"The Crucified Jesus stared at Carrie mournfully. His sorrowful, weeping eyes casted down upon her, and seemed to look into her soul. And they knew all the secrets of woman-blood, that her mother had never told..."-(CARRIE Novel)
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"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? "- (A poem by Carrie)
Carrietta N. White (born: 21 Sept 1995; died: 22 June 2013), simply known as "Carrie" is the titular protagonist from Stephen King's first Horror Novel titled Carrie, published in 1974. In the story, Carrie was allegedly the only daughter of Margaret Brigman and Ralph White, (even though it hints Ralph may have had other children with different women). Carrie was also the granddaughter of Judith Cochran and John Brigman, and the great-granddaughter of Sadie Cochran.
Summary & History of Carrietta White:
"There's something that no one seems to understand. She wasn't some monster...she was just a girl..." - Sue Snell
For all of her lonely childhood and misunderstood teenage life, Carrie, an only child, whose father abandoned his family and later died in a construction accident, was secretly abused and beaten into submission by her mentally ill religiously-fanatical mother. Later Carrie was constantly mistreated by her classmates because of her differences. Since first grade Carrie had been the school's scapegoat and outcast. Indeed, Carrie was at the bottom of the social pyramid, but what no one knew, not even her mother, was that Carrietta White was no ordinary girl, as she had been blessed or cursed, with hidden telekinetic and telepathic powers that were dormant during her youth, but brought to full force by the time she was in high school after she unexpectedly had her first period in the girl's locker room. This incident would cause a chain reaction of events to occur that would lead to not only Carrie's demise but also hundreds of others, whether guilty or innocent. Since Carrie had no previous knowledge about the concept of menstruation the student's rejection of Carrie became even fiercer.
Tragically, when a so-called "prank" at her senior prom involving pig blood pushed her to her breaking point and beyond her limits, Carrie finally snapped and used the wild talents she possessed to seek her hostile revenge to make her bullies and enemies pay for their cruel actions. Carrie mercilessly eliminated anyone who had ever hurt, neglected, or underestimated her before returning home after leaving a path of destruction in her wake to ultimately confront (and finally kill) her crazy, homicidal mother before dying on that very same night that ended up making national history. In the end, an entire town was destroyed, taking 440 lives with it.
In one iteration of her story, Carrie died as a result of injuries. In the second iteration, Carrie survived the prom night massacre and the trauma associated with it. She then made plans to move to Florida and start her life over with the help of Sue Snell who felt sorry for her. In the third it is not clear and is left to the imagination. But regardless of the iteration, Carrie has been vilified by the surviving residents of Chamberlain, only because she chose to fight back against the constant and collective tormenting and bullying in a way that most people cannot understand or comprehend.
Novel
The Story of A Girl...With A Frightening Power...
Part One: Blood Sport
A faithful illustration of Carrie White in her prom dress of crushed red velvet before and after the prank as described in the Novel.
"In the steamy locker room, the senior girls of Ewen High moved like ballerinas under the hot water of the school showers, gracefully stretching, flicking water, squirting white bars of soap from hand to hand. Carrie stood among them stolidly; a frog among swans. She was a slightly chunky girl with pimples on her neck and back and buttocks, no one would call her attractive. Her wet, mousey hair, dirty blonde yet completely without colour. It rested against her face with dispirited sogginess and she simply stood, head slightly bent, letting the water splat against her flesh and roll off. She looked the part of the sacrificial goat, the constant butt, believer in left-handed monkey wrenches, perpetual foul-up, and she was."
Stephen King's CARRIE
"Carrie had been going to school with some of them since the first grade, and this had been building since that time, building slowly and immutably, in accordance with all the laws that govern human nature, building with all the steadiness of a chain reaction approaching critical mass. What none of them knew, of course, was that Carrietta White was telekinetic. (Graffiti scratched on a desk of the Barker Street Grammar school in Chamberlain: "Roses are red, violets are blue...but Carrie White eats shit!")
In the novel, Carrie White is described as being slightly unattractive, she is a "frog among swans". In appearance Carrie is slightly overweight with pimples on her neck, on her back and on her buttocks. She has flat, oiley, mousey and colorless dirty-blonde hair and very pale skin. In the first section of the story, Carrie had a greasy face with blackheads and wore stockings that were always run, running, or about to run and she was always showing sweat stains under the arms of her blouses. Carrie is especially unattractive because of her mother's control over her. In the second section of the story, Carrie attempts to fix herself up on the night of the prom and makes an effort in enhancing her appearance, she is described as actually looking pretty, for the first time in her entire life. Carrie lived in the very small and peaceful town of Chamberlain, Maine with her severely mentally unstable mother who had cut her daughter off from all social life due to her religious beliefs.
Before Carrie's father died, both Carrie’s parents had left the local Baptist church many years before, because they believed Baptist were doing the work of the Antichrist. But they never found any other church in the area that was up to their traditional standards so they held worship at home instead. When Ralph passed away, her mother survived off the money from the insurance and by working at the local laundry.
- The level of Carrie's "uncoolness" and the height of constant bullying/verbal abuse and abuse she endured at the hands of her mother and fellow peers/classmates in the book was far more extreme compared to the movie versions. Here are many examples: At Christian Summer-Camp her comrades played pranks on her such as hiding all her underwear and putting a snake in her shoe, or short sheeting her bunk-bed. Later when Carrie urinated in the bushes on the camp's hiking trip and came into contact with poison ivy after wiping with the wrong leaves, the kids called her "Sctrach-Ass". When she swam in the camp's lake they ducked her head underwater. At first it was funny, until she couldn't get her breath, but the kids kept doing it and Carrie got panicky and began to scream for air. She had even tried to take part in the other camp's activities, but the jokes never stopped playin on "ole prayin, fart-face Carrie", until she had come home on the bus a week early; her eyes, red and socketed from weeping. She was picked up by her Momma at the station and sent to the closet to pray for hours. Once the classmates found a love letter from Carrie to a boy named Flash Bobby Pickett and the students made hundreds of copies of it and pasted it all over the school's campus for all to see. One year Carrie was given the cruel nickname of "Puddin Pop", and the next year she became known as "Pizza Face". A boy named Billy Preston put peanut butter in her hair when she fell asleep in study hall; the books deliberately knocked from her desk; the pinches, the pokes, the wedgies, the legs outstretched in the cafeteria aisles to trip her; the obscene notes tucked into her purse when she wasn't looking. These were all the things Carrie faced day in and day out. Once when Carrie was at the school picnic she bent down to pray and the seam of her skirt loudly ripped at the crack of her butt, causing everyone to laugh. In sports, Carrie was always missing the ball, even in kickball. Or clumsily running into the net during volleyball. Carrie is also uncoordinated in her movements and once fell flat on her face during Dance class in sophomore year and chipped a tooth. One time Chris Hargensen called her house phone after school from the downtown "Kelly Fruit Company", where all the popular teens hung out to ask her if she knew that "Pig-Poop" was spelled: C-A-R-R-I-E.
Carrie, locked in the Prayer Closet...
At home, Carrie's life is just as awful. Margaret doesn't allow Carrie to have any friends, take interest in things such as celebrities and fashion, listen to rock music, sleep with a pillow, or even take showers as Margaret believes showers are godless; Carrie must only take baths. Behind closed doors, Carrie was beaten into submission on a daily basis and regularly dragged and violently shoved into a prayer closet by her mother. Especially on the day she came home after the shower incident (with the implication, that this was one out of many instances, where Carrie was forced into the closet for offenses she might not have even committed). Also in the book Carrie is sometimes locked in the closet for days on end without food or water or even bathroom breaks. Carrie is so controlled by her mother she is even forced to wear unbecoming and outdated clothes and forbidden to wear the color red, as Margaret believes red is the "Devil's Color".
Rain of Stones!
Now there are instances, where Carrie's special abilities manifested all by itself without her even trying. It was usually trigger by her own inner frustration and private misery, and would flare whenever she lost her temper. For example, when Carrie was almost three years old she encountered a young and beautiful neighbor girl named Stella Horan who was sunbathing topless. Seeing this, Carrie asked about her "Dirty Pillows" (a phrase Carrie's mother installed into her head referring to breast). When Margaret caught Carrie talking to Stella she severely scolded Carrie and forced her back into their house. Suddenly, a shower of hail fell on the White's bungalow, while Carrie was being harshly abused by Margaret. Minutes later a rain of stones pelted against their home causing several damages on the White's property, and a large mahogany dinner table was sent flying through one of the house's window, shattering the glass. Carrie's powers were strong even when she was a small child and she was also able to read other people's minds and inner thoughts when they were close enough to her, namely Miss Desjardin, the gym instructor, who secretly harbored both disgust and pity for the young lady.
