Carrie by Stephen King

Yep, it's another Stephen King novel. This time it's his very first (published) one which was released in 1974 and made into a film two years later.

The book focuses on an outcast school girl called Carrie who possesses telekinetic powers. She also possesses a hugely religious mother and is a scapegoat for the school bullies. However, after accepting an invitation to the school prom from one of the most popular boys in the year, things start to look up. Until the bloody finale, of course.

I'd seen the film loads of times before reading the book so I kind of knew what to expect but I also knew the book would be different. However, I didn't expect it to be this different.

The book is written in the style of a collection of newspaper cuttings, interviews, biographical book sections and telephone recordings which is a style I've not experienced/read before.

Most of the film content leading up to the prom is almost the same as the book, once the prom has started, however, the book is much different with a lot more death, destruction and horror. As Carrie strolls through the streets in the book, there is more action than just the flipping of a car. The deaths of certain characters are also very different to the film version.

This was a book which would have been a lot more shocking if I didn't know what was coming but still had a creepy factor to it

Carrie was another one of those books which I found hard to put down and was finished in three or four days (it could have been less but I'm a busy man these days) and was worth the £2 I paid for it in a charity shop (although I recently found that I actually happen to already own the book).

If there's anyone out there wanting to read some Stephen King I'd say start with Carrie as it's fairly short at 270-odd pages and nowhere near as intimidating as It.

Total rating 4/5