Carrie White’s prom night meltdown isn’t just horror-movie legend — it’s a master class in how religion, repression, and really bad boyfriends can spark literal fireworks. This month Laura and Kelly crack open the King classic to sift through the ashes of all that pig’s blood.

• Holy terror. From Margaret White’s fire-and-brimstone parenting to the locker-room fiasco that opens the film, we unpack how faith—and the fear it can breed—can power horror stories.

• Travolta in a twist. John Travolta’s Billy Nolan is the anti-Danny Zuko we never asked for. We debate whether Billy’s animal cruelty permanently dents Danny’s greaser glow or just reminds us that prom kings can be toxic too.

• Sex ed, then & now. Believe it or not, Chicago high schools piloted formal sex-hygiene classes way back in 1912 — decades before the 1950s boom that made “family-life” curricula mainstream. In other words, Carrie definitely should have known what was happening!

• Rubric time. We slap Carrie onto our 25-point fright scale and pair it with a Disney flick to wash the gore from our brains.

Grab your tiara, cue the pipes of Sissy Spacek’s rage, and join the conversation. Have your own prom-night horror story—or a Danny-turned-Billy heartbreak? Tag us on Instagram with #PoltergeistsAndPixieDust and spill the (pig’s) tea.

Your happily-ever-after horror fix starts now—press play!