Carrie

King is the great American mythmaker.

When I first read this book during my miserable high school years, I learned that a writer can take the trauma of adolescence and high school and turn it into mythology. Bullies, Bible-thumpers, and that rare compassionate soul—in this novel, they become cosmic American forces as resonant as Jung’s archetypes.

I’m one of those readers who sometimes read a book because they have to. I started this book with the idea that I couldn’t possibly miss Stephen King’s debut novel. On paper, it stood at the antipodes of my liking— a horror story, but also a mystery and a thriller, set in a high school and so drenched in blood you might fear staining your finger at each turning page. Yet, I was so absorbed by Carrie’s tormented personality that I forgot all the above and went all the way down to the end in a single breath.

This book… show more.

Leave it to the master of horror, Stephen King, to dream up the ultimate comeuppance story.

High school student Carrie is bullied relentlessly by her peers, both at school and outside its walls. Her mother’s treatment of her at home doesn’t help. But one day Carrie realizes she has supernatural powers that dwarf the “powers” her classmates think they wield over her.

I don’t condone what happens on prom night, of course, but anyone who’s ever been bullied will agree that the fantasy of turning the tables on your tormentor(s) can be…very satisfying.

While most people read Stephen King for the paranormal elements, I have always been fascinated by the way he writes his characters.

This is especially true of familial relationships, like the one in Carrie. The prom scene is iconic, but what I keep coming back to is the amount of guilt heaped on Carrie by her religious-fanatic mother. Their relationship sets up everything else in the story.

If Carrie’s mother hadn’t body-shamed her horrifically, then Carrie never would have been so vulnerable in the girl’s locker room.

Who doesn’t look forward to their high school prom?

Most would anticipate the greatest excitement of the evening to revolve around the crowning of the high school’s king and queen.

But when Carrie White, a friendless, bullied high-school girl from an abusive religious household discovers she has telekinetic powers, all hell breaks loose.

This is a great revenge horror story with plenty of Stephen King’s humor and gore. Pig’s blood is abundant.

Most horror fans have either seen or heard about the movie Carrie, and are aware of the final blood-soaked scene. However, the movie is far less graphic than the novel. Carrie White goes through a lot of physical trauma and mental torture, not only by her abusive mother but also her sadistic classmates, until she finally snaps – exacting revenge on those who tormented her by using her newly found telekinetic powers.

Stephen King’s description of Carrie’s tormentors and his in-depth character development of the repressed, friendless Carrie makes for an intense read, and really makes you want her… show more.

Carrie was Stephen King’s first published novel yet it’s still seen as one of his best. It was an experimental book as it didn’t follow a normal structure, electing to create the story out of snippets from fictional magazines, newspapers, and articles. It’s one of the best revenge stories and focuses on the characters more than the eventual scares. By delving into Carrie’s psyche, as well as the feelings of the bullies around her, Stephen King creates sympathetic characters even when some of them shouldn’t be. Furthermore, Carrie is a parable for the question: what does it cost to be… show more.

Horror Paranormal: In 1974 when I was 25, Carrie was published as an epistolary novel [presented through a series of newspaper articles, letters, or book excerpts]. I was hooked. Most have probably seen the film adaptations, but there is nothing like reading the book. 

Carrie possesses the powers of telekinesis and telepathy, which she uses to exact revenge on her tormentors (which is the horror part). King quickly draws you into the emotional character of Carrie White. You can feel the girl’s desires, her pain from the bullying, and almost want to cheer when her powers enable her to strike… show more.

Perennial bestselling author Stephen King has written many stories about outsiders, but his first novel, Carrie, is my favorite—maybe because I would have loved to have had a power like Carrie’s when I was in high school, although I wouldn’t have used it in such a gruesome and destructive way. I hope.

Carrie White is a shy, unpopular high school girl with the ability to make objects move by just thinking about them. She has kept her talent bottled up inside her, but when a “mean girl” plays a prank on her at the prom, she unleashes the full… show more.

At its heart, this is a coming-of-age story about an abused and humiliated girl who doesn’t know how much power lies waiting inside her. Strength, dignity, and forgiveness, you wonder? Sure, Carrie White bears all that in her heart. But she has one other source of feminine strength you’ll never forget.  

What works best in Stephen King’s dark fantasy is the pure, unapologetic dish of supernatural revenge Carrie serves her foolish peers when they poke the dragon one too many times.