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"Hailed as a modern classic, the brilliant, unforgettable debut novel that started it all, Carrie introduced a distinctive new voice in American fiction. The tragic horror story of the outcast high school misfit Carrietta White, her extraordinary, yet frightening telekinetic abilities, and her hostile rampage for the ultimate revenge remains one of the most powerful, thought-provoking and disturbing tales of all time. Make a date with terror if you dare and face the walking nightmare that is… Carrie!"



"Jesus watches from the wall, But His face is cold as stone, And if He loves me As she tells me Why do I feel so all alone?"
―Carrie White
"Crash in her head with a rock, with a boulder. Crash in all their heads. Good, Good."
―Carrie White

Carrie is an American epistolary novel and author Stephen King's first published novel, released on April 5, 1974, with an approximate first print run of 30,000 copies. Set in the then-future year of 1979, it revolves around the eponymous Carrietta N. White a misfit and bullied high school girl who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who torment her, while in the process causing one of the worst local disasters in American history. Stephen has commented that he finds the work to be "Raw" and "With a surprising power to hurt and horrify". It is one of the most frequently banned books in United States schools. Much of the book is written in an epistolary structure, using newspaper clippings, magazine articles, letters, and excerpts from books to tell how Carrie destroyed the fictional town of Chamberlain, Maine while exacting revenge on her sadistic classmates. Several adaptations of Carrie have been released, including a 1976 film, a 1988, 2012, 2015 Broadway musical, a 1999 film sequel, a 2002 television film, and a 2013 film remake.

The book is dedicated to Stephen's wife Tabitha King: "This is for Tabby, who got me into it and then bailed me out of it."

Plot[]

Telekinesis (Psychokinesis)[]

Carrie - cała okładka qfgyvd

Carrie was mysteriously born with extraordinarily strong and advanced telekinesis, which gave her the psionic ability to move, manipulate, throw, and control things (a multitude of objects or people all at once) with her mind whenever she concentrated hard enough. Carrie refers to her telekinesis as "flexing". At first, this seemed like a rare and special gift, a miracle in Carrie's eyes that she kept to herself, not telling a soul. Despite Carrie's effort to keep it a secret, she subconsciously had one or two outbursts in front of few people who witnessed this phenomenon but chose to be in denial or simply ignore choosing to believe it simply didn't happen. Carrie thought her telekinesis was a blessing, but, in the end, it all turned into a curse as Carrie did not know how to control her powers. Her power finally consumes her mind, body, and spirit, which lead not only to her eventual demise but sadly many others also.

In the book, Carrie was also telepathic and could sometimes read people's thoughts when they were near her, but had only been utilized once, such as Ms. Desjardins, her Physical Education teacher, which were a mixed feeling of sympathy and disgust in all of her lying compassion. She also had the telepathic ability to let other people read her thoughts, specifically after the prank on the night of her prom, which people later said were of hatred, venom, and vengeance.

Months after the incident and town tragedy occurred, one witness stated that, when he saw Carrie White on the street, he could read her thoughts rather clearly. The thoughts of which consumed her thinking she would never get the pig's blood off of her dress, and that she was going to pour blood on the town of Chamberlain Maine and make everyone pay.

It is hinted that Carrie's deceased father was telekinetic in his own life, but never knew it or tapped into the full strength and potential of his own telekinetic, telepathic abilities. It is arguably possible that he might have known he was telekinetic if so, he kept it to himself as Carrie would. Despite her eventually turning into a homicidal, sadistic and destructive force to be reckoned with, Carrie was not a monster in the beginning. Throughout her story in both the book and the movie, Carrie was a loner, shown as a shy and timid young woman with no confidence. Carrie was a fractured young soul in need of support and love. But it was only handed to her in small amounts and at a very high cost. Carrie was a girl who had a traumatizing childhood and longed for a friend and someone who truly understood her pain and suffering. Alas, she let her powers get the better of her and this, coupled with all the abuse she suffered, caused her to undergo a villainous transformation.

