller into a multi-episode Iranian radio performance, using atmospheric sound design to recreate the intense battle of wills between novelist Paul Sheldon and his self-proclaimed number one fan, Annie Wilkes.

From Page to Waves: Translating Psychological Terror

The production was directed by Nazanin Mohaimani, who also performs as part of the ensemble, with the script adapted specifically for radio by playwright and director Ayoub Aghakhani. Rather than retaining the book’s original title, the creative team opted for A Nurse’s Nightmare, framing the story around Annie’s harrowing caretaking of the bedridden author.

If you ask me, Misery might actually be one of King’s most suited novels for the audio format. Because so much of the narrative takes place within the confines of a single remote farmhouse bedroom, the tension relies almost entirely on subtle sound cues: the creak of floorboards in the hallway, the sharp click of a typewriter, and the rhythmic squeak of a wheelchair. The radio adaptation leans heavily into these auditory elements to build psychological tension, using the unique strengths of the medium to generate fear, suspense, and a suffocating sense of isolation.

The core cast bringing Sheldon and Wilkes to life includes Mohsen Bahrami, Mona Safi, Mohammad Pourhasan, Mohammad Majdzadeh, Hassan Pourgolmohammadi, and Nazanin Mohaimani. Providing the narrative framework across the six episodes is narrator Mir-Taher Mazloumi, whose voice guides listeners through Paul’s internal desperate calculations. The heavy lifting of the show’s intense audio atmosphere falls on the technical team, with Narges Mousapour managing the vital sound effects and Majid Ayeneh serving as sound engineer.

The Global Appeal of King’s Nightmare

While Western audiences are accustomed to seeing a constant stream of Stephen King screen adaptations on television and in cinemas, this audio dramatisation highlights just how far King’s storytelling reaches across international borders and varied creative mediums. Radio drama remains a vibrant and respected storytelling format in Iran, and adapting one of modern horror’s most famous suspense stories demonstrates the universal power of King’s core premise.

The story of Misery has taken many forms over the decades, most famously in Rob Reiner’s celebrated 1990 feature film starring James Caan and Kathy Bates. For fans following screen adaptations of Misery over the years, the tale of an author held captive by a fan forcing him to resurrect his fictional character feels timeless precisely because it lacks supernatural elements. There are no ancient monsters or cursed towns here; the terror is purely human, rooted in physical helplessness and psychological control.

Where Misery Sits in King’s Body of Work

Originally published in 1987, Misery arrived during one of the most prolific periods of King’s career. If you look back through Stephen King’s complete bibliography, the late eighties saw him delivering massive bestsellers at a breakneck pace. Yet Misery stood apart from supernatural contemporaries like The Tommyknockers or It due to its tight, character-driven focus.

By paring the narrative down to two primary characters trapped in an isolated house, King created a masterclass in suspense. Namayesh Radio’s decision to revisit the text as A Nurse’s Nightmare proves that almost four decades later, Paul Sheldon’s battle to survive Annie Wilkes still has the power to grip audiences, no matter the language or the medium conveying it.