When Carrie was sixteen years old, she unexpectedly had her first period while taking a shower in the girls locker room after gym class. Due to her mother's religious believes, Margaret refused to discuss the concept of menstruation with Carrie, resulting in Carrie to think she was internally bleeding to death. The idea that this could be the girl's first period did not occur to Carrie's female classmates. As with everything else, Carrie was viciously teased and mercilessly bullied by the girls in her physical education class who all laughed hysterically as they threw tampons, mini-towels and sanitary napkins at her while loudly chanting: "PLUG-IT-UP!!!", over and over again.
"You're, BLEEDING!' Sue yelled furiously. 'You're bleeding, you big dumb puddin pop!' In oblivion, Carrie looked down at herself and there, indeed, was a single streak of blood slowly running down her leg. She shrieked as she backed away in disbelief, and shrieked again. The cry nearly echoed in the humid and steamy locker room. And then suddenly, as if out of nowhere a tampon struck her in the chest, right between her exposed bosom, and fell with a plop at her feet. A red flower stained the absorbent cotton and spread. Then the laughter, and exaggerated, sarcastic sounds that expressed disgust came. Something as innocent and natural as a period, now seemed to rise and bloom into something hateful and ugly. And next the girls were bombarding her with tampons and sanitary napkins--some from purses, some from lockers, and some from the broken dispenser on the wall. They flew at her as if it was a twisted game of dodge-ball, and a cruel chant instantly arose: Plug it up! Plug it up! Plug it up!"
Miss Desjardin came out of her office to stop the commtion. And to stop the hysterical Carrie from panicking, Miss Desjardin slapped her across the face which caused a lightbulb above them to explode and a bucket of baseball bats to knock over all by itself. Miss Desjardin calmed Carrie down and reassured her everything was going to be okay and that she wasn't dying. Afterwards she explained to Carrie what menstruation was and told her it was a natural part of womanhood.
"I'll walk home home." Carrie said softly. Her damp hair hung in front of her hot face. Her cheeks were light red from weeping, and as she got up, she looked around the room and then at Miss Desjardin. Her glassy eyes were wide open and dark with painful knowledge. "They all laughed at me, threw things. They've always laughed." Desjardin could only look at Carrie helplessy..."
"PLUG IT UP, PLUG IT UP, PLUG IT UP!!!"
More of Carrie's psionic abilities were demonstrated on that same day. Assistant Principal Mr. Morton, who dismissed Carrie for the day, kept calling her "Cassie." Carrie yelled, that was not her name and his ash tray fell off his desk as if it moved by itself.
"Morton gave the girl the yellow slip. 'You can go now, Cassie,' he said magnanimously. "I SAID THAT'S NOT MY NAME!" she screamed suddenly. Morton recoiled, and Miss Desjardin jumped as if struck from behind. The heavy ceramic ashtray on Morton's desk (it was Rodin's Thinker with his head turned into a receptacle for cigarette butts) suddenly toppled to the rug, as if to take cover from the force of her scream. Butts and flakes of Morton's pipe tobacco scattered on the pale-green nylon rug, the ashes left black spots all over it. "-(Carrie Novel)
Soon after that, while she walked home, a five year old boy, Tommy Erbter, verbally abused Carrie while riding past her on his bicycle. Carrie looked at the boy with rage as he went flying off the bicycle as if an unseen force had pushed him, and as he landed he seriously hurt himself. This surprised both Tommy and Carrie, who walked away as if nothing had happened.
Later that day, after Margaret found out about the incident from the school she cruelly punished Carrie. She beat Carrie with her favorite Bible, forced her on her knees with her to pray and locked Carrie in the closet against her will for hours to ask God for "forgiveness" for having committed the "original sin" of becoming a woman due to showering naked with the other girls at school, which Margaret forbid.
Carrie
"'You're a woman now', Margaret said softly. Carrie tried to keep her composure, but felt her face twisting and crumpling and could not help but breakdown. 'Why didn't you tell me?' she cried. 'Oh Momma, I was so scared, I thought I was dying! And the girls all made fun and threw things and--Carrie saw Momma had been holding her favorite leather Bible, and as she walked towards her, she struck out her backhand and the Bible smacked the side of Carrie's face. The blow caused her to fall to the floor and she began to weep loudly. 'Come to your closet woman', Margaret demanded."
A few days later at school, when all the drama had died down, Carrie was unexpectedly approached by Tommy Ross, who asked her to go to the senior prom with him. Tommy was a talented and handsome jock who unlike most of the cool crowd, was an actually very nice and well meaning teenager. Once, Tommy had even been approached by the Boston Red Sox Team, who wanted to recruit him after he graduated. He also was the boyfriend of one of the popular girl's who tormented Carrie earlier in the book, Sue Snell.
Sue felt guilty for her mistreatment towards Carrie and honestly wanted to make it up to her by becoming her friend, and decided to sacrifice going to the prom and lent Carrie her potential prom date. This was a very good thing because Carrie also had a secret crush on Tommy. Although originally skeptical at first and against the idea, Carrie's hesitation was quickly forgotten and she subsequently accepted Tommy's invitation because she just couldn't resist the offer at the chance to finally experience being treated as if she fit in, even if it was only for just one night. Carrie was very nervous, excited and happy all at the same time and was determined to keep her promise to Tommy and go. But when Carrie told her mother about the prom offer, Margaret threw her hot tea in Carrie's face and ranted and raved. She told Carrie that the boys always come after the blood and that all boys want from girls is sex; how they like to take the virgins in their cars to do dirty, ungodly things with them. Margaret finally told Carrie that she would not allow her daughter to engage in such sinfulness after all she'd been taught. She then proceeded to slap Carrie across the face and ordered her to go in the closet to pray, but Carrie refused. As Margaret tried to hit Carrie again, Carrie stood up to her mother and stopped Margaret's hand in mid-air with her telekinesis, preventing the blow from reaching her face. Carrie told her mother that she wanted to live her own life and that things were going to change and be different, and that she was going to the prom with or without Margaret's permission and that no one would stop her; the ultimate blasphemy to her.
Part 2: Prom Night
(NEWS ALERT: TRAGEDY HITS CHAMBERLAIN AT EWEN CONSOLIDATED HIGH SCHOOL. A PROM WAS IN PROGRESS AT THE TIME OF THE OUTBREAK WHICH IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN ELECTRICAL IN ORIGIN. WITNESSES WHO MANAGED TO EXIT IN TIME SAY THAT THE SCHOOL'S SPRINKLER SYSTEM WENT ON WITHOUT WARNING, CAUSING A SHORT-CIRCUIT IN THE EQUIPMENT OF A ROCK BAND. SOME WITNESSES ALSO REPORT BREAKS IN MAIN POWER CABLES. IT IS BELIEVED THAT AS MANY AS ONE HUNDRED AND TEN PERSONS MAY STILL BE TRAPPED IN THE BLAZING GYMNASIUM WITH AN ESTIMATED HALF ALREADY DEAD. LOCAL FIRE FIGHTERS REPORT SEVERAL FIRE HYDRANTS IN THE EWEN AREA HAVE BEEN TAMPERED WITH--PREVENTING AUTHORITIES FROM PUTTING THE FIRE OUT. FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT FROM THE NEIGHBOURING TOWNS OF WESTOVER, MOTTON, AND LEWISTON HAVE REPORTEDLY RECEIVED REQUESTS FOR IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE AND BACK-UP, AND NOW OR SHORTLY WILL BE ON ROUTE 87. AS YET, MORE THAN A DOZEN CASUALTIES HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY REPORTED. TOWN LOCALS CLAIM THE DEVIL HAS COME TO CHAMBERLAIN.)
On the evening of the prom, Carrie prepared for the night and tried on the elegant and authentic prom dress she made. The gown was a thick fabric of crushed red velvet with a princess waistline and Juliet sleeves and allowed Carrie's cleavage to slightly show. Carrie also tried on matching high-heel shoes and a lovely crosage to complete the look. For the very first time in her young life, Carrie honestly looked and felt pretty, which was alien to her. When Margaret first saw her daughter dressed up in the gown, and seeing it was in the color red, revealing her "dirty pillows", she immediately ordered Carrie to take off the outfit and burn the dress. And then she demanded that they do penance together and pray afterwards. But Carrie stood her ground and refused. To manipulate Carrie into staying at home, Margaret began to physically hurt herself as she scratched and clawed at own her face, pulled her hair out and punched herself in the mouth, causing herself to bleed a little. Carrie ignored her mother's crazy actions and even used her powers to physically slide her mother out the door of her bedroom and shut it in order to get ready without being distracted. Later that night, Tommy picked up Carrie for the prom as he promised, while Margaret stayed to herself and prayed silently in another room.
