By Wayne C. Rogers
For Stephen King’s avid fans (and there are many), Cemetery Dance Publications has begun publishing beautiful editions of his “early Doubleday novels.” These books include Carrie, Salem, The Shining, The Night Shift, The Stand, and Pet Sematary.
Even though Carrie was King’s first published novel, I didn’t read it until about five or six books in. I had no interest in reading about a high school girl who gets her period, gets bombarded with sanitary napkins in the girls’ locker room, goes to a school dance, uses her super powers to burn down the school, and then kills her devout mother to exact revenge on those who have harassed her over the years. Sure, I’d seen the movie, starring Sissy Spacek at the time, but the novel didn’t interest me at all.
It was Salem that captured my attention and sparked my interest in Mr. King’s work. The paperback version of the book had just been released, and like many “faithful readers”, I finished it in one night and bought the hardcover version of The Shining the next day. It is no exaggeration to say that I am now obsessed with Stephen King’s work.
Still, it took me a few years to finally sit down and read Carrie’s book, one of his short stories. If I remember correctly, the original paperback was about 189 pages, and I finished it in one evening.
Last year, when Richard Chizmar announced a deal with Mr. King to publish his early books, I knew instinctively that I would buy all six volumes in the set. That way I would have a set of matching books. It didn’t matter that I had already bought a gift edition of The Shining from Subterranean Press, and that Carrie didn’t really appeal to me.
Well, I’m glad I bought Carrie because it’s a beautiful book. I’m lucky that I have a regular hardcover copy to read. I was actually afraid to open the gift copy for fear that it would reduce its future value, although its price will never increase that much. It may double or even triple in price, but unless it has Kim’s autograph inside, the price will always remain within the reach of those who like to collect and have a limited budget.
The book cover looks like imitation black leather, with the title and Kim’s name printed in gold lettering on the front. The novel itself has a beautiful wraparound dust jacket with a picture of Carly standing on a stage and lighting up the auditorium, decorated in black, orange and yellow. The paper inside the book looks expensive and feels thick. The font looks comfortable, and the borders on both sides are wider than those of a normal hardcover book. Finally, the several interior illustrations by Tomislave Tukulin are excellent and well laid out, adding a lot to the storyline.
There is, of course, a preface by King and an afterword by the author’s wife, Tabitha, both of which are available in paperback form to explain how precarious the King family’s financial situation was when Carrie was sold to Signet, as they tried to support two children on an income of £8,000 a year and to do odd jobs to make ends meet.
Carrie almost never did.
If Stephen King had not followed his wife’s advice to continue writing this story, he might have stopped writing novels for a while and focused on short stories instead. He sells short stories regularly, but not novels. Carrie really changed their lives and the direction of horror fiction. Thank God for Tabitha, thank God for believing in her husband’s talent.
In any case, if you are a devoted collector of King’s novels but have limited money, you might consider purchasing a gift edition of Carrie. Gift editions of Salem are available now and can be purchased before publication.
Order yours here.
score:5/5
