Stephen King: Debut novel 1974’s CARRIE was a failure—at first
Horror legend Stephen King published his debut novel, CARRIE, in 1974. King, then working as a high school English teacher, had written three novels before he started writing CARRIE. Even then, he was only three pages into the new book before he gave up—and threw the first three pages in the trash. His wife, Tabitha, rescued the pages and encouraged him to finish.
Author Stephen King talks about his first published novel, "Carrie," during the Talking Volumes series at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Retold many times over the years in multiple media formats, the original story revolves around a bullied high school student from an abusive religious household who uses her new telekinetic powers to wreak revenge on her classmates.
Doubleday bought the hardcover rights for $2,500. Shortly after, New American Library bought the paperback rights for $400,000.
With a print-run of 30,000 copies, the hardcover only sold 13,000 copies. A year later, CARRIE came out in paperback - and sold more than one million copies its first year.
The book is dedicated to his wife: “This is for Tabby, who got me into it - and then bailed me out of it.”
There have been several adaptations of CARRIE, including:
The 1976 film directed by Brian De Palma, from a screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen
The 1988 Broadway musical with a book by Lawrence D. Cohen, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and music by Michael Gore
The 1999 film sequel THE RAGE: CARRIE 2
The 2002 NBC TV movie directed by David Carson and written by Bryan Fuller
The 2013 film remake directed by Kimberly Peirce, with a screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