"red, I might have known it would be red..."
Arriving at Thomas Ewen High School's Senior Prom "Spring Ball" escorted by Tommy, Carrie was dazzled by all the glamour surrounding her. And as the night progressed Carrie's nerves began to fade and she felt comfortable while opening up to her peers and even made a few small jokes with some of the prom goers who finally treated her equally and with respect for once. For the first time since she can remember, Carrie enjoyed herself and Tommy even became romantically attracted to Carrie in secret.
"I love your prom dress. Where'd you buy it?" Asked Frieda. "I made it." Said Carrie in a shy voice. "Oh, made it?" Frieda's eyes widened in surprise. "No shit!" Carrie felt herself blushing furiously. "Yes, I did. I like to sew. I got the material at John's in Andover. The pattern is really quite easy, I'd make you a dress if you'd like. "Really? That'd be far out!" Frieda replied.-(Carrie 1974)
This Little Bloody Piggy...No More Oink!
Soon, Miss Desjardin came over to the table Carrie sat at, and she told her the story about her own prom experience. However, little did Carrie know, or anyone else for that matter, was that Carrie was walking into a vile prank initiated by another girl in her class, Chris Hargensen, the main antagonist of Carrie's tormentors who ruthlessly bullied her earlier in the book, as well as all her life. In the book, Chris is also the most beautiful and popular girl in school who's father was a successful and very wealthy lawyer. Chris believes Carrie was to blam for her being banned from going to the prom after she became the ringleader in humiliating Carrie in the girl's locker room when Carrie received her first period. So as revenge, Chris had her abusive, greaser boyfriend who was the leader of a dangerous gang in Chamberlain named Billy Nolan, and a few of their friends, partake in the plot against Carrie to embarrass her in front of the entire student body. Chris had Billy viciously slaughter and kill two pigs at a local farm and drain their blood into two big metal buckets. Then Billy placed the buckets over the school's stage on a high rafter beam completely hidden out of sight. Chris then had her friends rig the ballots for prom King and Queen to ensure that Carrie and Tommy would win the contest.
Pig's Blood for Carrie White.
Chris and Billy eventually arrived to the school unseen. They quietly lurked outside the gym patiently. Just as planned, Carrie and Tommy are announced as the winners. A lush dog fur collar was thrown over Carrie's shoulders and Tommy was given a sceptre wrapped in aluminium foil. Then the two were immediately ushered up onto the stage to be crowned. But when the crowd began to sing the school song as tradition, this was the cue for an unseen Chris to pull a rope cord that caused the two buckets above to tip over and drench Carrie and Tommy with the rotting pig's blood while they sat on the thrones for the King and Queen.
"When the bucket fell, she was at first only aware of a loud, metallic clang, like a gong. Then she was deluged in thick warmth and wetness. She closed her eyes instinctively. There was a grunt from beside her, and in the part of her mind that had come so recently awake, she sensed brief pain: (Tommy). The applause and music was cut off and came to a crashing, discordant halt, a few clapping hands and singing voices hung on after it like broken strings, and in the sudden deadness of silence and anticipation, filling the gap between event and realization, like doom, she heard someone say quite clearly: "My God, that's blood!" A moment later, as if to ram the truth of it home, to make it utterly, officially real; someone screamed. Carrie stood there with her eyes still tightly closed and the horrible realization of how badly she had been cheated came over her, and a horrible, soundless cry came from her mouth (oh...I...Covered...with...it...) Carrie felt the big black sea of gut-wrenching humiliation rise over her like a titlewave, the terror was now rising in her head: Momma had been right after all. They had fooled her again, tricked her again, gulled her again, made her the butt again! The horror of it should have been monotonous, but it was not--they had gotten her here, up here, up here in front of the whole school. They had repeated the locker room scene all over again, but ten times fold. They had finally given her the shower they wanted, yet this time the voice had said "My God that's blood!" Instead of "Plug it up!"
A faithful illustration of Carrie's reaction while sitting on the Queen's throne in her dress of crushed red velvet after the prank as described in the novel.
"They were drenched. Carrie got it the worst. She looked exactly like she had been dipped in a bucket of red paint."
Pig's Blood, For A Pig!
"If she opened her eyes and it was true, oh, what then? WHAT THEN? Someone began to laugh, a solitary, affrighted hyena sound, and she did open her eyes, opened them to see who it was and it was true, in a magnified kaleidoscope she saw the final nightmare, she was completely red and dripping from head to foot. They had bathed her in the very secretness of blood, and her thought (they're...'LOOKING...at..ME...) was colored red with ghastly shame. Without realizing it, she put her hands up to her face, in a useless attempt to hide her shame. She could smell herself and it was the stink of blood, the awful, rotted and wet, coppery smell, and more of the laughter came in, oh yes, next was the laughter. A little chuckle, followed by a second, then a third-a girl's soprano of giggles-now a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a dozen! Now all of them, all laughing. They were laughing at her again..."
Seconds after the blood dump, one of the buckets fell on top of Tommy's head, knocking him out instantly and possibly even killing him. To Chris's delight, the prank was followed by a rain of cruel laughter in mass hysteria, by everyone in the room including the teachers and chaperones. Carrie, thinking additionally that Tommy had been purposely killed for taking her to prom, was overcome with humiliation and utter grief. She clumsily attempted to flee the blood splattered thrones while struggling to keep her balance. When Carrie hopped off the stage's platform, Miss Desjardin came rushing towards her with lying compassion. Carrie could see with her telepathy, where the real Miss Desjardin was, and she was still laughing like everyone else.
Before she could reach her, Carrie looked at Miss Desjardin's direction and she flew backwards as if pushed by an unseen force. Miss Desjardin hit the wall next to the stage so hard, that the impact gave her a bloody nose. Before Carrie could make it to the exit, she was deliberately tripped by someone in the crowed and fell, causing the laughter to grow even louder. Eventually Carrie made her way through the exit and out the lobby doors, losing both her high-heel shoes as if she were Cinderella fleeing from the ball. Once outside and alone, Carrie began to weep upon the grass on the front lawn of the school's campus. Tricked once again, Carrie was going to simply accept what had happened and shamefully return back to her home to admit to her mother she'd been right after all. She was ready to face more hours locked in that dark, lonely closet--praying endlessy for the rest of her life as she had always done before.
It Has Nothing To Do With Satan, Mama. It's Me...
"She was ready to go home, to Mama, tell her she was right. ("NO"!) It was like steele vehicle breaks in her mind. And something within her suddenly rose up and she cried the word out strongly: "NO! "
These last thoughts made Carrie suddenly snap. She changed her mind, upon realizing that she had a special gift to use as a secret weapon. Her telekinesis would give her the ability to make her tormentors pay for what they had done. They were in the palm of her hands. They were under her thumb and in her power. She had the ((((!!!POWER!!!)))), and the word echoed in her mind. "POWER"...and oh, what a word that was!
Part Three: Bloodbath
It was time to teach them ALL a lesson, time to show them...a thing or two! Carrie giggled to herself hysterically, it was one Mama's pet phrases.
Spring Ball-Bloodbath
"WITNESSES TESTIMONY OF THE BLACK PROM. By Survivor Norma Watson in Reader's Digest: It all happened so quickly that no one really knew what was happening at first. 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 it was blood. It splattered all over the thrones, hitting with a loud splash sound. They were drenched, Carrie got it the worst. She looked exactly like she had been dipped in a bucket of red paint. I say: 'My God, that's blood!' When I said that, Tina screamed. And the scream 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 metal buckets dangling high over the stage above, clattering against one another. They were still dripping. All of a sudden one fell, with a lot of loose string following out behind it, and it hit Tommy Ross on the top of the head. It made a very loud noise, like an ancient chinese gong. That made someone laugh. I don't know who it was, but it wasn't the way a person laughs when they see something funny or joyful. It was cruel and raw and hysterical and awful. At the same instant, Carrie opened her eyes wide. That was when they all started laughing. I did too. God help me. 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 tarbaby in it. There was a picture of the tarbaby sitting in the middle of the road, looking like one of those old-time Negro minstrels with the black-face and great white eyes and exaggerated lips.
