| “ | Come here, Georgie... Gramma wants to give you a hug. | „ |
| ~ Gramma Bruckner |
Gramma Bruckner is the titular main antagonist of Stephen King's short story Gramma as well as its Twilight Zone adaption. She is a satanist that lives with George and the rest of his family. After George is left alone with her one day, she takes over his body and causes him to become corrupted with the same satanic power that she possessed.
In the Twilight Zone adaption, she is voiced by Frederick Long.
Appearance[]
Gramma Buckner is an elderly caucasian woman. She is abnormally bloated, pale, and wrinkled. Her hair is long and bright white.
Personality[]
Much of Gramma Bruckner's personality is unknown, aside from her affinity for satanic worship. She is implied to have some sort of resentment towards her family, as George describes her speaking demonic tomes and having a member of the family die the next day. Gramma Bruckner seems to have some sort of strong connection towards George. This is demonstrated when George recalls her wanting to "hug" him ever since he was younger. This hug would later be revealed to merge the two, or at least cause George to become corrupted.
Biography[]
Past[]
In Gramma Bruckner's adult years, she became an avid worshipper of Satanism, collecting and reading many satanic books. This led to her ex-communication from her church and the loss of her teaching job. Up until she was excommunicated, she was unable to have children, all of her attempts resulting in stillborns. After her ex-communication, she finally gave birth to a healthy child.
In her later years, Gramma Bruckner's children forced their sibling Ruth to take on the responsibility of looking after her. This meant she would need to move from San Fransisco, California to Castle Rock, Maine. George recalls her wanting to hug him when he was six years old, and in response, Ruth told her to be patient.
Gramma[]
After George's mother Ruth leaves with his brother, George is left alone to take care of his elderly grandmother. Soon after she left, George began to have flashbacks of what he had heard and experienced about his grandmother in the past. He eventually goes in to check on her, only to find her to have passed away. He immediately goes to call the doctor, but unfortunately the line is taken. Suddenly; he hears what sounds like his grandmothers corpse getting out of bed. Soon after he heard her voice calling for him to give her a hug. As she enters the kitchen, his Aunt Flo calls and George explains what's going on. She tells him that he needs to tell Gramma to lie down in the name of Hastur. He attempts to do so, but she instead wraps her arms around him.
An hour later, his mother returns and George explains that Gramma Bruckner had died. Shortly after this, he goes to his room and it is revealed that he used a spell to make his Aunt Flo die of an aneurysm. He lies in bed and fantasizes about the harm he would inflict on his brother.
Twilight Zone[]
George's mother leaves with his brother to go to the hospital. Before she does, she asks George if he will be able to get Gramma Bruckner her tea, to which he responds that he isn't a young child anymore. Not long after, Gramma Bruckner begins to call George to bring her tea. Although he is scared, he eventually complies and brings in her tea in a cup on a glass plate. After he entered the room, she startled him and caused him to drop the tea and retreat to the kitchen. He returns later on realizing that he should clean up her mess. While cleaning, he comes across a loose floorboard and pries it open. A red glow emitted from the space, and after reaching his hand inside he realized that it was cold. Inside he found a couple of books, including the Necronomicon. Once he left the room, she moved her hand and the board went back into place on its own. After reading them in his head, Gramma Bruckner's voice could be heard speaking demonic tomes. After speaking these tomes, her body transformed into grotesque proportions.
George soon returned to find his grandmother's hand hanging lifeless from the edge of the bed. He checked her pulse and used a mirror to look for signs of breathing, both results being negative. He then rushed to the kitchen to call the doctor, but the line was occupied by Ruth's friend who couldn't hear George over her gossiping. George later returned to the bedroom, believing that the honorable thing to do would be to cover her face. As he approached the bed, she grabbed him with her hand and began telling him that she wanted a hug. He eventually freed himself after struggling, only to be flung towards her by an invisible force. He was then sucked towards her as he pleaded for her to stop.
Ruth eventually returned home to find George slumped over his desk. He glumly told her that Gramma had passed away, her hugging him in solace. The camera then zoomed in to reveal his possessed-looking eyes, implying that she had taken over his body.
Powers & Abilities[]
- Satanic Powers - It is heavily implied that all of Gramma Bruckner's powers have to do with her practice of Satanism.
- Telekinesis - In the Twilight Zone adaption, Gramma Buckner demonstrates her ability to use telekinesis several times. This is first seen when she used a telekinetic force to close the hatch that George had opened, and again when she caused George to fly into her bed and be sucked into her body.
- Possession - It is heavily implied that Gramma Bruckner has the ability to possess others. This is demonstrated when George is implied to have been taken over by her after she "hugged" him in both adaptations. She may only be able to do this to certain individuals, as it was revealed that she wanted to "hug" George ever since he and his mother had moved in.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The original story and the TV adaptation have several differences. One of these main differences is Gramma Bruckner's telekinetic capabilities. Others include her tea obsession, George finding the books in her room, Gramma Buckner already having a grotesque appearance, and Aunt Flo's involvement with the story.
- It is never explicitly stated whether or not George was possessed or just inherited her satanic powers.
