Christine is a horror novel by American author Stephen King, published in 1983 by Viking Press. It was King's 13th published novel and his 8th under his own name. The story is set in the fictional Pittsburgh suburb of Libertyville, Pennsylvania, in 1978, and follows nerdy teenager Arnie Cunningham, who becomes obsessed with restoring a dilapidated 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine. As Arnie restores the car to its former glory, he undergoes a disturbing personality change, becoming more confident but also arrogant and cruel. His friend Dennis Guilder and girlfriend Leigh Cabot soon discover that Christine is no ordinary vehicle—she is possessed by a malevolent supernatural force with a jealous, possessive nature and a deadly will of her own.
The novel explores classic King themes of obsession, the dark side of nostalgia, and the corrupting influence of power. Christine herself is one of King's most memorable antagonists—an inanimate object imbued with a terrifying personality. The car's previous owner, Roland D. LeBay, is revealed to have been a hateful man whose spirit may have merged with the vehicle, continuing his misanthropic legacy from beyond the grave. The novel alternates between first-person narration from Dennis (who is hospitalized for much of the story) and third-person omniscient passages, creating an intimate yet expansive horror narrative.
King has said the inspiration came to him while driving home one night when he noticed his car's odometer turning from 9999.9 to 10,000, sparking the idea of an odometer running backwards and making a car younger instead of older. The novel was a commercial success, reaching number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and it cemented King's reputation as a master of turning everyday objects into sources of profound terror. Christine remains one of his most iconic works, tapping into America's love affair with automobiles and twisting it into something deeply sinister.