Carrie is a 1974 horror novel, the first by American author Stephen King. Set in Chamberlain, Maine, the plot revolves around Carrie White, a friendless, bullied high-school girl from an abusive religious household who discovers she has telekinetic powers. Feeling guilty for harassing Carrie, Sue Snell invites Carrie to the prom with Tommy Ross, but a humiliating prank during the prom by Chris Hargensen leads to Carrie destroying the town with her powers. The narrative contains fictional documents in approximately chronological order that present multiple perspectives on the prom incident and its perpetrator. Carrie deals with themes of ostracism and revenge, with the opening shower scene and the destruction of Chamberlain being pivotal scenes.
King started writing Carrie, intended to be a short story for the men's magazine Cavalier, after a friend's suggestion to write a story of a female character. [1] Though King initially gave up on Carrie due to discomfort and apathy, and felt it would never be successful, his wife Tabitha convinced him to continue writing. [2]King based the character of Carrie on two girls he knew in high school[3] and enjoyed fabricating the documents for the narrative. After Doubleday accepted Carrie to be published, King worked with editor Bill Thompson to revise the novel.
Carrie was published on April 5, 1974, with a print run of 30,000 copies, and a paperback edition was published by New American Library in April 1975. The paperback edition became a best seller, particularly after the release of the 1976 film adaptation, reaching four million sales. Carrie received generally positive reviews, both contemporaneously and retrospectively. Being a debut novel, Carrie launched King's career and helped him achieve mainstream success. It has also been credited for reviving mainstream interest in horror fiction and being influential among contemporary horror writers. Four film adaptations have been released, with one getting a sequel, and a musical adaptation was released in 1988.
