Carrie is seriously one of the best horror films of the ‘70s about a misfit teenager who gets humiliated while accepting her Prom Queen title only to wreak havoc with her powers of telekinesis. The Brian De Palma-directed film is known for the outstanding performance of Sissy Spacek, its stylistic horror elements, and is the film debut of John Travolta. While the movie still has a couple of years to go before celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Stephen King book it came from celebrates its golden anniversary. The author himself can’t even believe it!
It’s hard to believe that when you look at the ultimate Stephen King collection, Carrie was the book that launched the “King of Horror’s” career. You better believe that the best-selling author is proud of his baby as he posted on X how happy he was for his book’s Golden Jubilee as well as another reason for him to celebrate.
Tomorrow, CARRIE turns 50. Hard to believe I’m alive to see it.
As Stephen King was 26 years old when he first wrote the book, I don’t blame him for being happy about his 76-year-old self being alive to see his debut novel turning 50. It’s an amazing realization to believe how long ago it was he made a mark in the literary world and then not long after for his best-adapted movies to be developed.
To think that the film adaptation of Carrie almost didn’t get made as a behind-the-scenes fact about the 1976 film revealed that the script to Stephen King’s debut novel was rejected immediately. Luckily, his book agent Marcia Nasatir became the new vice president of United Artists and did something about the script’s rejection. While it had to be made with half the budget, they made it work. You can also thank King’s wife, Tabitha, for encouraging her husband to keep writing the book as he was willing to give up on it believing it wouldn’t be a success. Well, look at it now!
Considering Carrie just turned 50, you don’t really think the beloved horror novel is going to be left alone, right? Stephen King revealed in a separate tweet something special that fans can seek out to commemorate the occasion.
You can even buy a 50th anniversary edition. Not flogging it; just sayin’.
A little shameless self-promotion never hurts, of course. According to Amazon, the 50th-anniversary edition includes not only a beautifully revamped book cover art but an introduction from The Handmaid’s Tale’s Margaret Atwood.
Fans of Carrie don’t just come in the forms of average filmgoers and bibliophiles, but big names took the time to celebrate the legacy of Stephen King like Tom Hanks, George R.R. Martin, Margaret Atwood, and more. I loved what actress Sissy Spacek said about King who “gave face to the underdog” through Carrie. It’s probably one of the reasons I take well to the supernatural horror film myself in that it would be easy to call Carrie White a straight-up villain. But, she’s a more relatable character in her motives being kind of understandable. The doomed teenager was a victim of constant bullying from her school peers and her mother which drove her way too far.
Stephen King must feel like a very lucky man to say he’s alive to see his cherished debut novel Carrie being celebrated after 50 years. If you want in on the prom night from hell, the Oscar-nominated film is available on your Max subscription. You can also get your copy of the 50th-anniversary edition of King’s epistolary novel on Amazon and bookstore shelves.