Notably, even after her descent into villainy and unfathomable madness, Carrie is usually shown to still not be completely bereft of redeeming qualities. In several versions, she spares Miss Desjardin's life due to appreciating the kindness she had shown to her earlier and also chooses to let Sue Snell live even when she does not forgive her. Finally, she sought comfort in her mother following her rampage, suggesting that she still loved her and wanted to be loved by her even after all of the abuse Margaret showed to her.

Prior to snapping, Carrie was very sensitive and misunderstood. She would cry silently in her room late at night, dreading the next day of school. When she had her menarche, she was hysterically frightened, because she thought she was bleeding to death internally and was going to die. She appeared to be a mysterious student, who kept to herself much of the time and never bothered anyone. Thus, leaving an intriguing mystery which fascinated and intrigued many people long after her death, as everyone wondered "Who was Carrie White, really?"

Crowned in Blood[]

The story continued with Carrie wearing a beautiful homemade dress of rich crushed red velvet that shows off her cleavage and is adorned with a matching corsage and high heels, Carrie White arrives at the Prom and at first is taken back by the glamour of it all. But things look as if they are turning around for her at last. She's accompanied by Tommy Ross, the most athletic and popular boy in school, who, surprisingly, privately forms a small crush for Carrie. Carrie talks to some of the cool and popular kids and even cracks a few jokes, that makes her peers actually laugh with her and finally not just at her. The night seems to be going fairly well, as she gets complimented on her appearance. It is stated that Carrie looked really beautiful and normal for the first time in her short life. The social anxiety within her slowly begins to lift, letting Carrie radiate with high hopes and glow, as she was free to finally feel normal and out of her shell to enjoy herself.

Carrie's wishful fantasy is ultimately shattered, as fate steps in, when she is tricked and humiliated by vindictive and sociopath students into being elected as Queen of the Prom by one vote. Due to phony ballots, that were rigged in plans to successfully outnumber all the other contestants and runners-up, Carrie is crowned on stage with Tommy, as the audience below cheers and congratulates her as they all sing the school song. Strangely no one questions the surprising odds of Carrie winning.

While sitting on the Queen's throne, suddenly a banging metallic sound is heard that cuts through the music. Seconds later, Carrie is showered in what feels to her at first like a cold, thick, wet blanket which comes to find out was very smelly rotting blood from a pig. After the blood is dumped on her from a metal bucket high above, Carrie is drenched from head to toe in front of the entire school, everything and everyone turns dead silent as time seems to stand still, as if in slow motion. The red velvet dress she made for the special night is completely ruined. It is stated that Carrie looked as if someone had dipped her in a red bucket of paint.

Carrie's date, Tommy Ross, unfortunately, is also showered in pig's blood as he's beside Carrie sitting on the King's throne with a second bucket above as his own. There were two buckets above, one for the Queen, another for the King. Despite this, Carrie gets soaked the worst. Still, Tommy's bucket falls later and hits him right on the top of his head, killing him instantly. Carrie feels a sudden surge at Tommy´s death. The prank was followed later by a rain of cruel laughter, yet the laughter crept in slowly at first, a chuckle here, a chuckle there. Then more began to follow after it, growing louder and louder, until it became one. Carrie's dream had been crushed by a reality beyond her worst nightmare.

"Oh… I'm… Covered with it… They're looking at me!"
―Carrie White

The laughter was only getting louder by the second, one voice after the other, like a chain reaction. A voice joined the first and was followed by a third - girl's soprano giggle - a fourth, a fifth, six, a dozen, all of them, all laughing. The laughter was accompanied by even the teachers, including Ms. Desjardin, the teacher who was nice to Carrie, like a trusted friend before. Ms. Desjardin's face was still frozen, but Carrie could see it, she could see just the same as everyone else in the room, deep down, the laughter was in her also, hidden deep behind professionalism, but there just the same. Inside, she wanted to laugh. Ms. Desjardin tries to comfort Carrie who is reading her thoughts, which are of lying compassion, accompanied by a mixed with guilt and disgust. Carrie strikes out at Desjardin using her telekinetic energy without having to physically touch Desjardin, who flies across the gym room so very hard and so forcefully, she gets a bloody nose in the process of her fall.

