"Cain Rose Up" is a horror
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
by American writer
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
. It was originally published in the Spring 1968 issue of ''
Ubris'' magazine, and collected in King's ''
Skeleton Crew'' in 1985. It deals with a depressed and homicidal college student, Curt Garrish, who goes on a murderous sniper
rampage from his dormitory room.
Plot summary
Curt Garrish is a college student who lives in one of the campus dorms. At the end of a spring semester, he returns to his room after a particularly hard exam. He talks to a couple of his fellow students and the dorm's RA who tells him to fill out a damage form. Garrish's roommate, an untidy student nicknamed Piggy, has already left for the semester. Garrish takes out a hunting rifle hidden in his closet. Rifles are permitted on campus, with proper documentation, for use on the campus' shooting range. Garrish had checked the rifle out and hidden it in the woods, retrieving it late at night while everyone was asleep. He
field strip
Field stripping is firearms terminology for the act of disassembling a firearm to the greatest possible extent without the usage of any extra tools. A disassembly that uses such tools is called a detail strip, but this is less common than a fiel ...
s and loads it from a box of ammunition. After talking to another student named Bailey, who takes the nude model pinups from over Piggy's bed, Garrish relates the story of
Cain and Abel
In the biblical Book of Genesis, Cain and Abel are the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain, the firstborn, was a farmer, and his brother Abel was a shepherd. The brothers made sacrifices, each from his own fields, to God. God had regard for Ab ...
, then opens a window and begins to hunt for targets outside. His first shot kills a pretty blonde student. His next shots take out her parents, then other students as they try to run. Garrish sees another student trying to hide and wanting to run but is frozen with fear. Garrish begins to pull the trigger again.
Film adaptation
The story was adapted into a short film in 2013. It was directed by Ranjeet S. Marwa.
The short story was adapted once again in 2022 by Miguel Alejandro Marquez, with actor Steven Braunstein starring as Curt.
See also
*
Stephen King short fiction bibliography
*
''Rage'' (King novel)
*
University of Texas tower shooting
*
School shooting
A school shooting is an Gun violence, armed attack at an educational institution, such as a primary school, secondary school, high school or university, involving the use of a firearm. Many school shootings are also categorized as mass shooti ...
References
External links
"Cain Rose Up" at StephenKing.com*
1968 short stories
Horror short stories
Short stories by Stephen King
Works about school violence
Works originally published in Ubris
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