Christine
Encyclopedia
Christine is a horror
novel by Stephen King
, published in 1983. It tells the story of a vintage automobile
apparently possessed by supernatural
forces. Later that same year, a film adaptation, directed by John Carpenter
and starring Keith Gordon
, John Stockwell
, Alexandra Paul
, and Harry Dean Stanton
, was released.
teen Arnold "Arnie" Cunningham spots a dilapidated red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury sitting in front of a house. Arnie makes Dennis stop so he can examine the car, despite Dennis' attempt to talk Arnie out of it. The car's owner, Roland D. LeBay, an elderly gentleman
wearing a back supporter
, offers to sell the car (named "Christine") to Arnie for $250. Unable to pay the full amount, Arnie gives LeBay a $25 deposit and agrees to return the next day with the balance.
The two teens return the following day, and LeBay invites Arnie into his house to sign the paperwork. While waiting for Arnie, Dennis decides to sit inside Christine, and as he does, he has a vision of the car and the surroundings as they were in 1958 when the car was new. Frightened, Dennis gets out of Christine, and decides that he does not like his pal's new car.
Arnie brings Christine to a do-it-yourself auto repair facility run by Will Darnell, who is suspected of having many illicit business operations. As Arnie restores the automobile, he becomes withdrawn, yet more confident and self-assured. However, he also becomes humorless and cynical, and Dennis is puzzled by the sudden changes in both his friend and Christine. The repair work proceeds haphazardly, and not all of the repairs seem to be done by Arnie. No one has ever witnessed him performing more than minor repairs and routine maintenance on the car. Also, Arnie's appearance improves in tandem with Christine's. When LeBay dies, Dennis meets his younger brother George, who relates to him Roland's past violent behavior. He is also told that LeBay's young daughter choked to death on a hamburger in the back seat of the car, and that LeBay's wife was so traumatized that she apparently committed suicide in its front seat by carbon monoxide
poisoning. As time passes, Dennis observes that Arnie is taking on many of LeBay's personality traits.
When Arnie is almost finished restoring Christine, an attractive new student named Leigh Cabot transfers to the high school. She becomes instantly popular and is regarded as the school beauty, and her decision to go out with Arnie puzzles everyone. While on a date with Arnie, she nearly chokes to death on a hamburger and is saved only by the intervention of a hitchhiker who uses the Heimlich Maneuver. Leigh notices that Christine's dashboard lights seem to have become glaring green eyes, watching her during the incident, and that Arnie tried to save her by ineffectually pounding her on the back. She begins to believe that she and Christine are competing for Arnie's affection, and she vows to never get into the car again.
Arnie's mother refuses to let him keep Christine at home, so his father buys him a pass for the airport parking lot, thinking that this will force Arnie to use the car only when absolutely necessary. Soon afterward, Buddy Repperton, a vicious bully whom Arnie and Dennis have gotten expelled from high school, and his gang of thugs vandalize the car. This incident unbalances Arnie even more and he plans to fix Christine again; however, as he pushes it through Darnell's garage/junkyard, the car quickly repairs itself. He strains his back in the process and begins wearing a brace all the time, as LeBay did, and his relationship with Leigh crumbles.
A number of inexplicable car-related deaths begin to occur around town, starting with Buddy and all but one of his accomplices in the vandalism. Arnie has an airtight alibi
in each case, but the police become suspicious of him. Although they find evidence linking Christine to the scene of each death, none is found on the car itself. Christine is piloting herself to commit these murders and repairing herself after each one. Eventually she also kills Darnell, a police detective working the cases, and Arnie's father.
Arnie becomes increasingly obsessed with Christine, forgetting Leigh entirely, and she and Dennis begin their own relationship and unearth details of both Christine's and LeBay's past. They devise a plan to destroy the car and, if possible, save Arnie. Once Arnie is out of town, Dennis and Leigh lure Christine to Darnell's garage and batter it into junk using a septic tanker truck. The remains are later put through a car crusher, and Dennis learns that Arnie and his mother were both killed in a highway accident. Witness accounts lead Dennis to believe that LeBay's spirit - strongly bound to Christine, and through her to Arnie - had torn itself away and caused the wreck.
