In Stephen King’s novel Thinner, Billy Halleck loses weight because a gypsy’s curse is placed on him.
Billy is a successful lawyer who accidentally kills an elderly Romani woman while driving. Because of his social position and connections, he avoids serious legal consequences. The woman’s father, Taduz Lemke, later touches Billy’s face and says the word “Thinner,” beginning the supernatural punishment.
Billy’s weight drops rapidly and uncontrollably, turning his privilege into a desperate race against time. Doctors cannot identify a medical cause, and Billy eventually seeks out Lemke to demand that the curse be removed. The story combines supernatural horror with themes of guilt, injustice, and the consequences of escaping ordinary accountability.
Thinner was published in 1984 under King’s pen name Richard Bachman. The novel has sometimes been discussed in connection with outdated portrayals of Romani people, but the plot’s supernatural mechanism is specifically Lemke’s curse, not a disease or an experimental treatment.