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 butt of every prank and practical joke for so, so 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, a person being put back into their proper place. And next, that happened. That horror. And so there was nothing else to do. It was either laugh or cry, and who could bring themselves to cry and feel sorry over Carrie White after all those years? And she just sat there on the Queen's throne, staring out at everyone, and the laughter kept swelling, and 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 just slumped over in his seat as if he had passed out or gone to sleep. You couldn't tell he was hurt, though: he was splashed, too bad. And then Carrie's face...broke, I don't know how else to describe it. Her hands clawed up and she slowly put them up in front of her face, as if she'd just realized everyone was laughing at her. She half staggered to her feet but got tangled up in her dress and nearly fell off the stage and right into the crowd below, and that made people laugh even more.
Then she sort of...hopped off the platform and attempted to get off the stage at the side. It was like watching a big red frog hopping off a lily pad. She almost slipped again while going down the steps but kept on her feet. Miss Desjardin came running over to her, and she wasn't laughing any more. She was holding out her arms to her, to help her. But then she veered off and hit the wall beside the 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 fast with her hands clutching her face, and somebody put their foot out. I don't know who it was, but she went sprawling over and fell flat on her face. leaving a long red streak on the floor. And as she did she said, 'Ooof!' I remember that. It made me laugh even harder, hearing Carrie say Ooof like that. People had circled around her and she started to crawl along the floor like a baby, I think she might've been crying by that point, you couldn't exactly tell though, their was too much blood everywhere. But then she got up and immediately ran out the exit without looking back. She ran right past me, and you could smell the blood. It smelled like something sick and wet, like mildew and rotted meat. She clumsily went down the stairs two at a time and lost her shoes in the process, then she was gone and out of sight. 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 while tears rolled down his cheeks from chuckling. 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, but smitten. Some of them were wandering around, talking a little, but not much. Helen Shyres had laughed so hard she burst into tears, and that made some of the others start up again, but kept it to themselves. Then someone yelled: 'Hey, call a doctor! Hey, call a doctor quick, I think he's a gonner!' It was Josie Vreck.
He was up on the platform, kneeling by Tommy Ross, and his face was white as paper. He tried to pick him up, but the King's throne accidentally fell over and Tommy rolled on to the floor, yet still nobody moved. They were all just staring. I felt like I was frozen in ice. My God, was all I could think. My God, my God, my God, this is gonna be something people are gonna talk about for years to come. And then this other thought slowly crept in, and it was as if it wasn't my own at all, like I was unwillingly reading someone else's mind. I was thinking about Carrie, and about God, and about power. It was all mixed up together, and it was just dark and vicious. Stella looked over at me and said: 'Carrie's back.' And I said: 'Yea, that's right.' Don't ask me how I knew, I just did. Carrie had come back, I didn't see her return but I knew, it was so, so weird. Suddenly all the lobby doors instantly slammed shut at the same time. They slammed so fast and hard the sound was like one hundred hands clapping at once. Somebody in the back screamed, they had been caught in the door, 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, I saw Carrie looking in from outside, through the thick glass windows. Her face all smeared red, like an Indian with too much war paint on. But she was smiling, and it wasn't a cheerful smile, but a twisted, cheshire cat one. They were going ballistic, 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 were being battered and smashed up against the doors, 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 tuxedo jackets and shaws. 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 back fire doors. Some did. Those were the lucky 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 everyone was soaked. Some girls mascara was running down their cheeks and boys greased hair began to wash out. Josie Vreck was on the platform and was yelling for the guys in his band to turn off the electric amps and mikes quick, but they were all gone. Suddenly the fire hose was out, and blasting water at everyone near the doors. It was knocking them around and forcing them to step away. This caused the panic at the doors to stop and people quickly backed away, looking up at the ceiling or went to look for other places to get out. I heard somebody - Don Farnham, I think-say: 'This is gonna totally ruin the decorations and wreck the basketball court!' A few of the prom goers started to go over and look at Tommy Ross and they were trying to carry him off stage. All at once I knew I wanted to get out of there, I knew the worst had yet to come. 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 door were open - I could see a few people running out. But most of everyone had went back to the main doors again, trying to break the glass. 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. I heard a horrible, deadly scream, and I looked and saw Rhonda Simard. She was just below the thrones getting electrocuted, her limbs were jerking and her head was shaking. That same instant there was a huge flash of light and I heard another painful scream, and a helpless feedback whine. I looked back again and saw Josie Vreck holding on to one of the mike stands. He couldn't let go. His eyes were bugging out and his hair was on end and it looked like he was dancing. His feet were sliding around in the water next to Rhonda 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 on the stage. The feedback went up to a scream that was head-splitting, and then there was another sizzling flash and it stopped. Then Rhonda's prom dress was on fire. 'Run!' Tina yelled at me. 'Come on, Norma, Please, I don't wanna die!' 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 broke and split into two. Suddenly there was a violent flash when it hit the water, and then everybody was screaming loudly all at once. Next we were out the door and running across the parking lot and away from the gymnasium. Behind me was an orange glow that arose, I suppose that's when the fire consumed the mural on stage and began to spread, I think I was screaming too, it's still a little fuzzy. I don't remember anything very well after they started screaming. After those high-voltage cables hit the water-covered floors..."
Carrie finally snaps, unleashing a huge display of exceptionally strong telekinesis
"They all hate and they never stop. They never get tired of it. Imagine Chris Hargensen all bloody and screaming for mercy, with rats crawling all over her face. Good. Good. Crash in her head with a rock, with a boulder. Crash in all their hearts. Good. Good..."
Revenge!
In a cold rage, Carrie's mind finally snapped and she returned to the school barefoot and with a sadistic vengeance and a thirst for bloody revenge. She saw how Tommy had fallen from the throne to the ground with people surrounding him and, as she stood safely outside the auditorium, she decided to give everyone a taste of their own medicine ten times fold. Carrie set about locking all the prom goers inside the gym, teachers and students alike by telekinetically sealing the gymnasium doors, slamming them shut all at once.
Carrie unleashing her powers...
"The lobby was empty. She paused halfway up the stairs and FLEX, the doors all slammed shut under the concentrated force she directed at them. Inside, they all rushed to the exits and Carrie stood there watching, they were trying to get out. "Oh no, no, no...naughty, naughty." She could hear them screaming and it was music to her ears, sweet soul music, and she smiled."
Hearing this, many people inside panicked and that started a stampede. They rushed to the exits and tried to bang on the doors, hammering them, pounding on them to open them, but Carrie's powers were far too strong, they were trapped! Carrie then peered into the windows and watched students faces smashed up against the glass like fish in an aquarium, seeing this made her laugh. Next she looked up and turned on the sprinkler system to wet everyone and ruin their expensive tuxedos and gowns; the only regret she had was it was raining water and not blood. Suddenly, one of the band musicians on stage was severely electrocuted by the large amp that had gotten soaked from the water. This made Carrie laugh again and she used her mind to break the backstage high-voltage power cables by picturing them in her head and threw them crackling on the wet stage causing purple sparks to fly into the air. Two students on the platform were also Immediately electrocuted; the lead band member named Josie Vreck (one of the loudest ones who laughed at Carrie) began to convulse uncontrollably when he touched the microphone and volts of electricity violently shot through his body. And a girl named Rhonda Simard busted out in a crazed puppet dance when she accidentally stepped on one of the cables, causing her prom dress to catch fire and burst into flames, setting her entirely ablaze.
Carrie then telekinetically used the cables like slithering snakes and flung them back and forth into the air, painfully whipping people, shocking them and breaking their skin. She then dropped them upon the wet ground below. When the cables withered in the puddles of water, there was a violent flash, like lightning, and everyone was screaming all at once as they were killed. Once the hot sparks from the cables caught onto the prom's backdrop mural, causing it to completely catch fire, the hot flames quickly spread throughout the entire gym. Carrie mercilessly left the remaining prom goers trapped inside with the now dead Tommy to be consumed by the hellish inferno created by her telekinetic abilities, the rest was history.
However, before moving completely on, the town emergency whistle went off and startled her. As a result, Carrie's mind's eye lost sight of the gymnasium doors for a second and some of the prom goers almost got out. But Carrie used her power and slammed them shut again, catching somebody's fingers (to her it felt like Dale Norbert) in the jamb, severing one of them.
"She wasn't even aware that she was crying, or rubbing her bloody hands on her dress as if she was Lady Macbeth and laughing to herself at the same time. She began to reel across the lawn of the campus, the dew from the sprinklers still covered the grass and made her wet, bare feet feel relieved and cooled off but her breathing was heavy and uncontrollable. Behind her, the gymnasium, once a place consisting of formal glamour and filled with teen romance, was now cooking in bright flames that gave the night sky above an orange, apocalyptic haze, like a war zone. She walked past the sidewalk and right onto the black tar street and faced the direction that would lead her downtown. Inside her chest, her heart was pumping widely, the heart of a hummingbird, almost without beating. Her skin was chilled by rage and cold as an ice cube. As she moved, she resembled a stiff, scarecrow-like figure, yet bloodied and with her bulging eyes nearly popping out of her weeping sockets. Suddenly, she stopped short, having herself one last final look of the gym and saw that the fire had spread to the other buildings. Something she couldn't exactly identify told her that a few of them had gotten out somehow--out through the fire doors, was it? But by that point, it didn't matter, because she'd get them later, every last one. Indeed, the fire consuming the school had become a hell of its own, but it certainly wouldn't be the last thing to burn..."
