Stephen King's most interesting technique in Misery combines the horror genre with the romance. Misery's Child and Misery's Return play upon conventions of gothic romance novels, such as adultery, mystery, and love.

Despite King's adventures in another genre, his main interest remains in fantasy and horror. The plot technique that bridges the dead Misery Chastain of Misery's Child and the living Misery of Misery's Return is the accidental burial of an unconscious person. One of the great literary explorers of gruesome demises was Edgar Allan Poe in "The Premature Burial." King also makes an overt reference to H. Rider Haggard's She, an archetypal novel set in primitive Africa that centers around a powerful, almost immortal woman who dominates the men around her—a theme that runs powerfully through Annie and Paul's relationship, and also colors Misery Chastain's adventures in Africa.