#85 in Horror
Carrie
- 256
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
- Film 1976 +4
- On screen
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Our view
A short horror novel whose real subject is cruelty: a bullied girl from an abusive religious home, and what happens when she is pushed too far. Sympathy for Carrie is what gives the frightening scenes their weight. Some readers feel it shows as a first novel: they find slow stretches, and the interviews and documents inserted between scenes interrupt the story more than they like. At 256 pages, a good way into the genre.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Carrie is the debut horror novel by American author Stephen King, released in 1974. Set in the town of Chamberlain, Maine, the plot revolves around Carrie White, a friendless high school girl from an abusive religious household who has telekinetic powers. After a cruel prank pulled by one of her bullies on prom night, Carrie decides to take revenge.
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen 5 times — from 1976 to 2026.
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.6 across 1,775 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 92% of the weight and the score stays at 7.6 — the Horror average of 7.5 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.0 | 168 | 10% |
| Google Books | 9.0 | 6 | 0% |
| Hardcover | 7.6 | 1.6K | 90% |
Frequently asked
How long is Carrie?
It has 256 pages — shorter than 83% of the ranked books in Horror.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Horror — with scores between 7.5 and 8.0, closest to this book.