Ewen High School becomes a Hell pool.
Despite Carrie's hostile revenge, a few lucky students and Miss Desjardin were smart enough to escape via fire exit down the auditorium's corridor in the hallway next to the gym. It was the one and only exit that Carrie forgot to seal. The survivors got out just in time before being electrocuted and burned to death with everyone else still inside. When Carrie left the campus to return to her home, she made sure no one could put out her fire or tame her flames as she opened all the fire hydrants near the area to prevent the fire trucks from helping or saving anyone stuck inside. Eventually the gym exploded a half-hour later, demolishing the entire school.
Part Four: Devil Comes To Chamberlain
Chamberlain up in Hellfire
"A WITNESSES TESTIMONY: People were running and yelling all over the place, and that's when I saw Carrie White. I had never seen her before, but somehow I just knew it was her, it was Carrie White, I can't explain it. She had started downtown, and lemme tell you, she looked God awful. She was wearing some kind of fancy party dress, well, what was left of it, and she was completely covered with blood. She looked like she just crawled out of a terrible accident. But then I looked at her face, and she was grinning. It wasn't happy though, it was a wicked grin. I never saw such a grin. It was like the Devil's grin. It was like a death's head. And she kept looking at her hands and rubbing them on her dress, trying to get the blood off and thinking she'd never get it off, and how she was going to dump blood on the whole town and make everyone pay. She stopped at a the corner and stood motionless under a street light, by the fire hydrant on the corner of Main and Spring. Then all of the sudden the street light flickered and it came falling down right into the street with a big crash, sparks were shooting everywhere, causing car accidents when the vehicles slammed on their breaks and tried to miss hitting it. Next I looked, and the whole top of the hydrant exploded in three different ways. Water came out through the left, right, and straight up to heaven in crucifixion pattern.
And she was laughing to herself, thinking how she was gonna give Chamberlain a bloody shower. After the hydrant exploded, I lost sight of her. But a little ways off the whole upper half of the town's business section was burning. The Amoco station and the old beauty shop was nothing more but a pit of rubble and ashes. Woolworth's was nothing but a blazing hell pool. The fire had spread to three wooden store fronts next to that - Duffy's Bar and Grille, The Kelly Fruit Company, and the billiard parlour were next. The heat was ferocious. Sparks were flying on to the roofs of The Maitland Real Estate Agency and Doug Brann's Western Auto Store. Fire trucks were coming in, but they could do very little. Strangely, the fire hydrants on the entire street near the campus were all stripped. The only trucks doing any business at all were two old volunteer fire department pumpers from the next town over, Westover. And about all they could do was wet the roofs and walls of the surrounding buildings, which was useless. And of course the Ewen high school, it was gone, just...gone. Of course it's fairly isolated, nothing close enough to it to burn, but my God, all those kids stuck inside...all those kids..."
Carrie telekinetically destroys most of Chamberlain!
Carrie's extremely powerful telekinetic abilities initiated a highly destructive rampage causing much worse disasters in downtown Chamberlain than at the high school. As Carrie walked home barefoot, she left a path of destruction and death in her wake: she "flexed" her mind as hard as she could and made local gas mains at numerous corner stations explode, and let the broken pumps leak the spilt gasoline into the roads. While a male bystander is walking nearby, he carelessly drops his lighted cigarette on the ground, not realizing the streets are covered in gas. This caused more explosions which destroyed and demolished the town shops and local businesses. Carrie also used her powers to cause several fire hydrants to explode, flooding the streets. Carrie then brought down the powerlines and when the snapped power wires hit the water and gas soaked pavement, it ignited several wildfires that burned down the majority of the town's neighborhoods. Countless of bystanders were killed in the streets and electrocuted by the wires of the fallen powerlines as they evacuated from their burning homes. By this point, the entire heart of Chamberlain was up in flames, taking literally hundreds of lives with it.
"Carrie walked out the Church and stood in the middle of the road and watched the flocks of people in their night clothes running in the distance. They were streaming towards downtown, they had come to see what happened to their town, and most also came to die. 'Animals, filthy beast, let them burn. Let the streets of this Godforsaken town be filled with the smell of their sacrifice, their misery, their blood.' FLEX, and just then she saw the street powerlines come crashing down on the crowd of people, releasing purple and white sparks in every direction that reminded her of fireworks. The wires tangled and littered the streets like pick-up-sticks and the people began to scream and panic. Some had accidentally stepped on or touched the wires and immediately went into marionette like electrical dances that looked funny to her. She chuckled and laughed to herself, 'Let them all look funny!' Some had already slumped into the street, their robes and pyjamas smouldering. 'That will give them a dance, now everyone can have a prom tonight!' And finally, she turned back and headed home to Momma, to fully complete her destruction."
Chamberlain Maine is ablaze...!
- Also, most importantly, Carrie let loose a strange side effect of her abilities: "broadcast telepathy," which means that anyone within a certain radius of the disaster area suddenly found themselves learning about the destruction at Ewen High and downtown Chamberlain. They also learned from this telepathy, that it was "Carrietta White" causing the destruction, regardless if they knew or not who Carrie even was. During the entire event, Carrie seemed completely catatonic and was believed to even be "smiling" as she moved along. She then went into a cathedral to pray, while at the same time, objects from the church (such as pews, hymnals and a Communion set) were thrown.
Carrie wrecks Havoc upon Chamberlain.
"I came to kill you, Mama. And you were waiting here to kill me..."
Carrie finally made it back home. With her telekinesis, she made the front door swing wide open and she destroyed all the items in the house as she entered the doorway. Clocks, dishes, plates, pictures and other religious objects where tossed and thrown into the air breaking and shattering as they fell to the floor. Carrie, still covered in blood, much of it being her own by now, and one of her bare feet was bleeding from stepping on a broken bottle in the streets, had the intention of finally killing her mother who had been waiting for her daughter to return to her. Due to seeing that orange haze in the sky from the flames burning all throughout the town, Margaret had come to believe the Devil had truly come to Chamberlain, to collect Carrie's soul. The only way Margaret could save her condemned daughter was to kill her before the Devil did. As Carrie approached her mother bloody and dirty, Margaret sat before Carrie and then told her about her miscarriage and the true story of how she considered killing herself after having premarital intercourse with Ralph. She also confessed that Carrie was conceived by marital rape and that she was a punishment from God. Margaret, thinking that Carrie was possessed by the Devil himself, carefully took out Ralph's old kitchen butcher-knife from the folds of her dress so couldn't see. She told Carrie, she tried to kill her twice before during the first few years of Carrie's life, but she "backslid." As Carrie fell down to her knees to weep and pray with her mother, Margaret stabbed her daughter in the shoulder, the blade went all the way into Carrie's shoulder with only the handle visible. Margaret had hit an artery, causing Carrie much pain as she began to bleed heavily. Angry by her mother's actions, Carrie decided it was time to teach Mama a lesson too. So in return, Carrie used her powers to slow her mother's heart down, painfully and very slowly, until eventually stopping it completely and killing her by giving her a heart attack. With Margaret dead, Carrie then left her home as the whole neighborhood street was on fire, consuming all the houses on the block one after the other. And sure enough, the wildfire eventually reached the White's bungalow and nearly burned it completely down as well.
Destroyer of Chamberlain Maine. 2013
Carrie, with the butcher knife still stuck deep in her shoulder to the hilt, wandered aimlessly until she approached the roadhouse called "The Cavalier", where her father drunk himself into a stupor before raping Margaret. It was amazing how she kept going, despite her wounds, but she still had one more last thing to do to complete her final destruction. Carrie arrived just in time to catch Chris and Billy fleeing the establishment after making love inside. Here, Carrie could feel them, almost taste them with her telepathy. She faced the two who she needed to finally kill most of all before the night was over, before she was completely finished with her rampage of revenge.
