Review: Carrie by Stephen King – WORST. PROM. EVVVVER.

Short story: Horror, Supernatural. Contains violence, adult situations, and disturbing imagery. 

This was the book that was King’s big break; it started him on the path to becoming one of the most well-known authors in the United States of America. Comparing it to "The Shining", I think I prefer "Carrie". To me, it felt like "The Shining" didn't have a good enough climax to justify how long it took to get there, although it had a great ending, and still boasted some good tension and some cool imagery. "Carrie" is shorter and thus, in my opinion, better.

King’s style is creating characters, and then putting them in danger to scare you. This works, for the most part, and "Carrie" proves that you can use that writing style and still keep the story relatively short. There is some great imagery from King in this book; one particular scene stays in my mind.

Carrie White is approaching the prom of her school; she is picked on and bullied at school and is terrorized and manipulated at home by her overzealous mother. Her emotions start to manifest as telekinesis, which at first scares her but soon she realizes she can use these new found abilities to her advantage.

The nook provides a clear view of how some people are ruthlessly singled out and picked on in not just high school but their entire life up until adulthood. It also shows how these people could end up resenting society, when your whole life is a joke and you are hated by everyone you know, suicide and mass murder start to look like very lucrative options. King doesn't demonize the teens, however. They are uncertain about what they are doing, and although some of them are awful people, he makes fun of the assumption that they are all cruel and unforgiving. One of the people responsible for the chaos Carrie creates was just trying to help her.

It does, however, show how peer pressure can make people become sick monsters in the moment. The book has many newspaper clippings, experts from books created about the incident, and you can feel dread for what happens when Carrie unleashes her full power. But trust me, it’s worse than you thought it would be.

The book doesn't point fingers, the blame for what happens and what might happen in future time’s falls upon a number of people and flaws in our society and educational system. Something that has not gotten much better since 1974 when the book was written, and quite possibly has gotten worse.

If you are looking for smart horror, then I believe this book is a great example of how it is done. I rate it Great (If you haven’t read any of my previous reviews then this will show you how I review books; Awful - Bad - Good - Great - Brilliant). 

Thank you for reading and have a nice day!