In utter embarrassment, Carrie then tries to flee the stage and is reported to be hopping like a frog with her hands in front of her face, trying to hide the humiliation and shame. To add insult to injury, an anonymous student in the crowd of prom-goers sticks their foot out to trip Carrie as she passes by. Carrie's feet tangle together and lose coordination causing her to fall clumsily, leaving a big streak of blood behind her as she slides on all fours across the room and the laughter grows louder. Carrie then expects someone to kick her in the backside next, but no one does. While on the floor, Carrie looks up and into the faces of the many people crowded around her. Carrie knows everyone is hysterical and laughing uncontrollably. Some people are said to be laughing so hard they are crying and rolling on the floor holding their stomachs. But they are all dressed in glittering ball gowns and expensive tuxedos, with perfect hairdos, attractive smiles, and clear skin. They are all wrapped within the warm, bright and luminous light of popularity and social acceptance, a rite of passage of belonging, a light that Carrie will never be a part of. Humiliated, Carrie is still on the floor, crawling like an animal. She gets back up on her feet and runs out of the school so fast and ungainly that she loses her prom slippers on the way out. She finally makes it to the school's front lawn to collapse on the wet moist grass outside to catch her breath as she realizes she has just been tricked and made a fool of once again. They tricked her again.

Carrie's Venom[]

While a barefoot Carrie is all alone outside in a state of utter shock, she tries to come to terms and accepts what has happened. Carrie plans to just slip away into the dark night and take the back streets, so no one will see her, but just as she decides to go home and admit to Momma that she was right, her mind snaps.

Something snaps within Carrie's mind, like a dark epiphany. A psychological breaking point inside of her is released after so many years of repression. It quickly takes over Carrie, as she remembers her telekinesis. It's time to teach them all a lesson or two. So she pulls herself together, returning to the school with a deep and ruthless vengeance. It´s time to teach everyone a lesson. Carrie locks everyone inside the auditorium and turns on the sprinkler system to wet everyone and ruin their prom outfits and nice hairdos. What seems to be just innocent fun to Carrie, wetting everyone, the sprinklers water gets to close to all the electrical cords on the stage. Carrie looks in through the windows of the gymnasium doors and smiles, as she sees everyone inside panicking as sparks fly everywhere and people are getting electrocuted one by one. Carrie even laughs when one female student is electrocuted and her body moves like a crazed puppet as volts of electricity dance through her body. Students are still desperately trying to open the doors and even looking back at Carrie through the thick glass. As the building quickly catches fire and spreads, Carrie looks happy and smiles as she seeks her revenge and watches her fellow classmates and peers electrocuted to a crisp and ultimately burned alive before leaving to destroy the town next. Back in the gym, they were all trying to get out the doors again, the few who were not on fire or cooked yet. A dozen or so, pushing on the doors, like cockroaches trapped in a roach-motel. But she held the doors shut easily with her power. That alone was no strain. Some obscure sense tells that a few were getting out the fire doors, but let them. She would get them later. She would get all of them. Every last one of them! Carrie descends down the street and slowly approaches the town all while still holding the gymnasium doors closed. It was easy. For Carrie, all you had to do was see them in your mind being shut and held shut. The towns emergency whistle begins to go off as the entire school by this time is completely up in flames with only a few people inside left to die.

For a moment the town whistle interrupts her train of flexing. Carries mind's eye lost sight of the gymnasium doors and some of them almost, almost got free. NO, NO!!! Naughty, naughty. Carrie slams them shut again, this time even tighter, catching somebody's fingers in the jamb and severing one of them. Good. Good, Carrie thinks...

Only a few lucky students and one teacher, Miss Desjardin, survived the night of "The Black Prom."

The Black Prom[]

From "We Survived the Black Prom" by Norma Watson (Published in the August, 1980, issue of The Reader's Digest as a 'Drama in Real Life' article):"... and it all happened so quickly that no one really knew what was happening. We were all standing and applauding and singing the school song. Then - I was at the usher's table just inside the main doors, looking at the stage - there was a sparkle as the big lights over the stage apron reflected on something metallic. I was standing with Tina Blake and Stella Horan, and I think they saw it, too.