"As they went out through the fire door Billy said: This place sucks, anyway! They slowly got into his car, and he started it up. When he popped on the headlights, Chris began to scream in terror, hands in fists, up to her cheeks, eyes wide and filled with shock. Billy felt it at the same time: something in his mind had interrupted his thoughts, (carrie carrie carrie carrie) a presence had intruded. It was Carrie, who was standing in front of them, perhaps seventy feet away. The high beams revealed her in all her ghastly horror; dripping and clotted with blood. Now much of it was her own. The hilt of the butcher knife still protruded from her shoulder, and her tattered and torn velvet gown was covered with dirt, black grease and grass stains. She began moving towards them in an ungainly fashion, she slowly put her arms in the air and smiled at them."
Knowing she was responsible for what had happened to Ewen High and downtown Chamberlain, Billy tried to run Carrie down with his car to kill her. However, Carrie "felt" the car approaching and wrestled the oncoming vehicle with her telekinesis and violently slammed it full force into the roadhouse. Billy's nose was broken and his torso was crushed into the steering wheel. Chris was immediately thrown face first into the dashboard, busting the glass windshield. The car exploded, killing both Chris and Billy instantly and also destroying the building, starting yet another major fire that burned all through the parking lot.
Billy attempts to run Carrie down...not a very smart idea.
After the explosion, Carrie became weak and collapsed in the middle of the lot out of exhaustion from over using her powers and also the blood loss caused by her wound. Sue, who had been following the trail of destruction caused by Carrie in hopes of tracking her down to stop her rampage, finally arrived a short time later only to find Carrie nearly dead on the ground in the burning lot. Carrie, in pain and slowly dying from her injuries blamed Sue for the prank. But before Carrie died Sue invited Carrie into her mind to see that she had no part in planning the nasty joke that occrued earlier that evening. And just paired her up with Tommy as amends for locker room incident. Carrie found that Sue was innocent and never really felt any personal hatred towards her. After crying out for her mother, Carrie died in Sue's arms and as her body began to shut down Sue also felt Carrie dying and experienced her death as well due to their physic connection minutes prior. Seconds after, Sue got up to fetch for help but could feel herself miscarrying, though she initially thought that she was apparently having her period. Whether it was her really miscarrying Tommy's baby or a just a period caused by a side effect from Sue's and Carrie's brief connection is unknown.
The Aftermath
The "Black Prom" tragedy hits the nation bigger than the JFK assassination. Carrie's story becomes a controversial and highly discussed subject. An autopsy is performed on Carrie's body. The coroner's report lists Carrie's brain has a diffrent cell pattern compared to other brains. Scientist begin to take the concept of telekinesis more seriously. People all over the world are also scared that another telekinetic child could be born. Miss Desjardin, one of the few lucky survivors, resigns due to her guilt for not reaching out to Carrie, for not preventing what happened on prom night and secretly for having approved the prank in the end, even stating that she would rather commit suicide than teach again, Director Henry Grayle also resigns for not preventing more what happened. Meanwhile, the authorities and skeptics are investigating and trying to figure out what exactly happened in Chamberlain Maine that caused 440 people to die. It's a rather big mystery, due to the fact Carrie killed almost all of the witnesses in her mass-homicide. And with so many people dead and so much destroyed outerly and innerly, Chamberlain becomes a virtual ghost town, and even a popular tourist attraction because of Carrie´s actions. Sue Snell goes on to write a memoir about her involvement with Carrie White. She warns her readers to never forget about Carrie, or the events that occured in Chamberlain, or something like it could happen all over again.
- Carrie's body was finally buried next to her mother's in a graveyard somewhere in Maine. Carrie's headstone also makes a cameo appearance in the novel (IT) which also takes place in Maine.
The book closes with a letter written by a hillbilly woman in Tennessee whose baby daughter is developing incredibly strong advanced telekinetic abilities as well. However, unlike Margaret White, she expresses fascination with her daughter's natural abilities, and predicts that her daughter will become a "real world-beater someday". (This may be interpreted as Carrie having risen above her oppression and having been reincarnated into a more loving home.)
- Excerpt from a letter dated May 3, 1988, from Amelia Jenks, Royal Knob, Tennessee, to Sandra Jens, Maiken, Georgia: And your little niece is growin like a weed, awful big for only 2. She has blue eyes like her daddy and my blond hair but that will porubly go dark. Still she is awfull pretty & I think sometimes when she is asleep how she looks like our momma. The other day wile she was playin in the dirt beside the house I sneeked around and saw the funnyest thing. Annie was playin with her brothers marbles only they was mooving around all by themselfs. Annie was giggeling and laffing but I was a little skared. Some of them marbles was going right up & down. It reminded me of gramma, do you remember when the law came up that time after Pete and there guns flew out of there hands and grammie just laffed and laffed. And she use to be able to make her rocker go even when she wasen in it. I gave me a reel bad turn to think on it. I shure hope she don't get heartspels like grammie did, remember? Well I must go & do a wash so give my best to Rich and take care to send us some pitchers when you can. Still our Annie is awfull pretty & her eyes are as brite as buttons. I bet she'll be a worldbeeter someday. All my love,
Melia.
1976 film
The 1976 movie version of Carrie was portrayed by Sissy Spacek. Here, Carrie had long strawberry blonde hair and clear skin and the plot of the movie is close to that of the novel, but certain differences did occur.
Sissy Spacek as Carrie White getting ready for the Prom.
This Carrie was similar to the "novel Carrie," in that she was abused by her mother, Margaret, and constantly teased by her classmates. Carrie had her first period while showering after a PE class and, instead of the other girls helping her out, they threw sanitary napkins at Carrie and yelled, "Plug it up!" The gym teacher, here named Ms. Collins, stopped the debacle.
Then Carrie was asked to the upcoming senior prom at Norman Bates High School by the handsome Tommy Ross, boyfriend to Sue Snell, one of Carrie's tormentors. Sue persuaded Tommy to take Carrie to the prom in her place out of guilt for her part in the shower incident.
As the story unfolds, Carrie's mother would not hear of her child doing something such as going to the prom, for Margaret constantly reminded Carrie, that boys only want to satisfy their intimate desires with girls, and once that happens it will lead Carrie down a road of endless sin. Carrie, however, had had enough of hearing, that everything was sinful. She saw the prom as a new beginning. A further fight with her mother on the night of the prom only fueled Carrie's resolve.
"Don't lie to me, Carietta! Don't you know I can see inside you? I can see your sin as surely as God can!."
Carrie began to gradually emerge from the shell, under which she had lived since childhood, as she mingled with the other prom goers. When she and Tommy were called up to the stage later in the evening to be crowned the prom king and queen, Carrie could hardly contain her joy, because she had finally felt, what it was like to "belong."
But it didn't last long, because, while Carrie and Tommy were on stage, Chris Hargensen and her boyfriend Billy Nolan were hiding underneath to keep tabs on Carrie's location, so that they could unleash the torrent of pig´s blood upon her, when the moment came. When it was over, poor Carrie had blood in her hair and on her gown. Tommy was seething at what happened, but the bucket. that held the blood, fell on his head, knocking him to the stage floor, maybe even killing him in front of Carrie. While some stood in disbelief looking horrified, others were mad with laughter, especially some of Billy's crew and one of Chris' clique, Norma Watson. Ms. Collins, who, earlier bonded with Carrie like a friend.
Carrie stood alone, drenched in blood and on the stage as the last threads of her sanity were broken and had a vision of everyone laughing at her, the teachers too. Finally caving in to her insanity, Carrie became catatonic. She remembered her "gift" and began exacting revenge by locking the gym doors, where the prom took place (crushing Billy's friends within); releasing a fire hose and spraying everyone in sight and eventually hitting electrical apparatus and setting off a huge fire. Carrie left the gym at the climax of her revenge leaving all the students to burn. Later, when Chris and Billy attempted to mow her down with Billy's car and effectively complete their plans, Carrie telekinetically threw the car into a roll before causing it to explode, killing both passengers burning them in flames. When Carrie returned home, she found both floor and ceiling was littered with lit candles. She then went upstairs to wash the blood from her body and change into a nightgown. She called out for "Momma," and found Margaret waiting for her. Carrie broke down and told her mother they all laughed as Margaret said they would. In turn Margaret told her daughter about the night she and Ralph made Carrie out of wedlock.
Carrie after the prank
Margaret then brought Carrie to her knees so that the two could properly pray together. Meanwhile, Margaret had "snapped" earlier on and hidden a knife under one of the floor boards to stab Carrie with, having fallen to the belief that her daughter was ruled by Satan. While they both recited the Lord's Prayer, Margaret stabbed Carrie and caused her to fall downstairs, backwards. She then stalked the frightened child throughout the house, eventually backing Carrie into a corner. Finally, Carrie used her powers to "crucify" her mother to the kitchen doorway.