Four years later, Dennis reflects on these events and what has happened since then. He and Leigh have parted after attending college together, and he is now a junior high school history teacher. He learns about a freak car accident in Los Angeles
, in which a movie theater employee - possibly the last surviving member of Buddy's gang - was struck and killed by a car that smashed in through the theater wall. Horror-stricken, Dennis speculates that Christine may have rebuilt herself and set out to kill everyone else who stood against her, saving him for last.
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
novel by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, published in 1983. It tells the story of a vintage automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
apparently possessed by supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
forces. Later that same year, a film adaptation, directed by John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
and starring Keith Gordon
Keith Gordon
Keith Gordon is an American actor and film director.-Life and career:Gordon was born in New York City, the son of Barbara, an actress, and Mark Gordon, an actor and stage director. He grew up in an atheist Jewish family and was inspired to become an actor at the age of twelve, after seeing James...
, John Stockwell
John Stockwell (actor)
John Stockwell is an American actor, director, producer, writer and former model.Stockwell was born John Stockwell Samuels IV in Galveston, Texas, the son of an attorney. His first feature film as an actor came in 1981's So Fine...
, Alexandra Paul
Alexandra Paul
Alexandra Elizabeth Paul is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Lt. Stephanie Holden in the television series Baywatch from 1992–97. She has starred in over 60 movies and television programs.-Personal life:...
, and Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
, was released.
Synopsis
In 1978, while riding home from work with his friend Dennis, nerdyNerd
Nerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...
teen Arnold "Arnie" Cunningham spots a dilapidated red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury sitting in front of a house. Arnie makes Dennis stop so he can examine the car, despite Dennis' attempt to talk Arnie out of it. The car's owner, Roland D. LeBay, an elderly gentleman
Senior citizen
Senior citizen is a common polite designation for an elderly person in both UK and US English, and it implies or means that the person is retired. This in turn implies or in fact means that the person is over the retirement age, which varies according to country. Synonyms include pensioner in UK...
wearing a back supporter
Back brace
A back brace is a device designed to limit the motion of the spine in cases of fracture or in post-operative fusions. Limiting the motion of the spine enhances the healing process and minimizes the patient's discomfort.Common back braces include:...
, offers to sell the car (named "Christine") to Arnie for $250. Unable to pay the full amount, Arnie gives LeBay a $25 deposit and agrees to return the next day with the balance.
The two teens return the following day, and LeBay invites Arnie into his house to sign the paperwork. While waiting for Arnie, Dennis decides to sit inside Christine, and as he does, he has a vision of the car and the surroundings as they were in 1958 when the car was new. Frightened, Dennis gets out of Christine, and decides that he does not like his pal's new car.
Arnie brings Christine to a do-it-yourself auto repair facility run by Will Darnell, who is suspected of having many illicit business operations. As Arnie restores the automobile, he becomes withdrawn, yet more confident and self-assured. However, he also becomes humorless and cynical, and Dennis is puzzled by the sudden changes in both his friend and Christine. The repair work proceeds haphazardly, and not all of the repairs seem to be done by Arnie. No one has ever witnessed him performing more than minor repairs and routine maintenance on the car. Also, Arnie's appearance improves in tandem with Christine's. When LeBay dies, Dennis meets his younger brother George, who relates to him Roland's past violent behavior. He is also told that LeBay's young daughter choked to death on a hamburger in the back seat of the car, and that LeBay's wife was so traumatized that she apparently committed suicide in its front seat by carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide , also called carbonous oxide, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal...
poisoning. As time passes, Dennis observes that Arnie is taking on many of LeBay's personality traits.
When Arnie is almost finished restoring Christine, an attractive new student named Leigh Cabot transfers to the high school. She becomes instantly popular and is regarded as the school beauty, and her decision to go out with Arnie puzzles everyone. While on a date with Arnie, she nearly chokes to death on a hamburger and is saved only by the intervention of a hitchhiker who uses the Heimlich Maneuver. Leigh notices that Christine's dashboard lights seem to have become glaring green eyes, watching her during the incident, and that Arnie tried to save her by ineffectually pounding her on the back. She begins to believe that she and Christine are competing for Arnie's affection, and she vows to never get into the car again.