All at once there was a huge red splash in the air. Some of it hit the mural and ran in long drips. I knew right away, even before it hit them, that it was blood. Stella Horan thought it was paint, but I had a premonition, just like the time my brother got hit by a hay truck.

They were drenched. Carrie got it the worst. She looked exactly like she had been dipped in a bucket of red paint. She just sat there. She never moved. The band that was closest to the stage, Josie and the Moonglows, got splattered. The lead guitarist had a white instrument, and it splattered all over it.

I said: 'My God, that's blood!'

When I said that, Tina screamed. It was very loud, and it rang out clearly in the auditorium.

People had stopped singing and everything was completely quiet. I couldn't move. I was rooted to the spot. I looked up and there were two buckets dangling high over the thrones, swinging and banging together. They were still dripping. All of a sudden they fell, with a lot of loose string paying out behind them. One of them hit Tommy Ross on the head. It made a very loud noise, like a gong.

That made someone laugh. I don't know who it was, but it wasn't the way a person laughs when they we something funny and gay. It was raw and hysterical and awful.

At the same instant, Carrie opened her eyes real wide.

That was, when they all started laughing. I did too, I admit, I confess...yes, I laughed at Carrie White. God help me. It was so...weird.

When I was a little girl I had a Walt Disney storybook called Song of the South, and it had that Uncle Remus story about the tar baby in it. There was a picture of the tar baby sitting in the middle of the road, looking like one of those old-time Negro minstrels with the blackface and great big white eyes. When Carrie opened her eyes it was like that. They were the only part of her that wasn't completely red. And the light had gotten in them and made them glassy. God help me, but she looked for all the world like Eddie Cantor doing that pop-eyed act of his.

That was what made people laugh. We couldn't help it. It was one of those things where you laugh or go crazy. Carrie had been the school goat, the butt of every prank and joke for so very long, and we all felt that we were part of something special that night. It was as if we were watching a person rejoin the human race, to be sent back into reality and put back in their proper place. I for one thanked the Lord for it. And that happened. That horror.

And so there was nothing else to do. It was either laugh or cry and who could bring himself to cry over Carrie White after all those years?

She just sat there, staring out at them, at us, and the laughter kept swelling, getting louder and louder. People were holding their bellies and doubling up and pointing at her. Tommy was the only one, who wasn't looking at her. He was sort of slumped over in his seat as if he'd gone to sleep. You couldn't tell he was hurt, though he was splashed too bad.

And then her face ... broke, I don't know how else to describe it. She put her hands up to her face and half-staggered to her feet. She almost got tangled in her own feet and fell over, and that made people laugh even more. Then she sort of ... hopped off the stage. It was like watching a big red frog hopping off a lily pad. She almost fell again but kept on her feet.

Miss Desjardin came running over to her, and she wasn't laughing any more, but it looked like she wanted to burst out at any given moment. She was holding out her arms to her. She went to hug Carrie, I think. But then she veered off and hit the wall really hard and fast, the wall beside that stage - It was the strangest thing. She didn't stumble or anything. It was as if someone had pushed her, but there was no one there.

Carrie ran through the crowd with her hands clutching her face, and somebody put his foot out. I don't know, who it was, but she went sprawling on her face. leaving a long red streak on the floor. And she said, 'Ooof!' I remember that. It made me laugh even harder, hearing Carrie say Oof like that. She started to crawl along the floor like a dog and then she got up and ran out after looking up at everyone crowded around her. She ran right past me. You could smell the vile scent of that blood. It smelled like something sick and rotted.

She went down the stairs two at a time and then out the doors. And was gone.

The laughter just sort of faded off, a little at a time. Some people were still hitching and snorting. Lennie Brock had taken out a big white handkerchief and was wiping his eyes. Sally McManus looked all white like she was going to throw up, but she was still giggling and she couldn't seem to stop. Billy Bosnan was just standing there with his little conductor's stick in his hand and shaking his head. Mr. Lublin was sitting by Miss Desjardin and calling for a Kleenex. She had a bloody nose.

