Gwendy’s Button Box – Stephen King (2017)

“Gwendy’s Button Box” by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar, published in 2017, is a psychological horror novella set in Castle Rock, Maine. Twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson meets a mysterious stranger who gives her a beautiful mahogany box with buttons and levers. The box offers gifts – delicious chocolates and valuable silver coins – but also holds a terrifying power that could unleash destruction on a massive scale. As Gwendy grows up, she struggles with the responsibility and temptation that come with the box, leading to life-altering consequences.

Plot Summary

The summer of 1974 is one of change for twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson. Every day, she climbs the Suicide Stairs leading up to Castle View, determined to shed the weight that cruel classmates have mocked her for. One morning, as she catches her breath at the top, a man in a black suit and a small black hat calls out to her. His name is Richard Farris, and he has something for her – a beautiful mahogany box with eight colorful buttons and two levers. He tells her it is now hers to care for, though he never explains why.

The box is no ordinary object. Each pull of the left lever dispenses a small, exquisite chocolate shaped like an animal. The chocolate satisfies her completely, curbing her appetite in a way that seems almost magical. The right lever, when pulled, produces a gleaming silver dollar – a rare and valuable coin from 1891. But it is the buttons that intrigue and terrify her. Each is tied to a continent, and Farris hints that pushing one would bring devastation. The black button, he warns, is the most dangerous of all.

Gwendy hides the box beneath the roots of an old oak tree in her backyard, taking it out only when she is alone. Over the months, she continues eating the chocolates, and with them, she changes. Her body slims, her eyesight sharpens, and her mind seems keener. She excels in school, joins the soccer team, and finds herself more confident than ever before. At home, an even greater transformation unfolds. Her parents, who once drifted apart in the haze of nightly drinks, grow closer. Her father gets a promotion. The drinking stops. For the first time in years, her home feels warm again.

As she flourishes, so does her curiosity about the box. She resists the temptation to push a button, but the thought lingers at the edges of her mind. What would happen? Would the world even notice? The red button is different from the rest, capable of granting whatever she desires. She does not yet dare to find out.

Years pass. Gwendy keeps the box hidden, visiting it only in secret. The silver coins continue to appear, though she has no way to sell them without raising suspicion. She wonders if the gifts the box provides are truly gifts at all or if she is merely a puppet in some grand, invisible game. Then, one summer night in 1977, she encounters Frankie Stone, the boy who tormented her in grade school. He is older now, crueler, and reeking of alcohol and bad intentions. When she refuses his offer to go for a ride, he throws a beer can at her, calling her names she thought she had left behind. That night, she dreams of breaking his arm. Two weeks later, she hears that Frankie has crashed his car into a tree, suffering multiple injuries – including a shattered left arm.

Fear grips her. Did she do this? Was it just a coincidence, or did the box answer her unspoken wish? The questions haunt her, and though she tells herself she will not use the box for harm, the thought of its power never leaves her.

By the time she enters high school, Gwendy is admired, intelligent, and seemingly destined for greatness. She is elected class president, earns a place as a varsity athlete, and receives invitations to dances and parties. The chocolates still appear, one perfect treat at a time, and her beauty and sharp mind only grow. Yet, despite her success, shadows creep into her life. A rift forms between her and her best friend, Olive, who feels left behind. A petty argument turns bitter, and one night at an arcade, Gwendy watches as Olive, laughing with a new group of friends, suddenly has a full soda spilled down her front. The laughter around her is deafening, and Gwendy, recalling her dream about Frankie, feels a cold wave of dread.

She tries to dismiss it. Accidents happen. But the box is never far from her thoughts, and the temptation to test its power grows. One afternoon, she sneaks into an empty classroom and studies a world map. If the red button can truly erase something, she reasons, perhaps she can prove it harmlessly. She picks a remote, uninhabited section of South America, imagines it clearly in her mind, and presses the button.

At first, nothing happens. She tells herself it was all nonsense. Then, the next evening, the news reports a tragedy – over 900 people dead in Guyana. A mass suicide, led by a man named Jim Jones. The details are horrifying – children forced to drink poison, bodies littered across the jungle floor. Gwendy stares at the screen, frozen. Had she done this? Had she played a role in this horror without meaning to? She tells herself no. She had imagined trees and empty land, not people. But doubt coils inside her, and she cannot shake the feeling that she has crossed a line she never should have approached.

She barely touches the box in the months that follow. Life moves forward, but guilt and fear linger. Then, in the spring of her junior year, a flood sweeps through her basement. The button box is submerged, lost in murky water. Panic seizes her, but when she finally retrieves it, she finds it untouched, unharmed, as if the water had never touched it. It is indestructible.

The realization terrifies her. She cannot destroy it, but she cannot let it remain. It is not hers to keep forever. And so, one evening, she returns to the Suicide Stairs – the place where it all began. She waits, knowing, deep in her bones, that Farris will return.

And he does. He is unchanged, as if no time has passed at all. He greets her warmly, though his eyes seem to study her carefully. She hands him the box without hesitation. She is ready to be free. He nods, satisfied, and tells her she has done well. Before he leaves, he asks if she ever pushed a button. She hesitates, then nods. He smiles, as if unsurprised, and tells her that no one resists forever.

Gwendy watches as he walks away, disappearing into the trees as mysteriously as he had arrived years ago. The weight on her shoulders lifts, though she knows the memory of the box will never leave her. But she is Gwendy Peterson, and her life is hers again.

Main Characters

• Gwendy Peterson – A determined and intelligent young girl who is given the button box. Over the years, she matures into a responsible and ambitious young woman, constantly wrestling with the box’s dark potential.
• Richard Farris – A mysterious man in black who gives Gwendy the box. He appears to know much about her life and the world, leaving her with cryptic warnings and advice.
• Frankie Stone – A cruel schoolmate who bullies Gwendy about her weight. He later becomes a symbol of the darker consequences of the button box.
• Gwendy’s Parents – Though not deeply involved in the supernatural elements, their changing relationship plays a role in Gwendy’s understanding of life, responsibility, and happiness.

Theme

• Temptation and Responsibility – Gwendy’s struggle with the button box mirrors the weight of power and morality, showing how difficult choices shape a person’s future.
• Coming-of-Age – The story follows Gwendy from childhood to adolescence, highlighting her growth, self-discovery, and moral dilemmas.
• Fate vs. Free Will – Gwendy wonders if her success in life is due to her own efforts or the mysterious influence of the box.
• The Corrupting Influence of Power – The buttons offer Gwendy control over life and death, raising questions about how much power one person should have.

Writing Style and Tone

Stephen King and Richard Chizmar blend King’s signature eerie storytelling with Chizmar’s subtle psychological depth, creating a novella that is both unsettling and deeply introspective. The prose is sharp, immersive, and filled with rich detail, making Castle Rock feel as alive as ever. The tone shifts between nostalgic, suspenseful, and foreboding, building an atmosphere of unease without relying on overt horror. The writing captures the innocence of childhood, the anxiety of adolescence, and the burden of responsibility in a way that feels both personal and universal.