Arnie's mother refuses to let him keep Christine at home, so his father buys him a pass for the airport parking lot, thinking that this will force Arnie to use the car only when absolutely necessary. Soon afterward, Buddy Repperton, a vicious bully whom Arnie and Dennis have gotten expelled from high school, and his gang of thugs vandalize the car. This incident unbalances Arnie even more and he plans to fix Christine again; however, as he pushes it through Darnell's garage/junkyard, the car quickly repairs itself. He strains his back in the process and begins wearing a brace all the time, as LeBay did, and his relationship with Leigh crumbles.
A number of inexplicable car-related deaths begin to occur around town, starting with Buddy and all but one of his accomplices in the vandalism. Arnie has an airtight alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
in each case, but the police become suspicious of him. Although they find evidence linking Christine to the scene of each death, none is found on the car itself. Christine is piloting herself to commit these murders and repairing herself after each one. Eventually she also kills Darnell, a police detective working the cases, and Arnie's father.
Arnie becomes increasingly obsessed with Christine, forgetting Leigh entirely, and she and Dennis begin their own relationship and unearth details of both Christine's and LeBay's past. They devise a plan to destroy the car and, if possible, save Arnie. Once Arnie is out of town, Dennis and Leigh lure Christine to Darnell's garage and batter it into junk using a septic tanker truck. The remains are later put through a car crusher, and Dennis learns that Arnie and his mother were both killed in a highway accident. Witness accounts lead Dennis to believe that LeBay's spirit - strongly bound to Christine, and through her to Arnie - had torn itself away and caused the wreck.
Four years later, Dennis reflects on these events and what has happened since then. He and Leigh have parted after attending college together, and he is now a junior high school history teacher. He learns about a freak car accident in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, in which a movie theater employee - possibly the last surviving member of Buddy's gang - was struck and killed by a car that smashed in through the theater wall. Horror-stricken, Dennis speculates that Christine may have rebuilt herself and set out to kill everyone else who stood against her, saving him for last.
- "His single-minded purpose.
- His unending fury."
See also
- Christine, a 1983 film adaptation
- The CarThe CarThe Car is a 1977 thriller/horror film directed by Elliot Silverstein and written by Michael Butler, Dennis Shryack and Lane Slate. The film stars James Brolin, Kathleen Lloyd, John Marley, and Ronny Cox, and tells the story of a mysterious car which goes on a murderous rampage, terrorizing the...
, a 1977 film about a killer car - From a Buick 8From a Buick 8From a Buick 8 is a novel by horror writer Stephen King. Published on September 24, 2002, this is the second novel by Stephen King to feature a supernatural car...
(2002), another novel by Stephen King about a mysterious car - "You DriveYou Drive"You Drive" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:Oliver Pope is in a hurry. The nervous and distracted man's mind is not on his driving, and as a result, he slams his 1956 Ford Fairlane into Timmy Danbers, a young boy delivering newspapers on a...
", an episode of The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
Editions
- USA, Viking PressViking PressViking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
ISBN 0-670-22026-4 (cloth text, 1983) - USA, Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. ISBN 0-937986-41-0 (hardcoverHardcoverA hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
, limited, slipcased and signed by author and artist, 1983) - USA, Tandem Library BooksTandem Library GroupBased out of Topeka, Kansas, Tandem Library Group provides title selection, online collection analysis, cataloging and processing services and customer support to libraries, publishers, and book wholesalers nationwide...
ISBN 0-606-00784-9 (preboundPreboundA prebound book is a book that was previously bound and has been rebound with a library quality hardcover binding. In almost all commercial cases, the book in question began as a paperback version.An alternate term is "Library Hardcover Paperback"....
, 1983) - USA, New American LibraryNew American LibraryNew American Library is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948; it produced affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works, as well as popular, pulp, and "hard-boiled" fiction. Non-fiction, original, and hardcopy issues were also produced.Victor Weybright and Kurt...
ISBN 0-451-12838-9 (paperbackPaperbackPaperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
, 1983) - Spain, Plaza & Janés ISBN 84-01-49889-9 (hardcoverHardcoverA hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
, 1992) - Spain, Plaza & Janés ISBN 84-01-49967-4 (hardcover, 1999)
- USA, Thorndike Press ISBN 0-7862-2631-5 (hardcover, 2000)
- USA, Signet Books ISBN 0-451-16044-4 (paperback, 2004)