You have to understand that all this happened in no more than two minutes. Nobody could put it all together. We were stunned. Some of them were wandering around, talking a little, but not much. Helen Shyres burst into tears, and that made some of the others start up.

Then someone yelled: 'Call a doctor! Hey, call a doctor quick!'

It was Josie Vreck. He was up on the stage, kneeling by Tommy Ross, and his face was white as paper. He tried to pick him up, and the throne fell over and Tommy rolled on to the floor.

Nobody moved. They were all just staring. It's like everyone came to the realization that Tommy might have been a goner. I felt like I was frozen in ice. My God was all I could think. My God, my God, my God. And then this other thought crept in, and it was as if it wasn't my own at all. I was thinking about Carrie. And about God. It was all twisted up together, and it was awful.

Stella looked over at me and said: 'Carrie's back.'

And I said: 'Yes, that's right.

The lobby doors all slammed shut at the exact same time and it startled us all. The sound was like hands clapping. Somebody in the back screamed, and that started the stampede. They ran for the doors in a rush. I just stood there, not believing it. And when I looked, just before the first of them got there and started to push, I saw Carrie looking in, her face all smeared, like an Indian with war paint on.

She was smiling.

They were pushing at the doors, hammering on them, but they wouldn't budge. As more of them crowded up to them, I could see the first ones to get there being battered against them, grunting and wheezing. They wouldn't open. And those doors are never locked. It's a state law.

Mr. Stephens and Mr. Lublin waded in, and began to pull them away, grabbing jackets, skirts, anything. They were all screaming and burrowing like cattle. Mr. Stephens slapped a couple of girls and punched Vic Mooney in the eye. They were yelling for them to go out the backfire doors. Some did. Those were the ones who lived.

That's when it started to rain ... at least, that's what I thought it was at first. There was water falling all over the place. I looked up and all the sprinklers were on, all over the gym. Water was hitting the basketball court and splashing. Josie Vreck was yelling for the guys in his band to turn off the electric amps and mikes quick, but they were all gone. He jumped down from the stage.

The panic at the doors stopped. People backed away, looking up at the ceiling. I heard somebody - Don Farnham, I think - say: 'This is gonna wreck the basketball court.'

A few other people started to go over and look at Tommy Ross. All at once I knew I wanted to get out of there. I took Tina Blake's hand and said, 'Let's run. Quick.'

To get to the fire doors, you had to go down a short corridor to the left of the stage. There were sprinklers there too, but they weren't on. And the doors were open - I could see a few people running out. But most of them were just standing around in little groups, blinking at each other. Some of them were looking at the smear of blood where Carrie fell down. The water was washing it away.

I took Tina's hand and started to pull her toward the exit sign. At that same instant there was a huge flash of light, a scream, and a horrible feedback whine. I looked around and saw Josie Vreck holding on to one of the mike stands. He froze, he couldn't let go. His eyes were bugging out and his hair was on end and it looked like he was dancing. He looked like a scarecrow or a marionette doll with strings attached to his body...just wiggling all about, up and down. But it wasn't a funny type of wiggle dance, it was the dance of death. His feet were sliding around in the water and smoke started to come out of his shirt.

He fell over on one of the amps - they were big ones, five or six feet high - and it fell into the water. The feedback went up to a scream that was head-splitting, and then there was another sizzling flash and it stopped. Josie's shirt was on fire.

'Run!' Tina yelled at me. 'Come on, Norma. Please!'

We ran out into the hallway, and something exploded backstage - the main power switches, I guess. For just a second I looked back. You could see right out on to the stage, where Tommy's body was because the curtain was up. All the heavy light cables were in the air, flowing and jerking and writhing like snakes out of an Indian fakir's basket. Then one of them pulled in two. There was a violent flash when it hit the water, and then everybody was screaming at once.

Then we were out the door and running across the parking lot. I think I was screaming. I don't remember very well. I don't remember anything very well after they started screaming. After those high-voltage cables hit that water-covered floor."