When it was over, Carrie was overwhelmed by guilt, grief and rage. She screamed to the top of her lungs and grabbed her mother. However, Carrie's powers "spiraled" out of control and caused the house to collapse around her and her mother. Quickly removing Margaret's body from the doorway, Carrie raced for the kitchen closet where she spent many nights being forced to pray for forgiveness and shut the door. Within, Carrie was hit in the head by falling debris and killed. The house was also set aflame due to some of the lit candles falling down, and it eventually sank underground, taking Carrie and Margaret with it.
Sue is the only survivor and, when Sue one day dreams of having put flowers to Carrie´s place, she dreams that Carrie's arm comes out of the ground and is scarred from her dream.
Carrie 2: The Rage!
Carrie appears in this movie, too, but only in flashbacks through a now middle-aged Sue Snell's memories about what happened regarding the events, which later lead to the Black Prom. We learn that Sue Snell had a mental breakdown and was put into a mental hospital due to the guilt of what happened to Carrie, Tommy and all the other students she knew back in the 1970's. As a result she eventually became a school counselor to help teens at the local high school. We also recognize, that the town of Chamberlain has changed because of Carrie White's rampage. After the deaths of 73 high school students in the 70's, many people since then have left the town. The original high school is left abandoned and lies in ruins and has not been rebuilt. It has become a sort of a sick and twisted memorial of that doomed night, and a painful reminder to the community of what happened in their town all those years ago. And because of it, the citizens have come to literally hate Carrie White, even in death. And as a result Carrie has become somewhat of an urban legend even though the telekinesis part of the story is not taken too seriously, and looked at as a "suicide-revenge" type thing.
The new Bates High school is now instead in another part of the expanded town that has grown since Carrie's demise and there Rachel Lang, Carrie´s half sister, who is also a telekinetic, is an attending student along with her best friend who commits suicide after a cruel and degrading sexual prank is played on her. This tragic event will later lead to the Black Party.
Carrie 2002 TV Movie
- This is an adaptation of Stephen King's novel. It is not an official remake of Brian De Palma's 1976 horror movie. If you read the book and then compare with this telefilm you will find that this version is the most faithful transfer from book to film.
Angela Bettis was the actress who portrayed Carrie in 2002.
The younger Carrie was played by Jodelle Ferland who causes a rain of fiery stones to fall out the sky like in the novel. This version of the character in general was more similar to the novel than Sissy Spacek's portrayal.
Bettis as Carrie 2002.
Throughout much of the movie, there were segments where different characters gave their accounts of the Ewen High prom night incident. Also, the "downtown destruction" segment, as portrayed in the novel, which was left out from the 1976 movie because of budget constraints occurred here. It also shows that Carrie was not consciously aware of what she was doing, because the prank and the subsequent laughter had put her in a temporary, catatonic state of mind where her inner rage took over and unleashed her secret powers which led to the subconscious activation of her prom rampage and the tragic destruction of the town.
Bettis as Carrie 2002
However, when she returns home, she regains her consciousness in the bathtub shortly before her mother tried to drown her when she subconsciously took a bath to wash all the pig's blood off of her dress and her entire body. There her own mother accused her of being a witch and tried to drown her. In self-defense, Carrie used her telekinesis to stop her by stopping her heart like in the novel. However, she also entered a comatose state because of the murder attempt of her mother on her.
In the aftermath of this version, Carrie did not die, because Sue later came to her place and managed to revive her by performing CPR. She survived her post-prom ordeal with the help of Sue, hid in the ruins of the school and later escaped with Sue to Florida who drove her only half way. Carrie later went on to help other teens with their telekinesis in a hidden manner.
Carrie 2013 Film Remake
In the 2013 Carrie Remake film, Carrie White was portrayed by Chloë Grace Moretz.
Carrie 2013
Carrie in this version is more similar to the book, but in modern terms. At the beginning of the film, Carrie has her first period in the showers and is harassed by Chris and her gang. Chris also films Carrie with her phone while the other girls throw tampons and sanitary napkins at Carrie. Ms. Desjardin tries to calm Carrie down and a light fixture breaks by itself.
Carrie is picked up by her mother Margaret and at home dragged into the closet to pray. She screams at her mother and the closet door cracks. Both are shocked. Carrie then falls asleep in the closet shortly afterward. Her mother lets her out and asks Carrie if she finished praying. Carrie says yes and her mother kisses her on the forehead, telling her she loves her.
Carrie and Margaret fight.
At school, Carrie suspects that she has telekinesis. She then begins to study everything she can about her power. While practicing at home, the lights flicker and her mother comes up with a knife to check if she is all right. She lies down on the bed with her.
Carrie makes the knife fly off the desk onto the ground, without her mother noticing. She is asked to the prom by Tommy, but thinks it is a trick and is confronted again while walking home. This time she accepts. Now she. tries to tell her mother, but she is disinterested and attempts to walk away after telling her no.
Carrie reveals her power to her mother by lifting up all the furniture and her mother off the floor. She demands that she is going and wants to be normal. Carrie sews her own dress and buys makeup, and on prom night, her mother tries to convince her that it is a trick and threatens to tell Tommy the truth. She telekinetically pushes her mother into the closet and locks the door.
She leaves with Tommy and arrives at the prom. There she meets Tommy's friend George and his girlfriend Erika. Carrie is uneasy around them at first but laughs with Erika at their dates goofing off. She laughs when Erika says if they kill each other, she'll just dance with Carrie. When the four sit at their table, Carrie is surprised to see her and Tommy's names on the ballot.
When Tommy asks her if they want to vote for themselves, Carrie is unimpressed. George and Erika leave the two to dance and while Tommy wants to follow them, Carrie is scared to be in the center of attention. Tommy tells her, he wants at least one dance with her. Carrie gives in and dances with him. She feels amazing, as if her whole life has led to this moment. Later, she and Tommy win the election and Carrie is handed flowers while George and Erika cheer them on.
While on stage, Chris drenches Carrie in pig's blood. Carrie is shocked and stares at Tommy in disbelief. Tommy then furiously exclaims, "WHAT THE HELL?!" Carrie begins walking away ignoring Tommy's attempts to get her back on stage. She uses her powers to push Ms. Desjardin away, shocking and scaring George and Erika. The bucket then kills Tommy and everyone laughs at Carrie.
Carrie attempts to walk off the stage. However after seeing Tommy die, she runs back to him and mourns his death. Carrie (along with George, Erika and Ms. Desjardin) is sadden by this.
However after Chris's video of her having her period appears on screen, Carrie realizes she has been made a fool of and reaches her final breaking point. She unleashes her power on everyone by locking the doors and causing objects such as tables and chairs to fly around the room, killing several people. Sue witnesses this from outside. A fire starts and the school burns down.
Carrie White After The Prank!
Many perish in the fire (except Ms. Desjardin) and Carrie leaves, leaving a massive trail of destruction and flames while she walks home.
Eventually, she comes across Chris and Billy who attempt to kill her by running her over, but she uses her power to stop the car and in the process kills Billy, then sends the car flying into the gas station, killing Chris in the process. It then blows up.
Carrie returns home where she finds that her mother has escaped the closet and has gotten hold of a kitchen knife. She strips off her bloody clothes and takes a bath, washing off the blood. She changes into her pajamas and meets her mother in the upstairs hall. Her mother tells her of the night she was raped and therefore conceived her.
Margaret stabs Carrie in the back, but they fly in opposite directions. Carrie then falls down the stairs and brutally hits the wall, leaving a blood stain. Her mother manages to slash her arm in the process. She kills her mother by impaling her with the household objects.
After cradling her mother to death, Carrie realizes what she has done and makes stones begin to rain from the sky. Sue appears shortly afterwards, but is held in the grasp of Carrie. After scanning Sue's brain, she realizes that she had nothing to do with the prank. She tells Sue (who didn't know) that she is pregnant with a girl before throwing her out to safety.
Carrie's alleged grave 2013
At the end after Sue's words, Carrie's headstone cracks before exploding, you hear her screams. This indicates that Carrie has survived.
Alternate Ending
In an alternate ending, we see Sue giving birth to the baby mentioned by Carrie. But instead of a baby, a blood-covered arm comes out (Carrie's?). Sue wakes up screaming revealing that the arm was her mother's.
At 1:39:59 in this alternate ending, there is a 'hidden' frame with Carrie holding Sue's baby.
Appearances
- Carrie
- Carrie (1976 film)
- Carrie: The Musical
- The Dead Zone (novel, mentioned)
- IT (novel, mentioned)
- The Rage: Carrie 2 (in flashbacks; no lines)
- Carrie (2002 film)
- Carrie (2013 film)
Trivia
- She also shares similarities to Alessa Gillespie from the Silent Hill video game series, as Carrie and Alessa both possessed extremely strong advanced telekinetic/psychokinetic abilities, have been
- They are both tormented at their schools by their cruel classmates, and both have psychotically religious mothers.
