Stephen King's Wife Dug 'Carrie' Out Of The Trash And Made Him Finish It

By | August 12, 2019

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Left: Horror writer Stephen King in 1986. Right: Cover of the first edition of King's debut novel 'Carrie,' published in 1974. Sources: Ted Thai/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images; Amazon.com

Carrie, Stephen King’s debut novel from 1974, tells the story of a high school student whose telekinetic abilities manifest themselves in horrific ways after she becomes a woman. She’s taunted by bullies, her mother over-shelters her to the point of abuse, and everyone who gets in Carrie’s way ends up on the wrong end of her psychic abilities.

King wrote Carrie while he was was working as high school teacher, but initially threw away the pages thinking they were awful. Fortunately, for horror fans, his wife dug them out of the waste basket and told him to keep writing. Tabitha King’s insistence that her husband keep writing started his career, and changed their lives monumentally. 

Stephen And Tabitha King Are Both Writers, But Only One Of Them Had A Typewriter

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source: pinterest

The King family was broke in the early ‘70s. Both Stephen and Tabitha came from lower class families, and in fact they were so poor that King had to borrow a suit and tie for their wedding. Even though they were both writers only Tabitha had a typewriter, which King used to peck out his books in his spare time.

The Kings, now with two children, were living in a double-wide trailer and barely making ends meet at the time. Even though they’re both authors in their own right, they just didn’t have the money for two typewriters. In 2003, when asked if he marred Tabitha solely because of her typewriter, King responded:

That’s only partly true. I married her because I loved her and because we got on as well out of bed as in it. The typewriter was a factor, though.