The Devil comes to Chamberlain, Maine[]

By now Carrie's velvet dress is tattered and ripped to shreds. It is said, that she appeared as if she had crawled out of a fatal car accident. Her feet are raw and bleeding and the blood that covers her body has began to dry and clot. Carrie is now in a deep catatonic trance and has descended into complete madness. Carrie proceeded to go on a hellish rampage of anger and insanity while walking home to Momma. Destroying everything and anything in her path. Witnesses see Carrie burning cars and houses with people trapped inside and blowing up gas stations. She knocks over electric poles causing sparks to fly into the smokey air and she even is seen breaking fire hydrants which flood the streets. Carrie sets a good majority of the small town of Chamberlain, Maine ablaze and kills as many people as she can regardless if they are guilty or not.

Innocent bystanders are running and screaming through the streets in all of the chaos and confusion throughout the town as fire trucks, cop cars and sirens wail. The wild fire in the town becomes uncontrollable as the high flames are so fierce that a bright orange glow can be seen high up into the sky even from a far off distance.

Meanwhile, Carrie begins to think about God and believes, that this is all of his doing just as much as it is hers.

Carrie then goes to pray at the town's Cathedral. Carrie then returns home finally, determined to kill her mother, and from her mother learns the truth about how she was conceived. Though at first Margaret appears to comfort her bloody distraught daughter, she tricks Carrie and brutally stabs her in the back, hitting an artery, which she had planned all along for her belief that she is a witch and having gone to the Prom, which Carrie, knew deep down. Carrie defended herself and retaliated by stopping her mother's heart until Margaret died from a heart attack. A tired and drained Carrie makes her way outside again to finish, what she started and kills the two main antagonists who were the ringleaders of the prank, Chris Hargensen and her boyfriend Billy Nolan. Chris and Billy know what Carrie has done, and underestimate her by stupidly attempting to kill her by running her over. Carrie uses her strongly advanced telekinesis once again and crashes the oncoming vehicle into the building of a nearby strip club and destroys it as the car explodes in flames of fire.

After killing Chris and Billy, Carrie becomes drained of most her strength due to the loss of blood. She is found lying in the middle of a dirt road near the town by Sue Snell, her former classmate. Carrie is nearly dead by this point but has a final deep conversation with Sue (via telepathy) before her dying minutes later. Carrie does not forgive Sue and chooses to hold a grudge. Carrie, however, does believe her when she states she had nothing to do with the prank at the Prom. Thus, Carrie leaves her alive showing her some mercy but also shows Sue all of the soul crushing torment she received as an outsider throughout her life. Sue finally sees and feels the misery of Carrie's sad life, that she would not have ever known about otherwise, Sue's heart breaks for Carrie in a selfless and honest way.

Carrie cries out loud for her mother, wanting to be comforted and held, as she dies in Sue's arms. Seconds later, as Sue gets up to call for help she strangely has her period, which was late, as the menstrual blood runs down her leg. Earlier in the story Sue believed she might have been pregnant with her boyfriend Tommy Ross's baby. But her period coming confirms she either had a miscarriage or she was never pregnant to began with. It hints that Sue received the "Curse of Blood" from Carrie as an act of forgiveness. Rather Sue's period coming at the exact same time of Carrie's death was coincidental or caused by Carrie's telepathic abilities herself is left to the unknown.

The authorities found her later and took her body away for investigation after she was identified by Sue Snell.

The cause of Carrie's death remains an open mystery. Carrie either died due to a combination of exhaustion, severe brain hemorrhaging from overusing her exceptionally strong telekinesis, blood loss from her wounds, or she used her telekinetic abilities to shut her own body down and committed suicide, after realizing what she had done and realizing the monster that she had become. It also is very possible that Carrie couldn't live with herself knowing she killed her own mother, whom she loved unconditionally and died to possibly be with Margaret in the afterlife in either Heaven or Hell.

The Aftermath[]

458 people died in the disaster, 99 of them were at the Junior-Senior Prom and 67 of them were Seniors. Carrie's controversial story becomes a widely discussed subject, one that is immediately taken to the Supreme Court, where witnesses are asked to tell everything they knew about Carrie or saw during the night of the tragedy.