- She shares a similarity to It and a doctor, who is the villain in The Pied Piper. They are all telekinetic and telepathic.
- She shares a similarity to the dog Max in the horror film Man's Best Friend. They both have been tormented and always get revenge.
- She also shares this similarity to Matilda Wormwood from the Roald Dahl book Matilda, as they both use their powers to get back at those who tormented them.
- Carrie shares a similarity with Andrew Detmer from Chronicle. Both of them were outcasts, though Andrew had it better as he had a clique of 3 friends, abusive parents (Carrie's mother and Andrew's father) and finally gained telekinetic powers before going on rampages. Many think of Andrew Detmer as the guy version of Carrie, and that Chronicle was influenced by Carrie. The 2013 Carrie remake parallels the 2012 Chronicle movie in several scenes.
- She is not killed in the second adaptation and it is hinted, that she lives in the 2013 adaptation as well.
- She is also somewhat similar to Lucy from Elfen Lied, as they both are tormented by students and angrily murdered them as they laughed, using forms of telekinesis.
- She also shares a similarity to Aggie Prenderghast, both being treated as outcast, both having telekinesis and both used their powers to those who offended them.
- She also shares this similarity to Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a girl judged unsightly and humiliated daily by Cordelia Chase, the queen bee of her campus like Chris Hargensen. Willow also obtains a telekinetic power by becoming a witch. Her friendship with Buffy is possibly comparable to the relation between Carrie and Sue Snell as far as these last tries to restore her self-confidence in her and is in a way her guardian angel. However, Willow is neglected and not abused by her parents. Another difference, she was considered like the most studious among the campus contrary to Carrie who is ignored on all spheres. Altough, Willow is a lesbian. When her girlfriend is murdered, Willow becomes a temporary dark version of herself, vengeful and empowered, similar to Carrie when humiliated in the prom. Interestingly, Willow has a veinous face like Rachel Lang in the sequel. Others females characters on the show are also inspired by Carrie. The relationship between Amy Madison (Elisabeth Ann Allen) and her mother (Robin Riker) is similar to Carrie and her mother from the 1976 film because the father left the family home. The mother becomes psychotic, obsessed by her youthful age and often humiliating her daughter. Another enemy, Drusilla (Juliet Landau) is depicted in her former human life as a pious, shy and virginal girl like Carrie, haunted by her medium power and considered herself like the devil's gift. Becoming schizophrenic and vampirized, she has a behaviour similar to Margaret White. Another medium, Cassie Newton (Azura Sky) is depressed by her own power and has cut all relationships.
- In the 2013 film adaption Carrie was born in 1995 and died in 2013, meaning the film is set in 2013.
- In the 2013 film adaption, when Carrie tells Sue that her baby is a girl and saves her life. Due to Sue being pregnant by Tommy's unborn child, may be one of the reasons Carrie let Sue live.
- Carrie has some similarities between her and Alfred Drevis from Mad Father both had something traumatizing happen to them Alfred's being murdering his own mother and Carrie's being Pig's Blood dropped on her they also do what they do because of said event Alfred experiments on people turning them into dolls and Carrie went on a rampage destroying the town they also both died in an extreme way Alfred's being getting betrayed by his assistant Maria and having knives thrown at him then being stabbed in the back by a pitchfork by Dio and Carrie got rubble dropped on her
Powers and Abilities
◾ Advanced Telekinesis - Carrie's most known psionic ability is that she can easily control, rearrange, assemble, manipulate, throw and move multiple objects and people at once by strongly focusing her mind and boundless energy on the voluntary action or to channel her telekinesis through her emotions or impulse. Additionally, the 1976 movie and book implies that Carrie must see with her eyes what she manipulates; the 2013 movie shows Carrie using her hands to manipulate her telekinetic strength. In the 2013 movie: While studying the books about telekinesis and miracles she concentrated on a book that was positioned on a table on the other side of her room and while she focused on it, the lights started to flicker and the floor started shaking, eventually she was controlling all of the books as well as levitating her bed. While heading out the door to prom, Carrie forced Margaret to freeze and telekinetically forced her mouth shut as she pushed her into the Prayer Closet and then slammed and locked the door. During her attack on the student body after her humiliation, she showed that she was able to levitate and toss flaming objects, like when she ignited the stage and tossed a flaming moon decoration across the room at a table, which then burst into flames. She can also manipulate electrical appliances, like when she animated electrical cords to attack Tina, which zapped her and caught her in the fire which was set on a table. She was also able to telekinetically levitate herself as shown after she finished her attack while she flew off the stage. The level of telekinesis Carrie displayed in all incarnations seemed to be tied to her rage; the angrier she became, the more feats of telekinesis she was able to achieve.
Levitation- Carrie was able to levitate and even glide out of the school. She telekinetically lifted off the ground.
◾ Telepathy - Carrie also possess telepathic abilities that include the reading of minds, projection of thoughts and manipulation of minds. The first mention of telepathy in the book takes place when Tommy invites Carrie to prom and ends up with a weird sensation in his head. Carrie's telepathy grew stronger by the time of the prom night, when she unknowingly reached into Tommy's head and twisted things around. Tommy described it as though Carrie's mental voice and image were stuck in his mind and blanked his other thoughts out (this was an indication of Carrie's mind control abilities) so much so that Tommy began growing afraid of Carrie. The novel had Carrie display her telepathy to its full potential when she telepathically broadcasted her name to anyone that was within a certain radius; people who had no idea who Carrie was, suddenly knew her name, how she looked like, and the fact that she was responsible for the town's destruction, which was what made the entire world remember who Carrie White was. When Carrie found Billy and Chris in their car, seemingly due to her telepathy, she began shouting her name inside of their heads, probably in an attempt to intimidate them. The end of the novel had Carrie engage in a telepathic conversation with Sue, after Sue felt Carrie drawing her in with her telepathy and ended up getting "mindraped" when she invited Carrie to read her thoughts to prove her innocence; this was a painful experience for Sue. When Carrie died, Sue felt her death due to the psychic connection. The 2002 movie shows Carrie subconsciously sharing flashbacks of her life with Sue, but she does not appear to read Sue's thoughts, an ability she probably would have shown in the tv series that was never made. The 2013 movie implies that Carrie telepathically connected with Sue in both directions: Carrie tells Sue that she would soon have a baby girl, shortly before gently forcing her out of her home. This ability is not directly addressed in the 1976 movie.
◾ Hydrokinesis & Freezing - In the 2002 movie, Carrie may or may not have turned on the sprinklers, as fires were already raging; however, she was able to push water away from herself before electrocuting others. Additionally, the book mentions that a very young Carrie summoned chunks of ice with the rain of rocks (see "Geokinesis" below).
◾ Pyrokinesis & Thermokinesis - Unique to the 2013 movie, Carrie could also pyrokinetically, thermokinetically ignite objects. She initially displayed this ability by fusing the slide lock on the door to keep her mother locked in the prayer closet and also blowing cars up with her mind. While fire and explosions are seen in the book, Carrie only opens gasoline pumps and ruptures natural gas lines; the ignition source in every case is a cigarette carelessly discarded by another person. The 2002 movie hints at this ability but shows most fires started by sparking electrical equipment rather than pyrokinesis.This ability can be known as telekinetic destruction, molecular manipulation, spontaneous combustion, or telekinetic explosion.
◾ Geokinesis - The book tells the story of a very young Carrie summoning a shower of granite rocks when her mother nearly choked her to death. This is depicted as flaming rocks in the 2002 movie. In the 2013 movie, Carrie also showed the earth-related, elemental ability to create strong and destructive earthquakes, when she was pursuing Chris Hargensen and Billy Nolan, causing a fissure to follow them. Later, while mourning her mother's death, a distraught Carrie geokinetically summoned a shower of rocks to rain down on and destroy both her and her house. In the 2013 version, she geokinetically put a huge split in the road.
◾ Technopathy & Electromagnetism - In the book, she is able to roll a car down the street without levitating it and apparently with the wheels turning. In the 2002 movie, Carrie is able to cause a microphone cable to spark without touching or damaging it through other means. In the 2013 movie, she was able to disrupt electronic appliances such as lights to flicker or malfunction.
◾ Dream Control- It is uncertain of, but in at least the original and 2013 films, Sue experienced a nightmare in which Carrie's arm is seen, either reaching out from the ground to grab her or from inside her body. This may also have just been the result of Sue's experience from the night of the prom, but this is unknown.
Gallery For Carrie:
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