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50 free Carrie trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Carrie started as three pages Stephen King threw in the bin. His wife Tabitha fished them out, he finished the novel, and the paperback rights bought him out of teaching for good. Two years later Brian De Palma's film turned the prom-night bucket of pig's blood into one of the most famous images in horror and earned Oscar nominations for Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie. This quiz covers both the 1974 novel and the 1976 film: the plot and characters of each (and where they differ), King's writing and publication story, the casting and shooting of the film, the score, the box office, the awards, and everything that came after, from the notorious 1988 Broadway musical to The Rage: Carrie 2, the 2013 remake and the 2026 series. Difficulty runs from questions any horror fan will get to details for people who have read the book twice. Every answer was checked against the Wikipedia articles on the novel and the film, and each question shows its source.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who wrote the 1974 novel Carrie?
Stephen King
It was his first published novel, though he already had five unpublished ones in a drawer.
Q 02In which fictional Maine town is Carrie set?
Chamberlain
The town is left financially and emotionally shattered after the 'Black Prom'.
Q 03What is Carrie's full first name in the novel?
Carietta
She is 16 and ridiculed for her weight, her clothes and her mother's religion.
Q 04What is the name of Carrie's religiously fanatical mother?
Margaret
She locks Carrie in a closet as punishment for the 'sin' of menstruating.
Q 05What supernatural ability does Carrie possess?
Telekinesis
King was partly inspired by a Life magazine article on the subject.
Q 06Which popular girl leads the locker-room bullying and later plots the prom prank?
Chris Hargensen
Banned from the prom for refusing detention, she recruits her boyfriend Billy to collect pig's blood.
Q 07Which classmate, feeling guilty, asks her boyfriend to take Carrie to the prom?
Sue Snell
After the massacre she is scapegoated and writes a memoir defending Carrie.
Q 08What is the name of Sue's boyfriend, who takes Carrie to the prom?
Tommy Ross
In the novel he is knocked out by a falling bucket and dies in the fire without regaining consciousness.
Q 09What is dumped on Carrie at the moment she is crowned prom queen?
Pig's blood
Chris rigs the prom queen ballot so that Carrie is on stage under the buckets.
Q 10What is the name of the gym teacher in the novel who comforts Carrie after the shower incident?
Rita Desjardin
The 1976 film renamed her Miss Collins.
Q 11How does Carrie kill her mother in the novel?
She stops her heart
Margaret has just stabbed her with a kitchen knife; the flying knives are the film's version.
Q 12What nickname does the novel give the night of the disaster at the school dance?
The Black Prom
It leaves 440 casualties and prompts a congressional commission.
Q 13How many casualties does the novel report from prom night?
440
They include the majority of the graduating class; many survivors leave town.
Q 21What did King's original ending have Carrie doing before his editor talked him out of it?
Growing demon horns and destroying an airplane
Bill Thompson persuaded him to make the ending more subtle.
Q 22How many copies did the paperback edition eventually sell, boosted by the 1976 film?
Four million
The hardback had sold only about 13,000 to 17,000.
Q 23Who directed the 1976 film adaptation?
Brian De Palma
He pushed the studio for permission to direct after being intrigued by the story.
Q 14How does the novel end?
With a letter about a young girl showing telekinetic powers
An Appalachian mother writes to her sister that her four-year-old is 'destined to be even more powerful'.
Q 15What literary form does the novel partly take, mixing narrative with reports and excerpts?
Epistolary
King enjoyed faking documents in the style of Esquire and Reader's Digest.
Q 16For which men's magazine did King originally intend Carrie as a short story?
Cavalier
A friend had suggested he try writing a story about a female character.
Q 17Who rescued the first three pages of Carrie from the trash and urged King to keep going?
His wife Tabitha
He had given up out of discomfort and apathy, convinced it would never sell.
Q 18What was King's day job while writing Carrie?
Teaching high-school English
He lived in a trailer in Hermon, Maine, and taught at Hampden Academy.
Q 19Which publisher released the Carrie hardback in April 1974?
Doubleday
Editor Bill Thompson pushed the advance up from $1,500 to $2,500.
Q 20How much did New American Library pay for the paperback rights to Carrie?
$400,000
King's $200,000 share let him quit teaching and write full time.
Q 24Who plays Carrie White in the 1976 film?
Sissy Spacek
She turned up to her screen test with Vaseline in her hair and a seventh-grade sailor dress.
Q 25Who plays Carrie's mother in the 1976 film?
Piper Laurie
She earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the role.
Q 26Which future Grease star plays Billy Nolan?
John Travolta
He and Nancy Allen's Chris die when Carrie flips their car and ruptures its gas tank.
Q 27Who plays Carrie's chief tormentor in the 1976 film?
Nancy Allen
She was the last to audition, on the verge of leaving Hollywood, and later married De Palma.
Q 28Who plays Sue Snell in the 1976 film?
Amy Irving
Her mother Priscilla Pointer plays Mrs. Snell; she returned as Sue in The Rage: Carrie 2.
Q 29Who plays the gym teacher Miss Collins in the film?
Betty Buckley
She later starred as Margaret in the notorious 1988 Broadway musical.
Q 30Who wrote the screenplay for the 1976 film?
Lawrence D. Cohen
He shared a screenplay credit again on the 2013 remake.