Some people insist it was a natural disaster and Carrie White was not a monster, yet simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, therefore being used as the scapegoat even in death. Others say it was a conspiracy of some sort with Carrie being used as a scapegoat. Finally others insist that Carrie was responsible for the wildfire, possessing a type of inexpiable strength and power. No one can prove this true nor false. If Carrie is truly guilty for the tragic deaths of so many people remains a cold case.

Carrie's story becomes so popular that it is eventually made into a movie. This disgusts Sue, because she feels that the tragedy is being glamorized so people can forget about it. But Sue warns and advises everyone that forgetting Carrie White and tarnishing her memory may be a much bigger mistake than anyone may realize.

Meanwhile, Chamberlain, Maine, is a nearly abandoned ghost town. The tragedy by now has made headlines across America. The Night of The Black Prom has hit the nation harder than the JFK Assassination. Science begins to take telekinesis very seriously. Miss Desjardin resigns as a teacher due to her guilt over Carrie as well as Principal Grayle and a heartbroken Sue Snell goes on to write a memoir about her high school experiences and her involvement with Carrie White. titled "My Name is Sue Snell". It is implied, she has begun embracing death because of the experience and the attempts of the White Commission to make her a scapegoat.

The majority of the few survivors and their families are grieving over the tragic deaths of loved ones, who were killed at the prom, when Carrie White telekinetically locked everyone inside, or were caught in the chaos of the wildfire and explosions and didn't evacuate quick enough. They are also haunted by the guilt of having caused, one way or the other the rampage of Carrie and the fact of being seen as fools and evil bullies by the rest of the world makes matters even worse. Even looking at each other forces them to remember, what happened. After the funeral services are held for the dead, people are therefore packing up and leaving town for good, never to return. Chamberlain also turns gradually into a ghost town. It is also implied, that the ghost town has become a tourist attraction since then for all those, who want to know everything regarding Carrie White. With all the destruction intact, it was also easy to achieve that.

The White Commission, however, plays, to a certain extent, the catastrophe down and the book closes with a letter written by a woman in Tennessee, where it is implied her niece is developing very strong, advanced telepathic and telekinetic abilites of her own. This, however, could also indicate that Carrie's hurt and lonely spirit had been reborn and reincarnated into a more loving family to start over again in the hope of having a real friend.

Characters[]

Main Characters[]

Carrietta White:

Margaret White:

Sue Snell: She was one of Chris Hargensen's best friends who joined in bullying Carrie White, especially during the shower incident. Sue later felt guilty about her part in the bullying and asked Tommy to take Carrie to the Prom in her place.

Tommy Ross: He took Carrie White to the Prom in place of his girlfriend: Sue Snell, at her request.

Billy Nolan: He was one of the conspirators who helped in setting up the prom night prank against Carrie White. He was the boyfriend of Chris Hargensen

Christine Hargensen: She asked Billy to help in setting up the prom night prank against Carrie White. She was also the ringleader of The Mortimer Snerds

Rita Desjardin:

Minor Characters[]

David Congress: He wrote The Shadow Exploded which cuts most of the major scene in the novel to explain the general events.

Norma Watson:

Estelle Horan: She is a former neighbor of Carrie and Margaret White.

Vic Mooney: He is Thomas Ewen Consolidated High School’s senior president, who announced Carrie White and Tommy Ross as the winners for Prom King and Queen.

Tina Blake: Member of The Mortimer Snerds

George Dawson: Friend of Tommy Ross and consider to be funny

Peter Morton: The assistant principal of Ewen High School.

Henry Grayle:The principal of Ewen High School.

Helen Shyres: Member of The Mortimer Snerds and friend of Sue Snell

Frieda Jason:

Otis Doyle:

Rhonda Simard:

Thomas Quillan:

Cora Simard:

Josie Vreck:

John Hargensen: Father of Chris Hargensen

Georgette Shyres:

Jackie Talbot: Friend of Billy Nolan

Mr. Stephens:

Jack Gaver:

Henry Blake: Friend of Billy Nolan

Steve Deighan: Friend of Billy Nolan

Ruth Gogan: She shouted, to all girls in the locker, "she thinks they're for lipstick" about Carrie having her first period. Later, Ruth tormented her by throwing tampons at her.

