Thinner is a 1984 novel by Stephen King, published under his pseudonym, Richard Bachmane. Set in 1980s New England, the novel focusses on an obese lawyer named William "Billy" Halleck, who has recently fought an agonizing court case in which he was charged with vehicular manslaughter after recieving a handjob from his wife Heidi while driving, causing him to run over an old woman who was part of a group of traveling Gypsies. Halleck is acquitted thanks to the judge, who just happens to be a close friend of Billy's. As Halleck leaves the courthouse in his affluent Connecticut town, the old woman's ancient father strokes his cheeks and whispers one word to him: "Thinner." The word, and the old man's behavior, startle Halleck.

From this point on, Halleck slowly loses weight (about two pounds a day); the loss becomes more and more rapid as he realizes the Gypsy man has cursed him eventually grow on his skin. A town police chief who also helped soft-pedal the charges against Halleck is similarly cursed with a horrifyingly extreme case of acne. him. He also learns that the judge who heard his case and gave the unfair verdict was given another curse by the old man—

With the help of a friend, a former client who is a mafia figure, named Richie "the hammer" Ginelli, an emaciated and desperate Halleck tracks the Gypsy band north along the seacoast of New England to Maine, where the stage is set for a confrontation between him and the aged Gypsy leader, resolving the issue of the curse and the blood-debt owed by Halleck.