Firestarter, A Head Full of Ghosts and Nineteen Minutes are the closest books to Carrie. At ReadNext, we match read-alikes on what made the original work. Firestarter gives a young girl a psychic fire ability that explodes against the people who hunt her. A Head Full of Ghosts follows a teen girl’s frightening affliction in a family with a devout father, and Nineteen Minutes follows school bullying to a violent end.
The twelve picks below are grouped by three threads (dangerous powers, zealous families and school cruelty), so you can start from the one that stayed with you. Most of them are adult novels with graphic content, and every blurb carries a plain content note. If you want a teen-friendly list with no sexual violence or suicide, most of this selection is a poor fit, so start with Sawkill Girls.
Our order changes if you loved King’s voice more than the premise. In that case, Firestarter, the only other Stephen King book here, is the place to start.
Books Like Carrie, Grouped by the Thread You Loved
Dangerous Powers in Young Hands
1. Firestarter
Stephen King
Stephen King gives a young girl a psychic fire ability that explodes against the people who hunt her. Unlike Carrie, this is a chase story. Expect graphic violence.
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2. The Fury
John Farris
John Farris writes about telekinetic teenagers in the 1970s whose powers are exploited by others. The book has graphic violence and sexual content, so younger readers should skip it.
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3. The Power
Naomi Alderman
Teenage girls around the world suddenly gain the power to give electric shocks, and the book follows what happens when the balance of power between the sexes flips. Content includes graphic violence, sexual violence and abuse.
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4. The Year of the Witching
Alexis Henderson
An outcast girl with a dark power lives inside a brutal, puritanical religious community. Expect graphic violence and abuse.
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5. Sawkill Girls
Claire Legrand
Misfit teen girls in a cruel small town face a supernatural power awakening. It is young adult horror, and violence is its main content note.
Find it on AmazonFanatical Faith and Controlling Families
6. Flowers in the Attic
V.C. Andrews
Children are trapped by a cruel, religiously zealous grandmother while their mother fails them. Content includes child abuse, incest and sexual content, which makes it a poor pick for younger teens.
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7. A Head Full of Ghosts
Paul Tremblay
A teenage girl suffers a frightening affliction, and her devout father watches the family unravel. Expect graphic violence and self-harm.
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8. Hell Followed with Us
Andrew Joseph White
A queer teen outcast escapes an extremist religious cult and becomes monstrous. It is young adult horror with graphic violence, body horror and abuse, so sensitive teen readers should know that going in.
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9. My Best Friend's Exorcism
Grady Hendrix
Two high school best friends in the 1980s fight a possession, and Grady Hendrix sets it among cruel cliques. Expect graphic violence and self-harm.
Find it on AmazonBullied Outcasts at the Breaking Point
10. Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson
A high school girl is ostracized and isolated by her classmates after a hidden trauma. It is a young adult novel that deals with sexual assault.
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11. Thirteen Reasons Why
Jay Asher
High school cruelty and humiliation push a girl to a tragic end. It deals directly with suicide and sexual assault, so younger readers should read it alongside a trusted adult.
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12. Nineteen Minutes
Jodi Picoult
Years of bullying end in a school massacre, and a town looks back. It contains graphic violence, suicide and sexual assault.
Find it on AmazonThe Three Threads That Make Carrie Work
Carrie runs on three threads: a dangerous power, a zealous home and a cruel school. Each group here follows one of them further than the others do.
The power thread runs through the first group. Firestarter, The Fury, The Power, The Year of the Witching and Sawkill Girls all follow young people with a dangerous power.
The faith thread runs through the second group. In Flowers in the Attic it is a grandmother, in A Head Full of Ghosts a father, and in Hell Followed with Us a cult. The cruelty thread runs through the third group: Speak, Thirteen Reasons Why and Nineteen Minutes.
If you want Carrie again, pick one thread and stay inside its group before trying the others.
How to Choose by What You Loved Most
The fastest way to choose is to name the scene from Carrie you keep thinking about, then start in the group that matches it.
- A power breaking loose: start with Firestarter or The Fury, where young people’s powers turn violent.
- The religious home: start with The Year of the Witching or A Head Full of Ghosts.
- Carrie’s isolation: start with Speak, about one isolated girl.
- A whole town looking back on a disaster: start with Nineteen Minutes.
- A mistreated girl turning the tables: The Power gives teen girls destructive power they turn on their abusers.
Which Books Like Carrie Suit Teen Readers
Eight of the twelve picks here are written for adults. Four are young adult books: Sawkill Girls, Hell Followed with Us, Speak and Thirteen Reasons Why.
Young adult does not mean light. Hell Followed with Us has graphic body horror and abuse, Speak centers on sexual assault, and Thirteen Reasons Why deals with suicide and sexual assault. Sawkill Girls has the least to flag of the four young adult picks, mainly violence.
For a teen reading this selection alone, start with Sawkill Girls. Flowers in the Attic, The Fury and The Power carry sexual content or sexual violence and belong with adult readers.
Where to Go After These Books Like Carrie
Once you finish these, follow the thread that kept you reading. If the hunted girl in Firestarter worked for you, stay with Stephen King. If The Power or The Year of the Witching hooked you, our list of books like The Hunger Games for adults is the next place to look.
Prime Video released a Carrie limited series from Mike Flanagan, with all eight episodes out on October 7, 2026. If the show brought you here, read the novel first.
If none of the three threads is what you want next, take the What Should I Read Quiz to match on mood instead, or browse Books Like the One You Just Finished for other read-alike lists.