Hubert Kelly:

Kenny Garson: Friend of Billy Nolan

Lou Garson: Friend of Billy Nolan

Mr. Lublin:

Donna Thibodeau: Member of The Mortimer Snerds and the National Society.

Mary Lila Grace: Member of The Mortimer Snerds

Jessica Upshaw: Member of The Mortimer Snerds

Billy deLois:

Henry Trennant:

Miss Geer:

Miss Fish: Secretary of Ewen High School

Tommy Erbter:

Myra Crewes:

Billy Bosnan:

Stella Horan:

Don Farnham:

George Chizmar:

Mrs. Lublin:

Dale Norbert:

Frank Grier:

Jessica MacLean:

Lennie Brock:

Sally McManus:

Dean D.L. McGuffin: He wrote Telekinesis: Analysis and Aftermath.

Rachel Spies: Member of The Mortimer Snerds

Hank Grayle:

Dale Ullman:

Brent Gillian:

Holly Marshall:

Don Barrett:

David Bracken: National Society member

Mr. Lavoie:

Ms. Dawson:

Deceased or Mentioned Characters[]

Ralph White:

Mrs. Horan: She was a neighbor of Margaret White whom she got into a back-fence war with.

Judith Brigham:

Harold Allison:

Irwin Henty:

John Brigham:

Freddy Overlock:

Sadie Cochran:

Jacob Plessy:

Red Trelawney:

Teddy Duchamp:

Mel Crager:

Chief Burton:

Billy Preston:

Georgia McLaughlin:

Thomas G. Mearton:

J.W. Bankson

George Fielding:

Mrs. Bicente:

Mrs. Yorraty:

Jerry Smith:

Billy Harris:

Elton Mott:

Vicky Hanscom:

Jeanne Gault: Friend of Sue Snell

Danny Patrick:

Pete Taber:

Roy Evarts: boyfriend of Helen Shyres.

Fern:

andrea Kolintz:

George Kramer:

Irma Swope:

Edwin King:

Donna kellogg:

Mrs. Klein:

Morton Cratzchbarken:

George Jerome:

Miss Macaferty:

Freddy Holt:

Bruce Trevor:

Coach Gaines:

Peter:

sandra Stenchfield:

John Swithen:

Maureen Cowan:

Thomas B. Mears:

Marcel Dubay:

Harry Block:

Chief Deighan:

Cameo Appearance[]

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In a graveyard in Maine, Carrie's head stone is briefly mentioned in Stephen King's novel "IT".

Adaptations[]

The novel was first adapted into a film in 1976, with Sissy Spacek in the titular role and Piper Laurie as Margaret White. In 1988, a musical based on the novel came out on Broadway, but closed after 5 performances. It was also spawned into a 1999 sequel, starring Emily Bergl as Carrie's half-sister Rachel Lang. 2 films were also made; one for television in 2002 starring Angela Bettis and Patricia Clarkson, and a remake for the big screen in 2013 starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore. In 2012 the musical was revived into an Off-Broadway musical.

Audiobook[]

The audiobook of Carrie is read by Sissy Spacek, who played the part of Carrie White in the 1976 film.

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Trivia[]

  • The book Carrie shares similarities with the Netflix series Stranger Things. It is confirmed in the book Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down that The Duffer Brothers took inspiration from Carrie, along with the books Firestarter, The Dead Zone, The Body, The Shining and IT.
  • Perhaps coincidentally but likely not, in the novel, the bloody shower scene takes place in the showers after the girls had been playing volley ball in "Period One."
  • In the novel Holly, Penny Dahl jokes to Holly Gibney that, while her daughter Bonnie Dahl was prom queen in high school, "nobody dumped a bucket of blood on her." This is presumably a reference to the Carrie novel and/or one of its adaptations.

References[]

The Dead Zone[]

  • Patty Strachan states "He set it on fire by his mind, just like in that book Carrie." as a reference to Johnny Smith's abilities.

Lost[]

  • A Tale of Two Cities: Carrie is read by The Others' book club.
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Gallery[]

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