King's first novel, Carrie (1974), and his short story "Children of the Corn" (Night Shift, 1978), resemble Desperation in their use of passages of pseudo-scripture. In both works, characters make biblical sounding pronouncements to justify violence. In all three works, the effect of the biblical parody is at once comic and horrifying.

In Carrie, Mrs. White is a dangerous lunatic who thinks she can stop her daughter's natural aging process. Based on her own fear and loathing of sexual intercourse, Mrs. White is the prophet of a cult, whose one disciple is Carrie. Mrs. White, who had believed that she could keep her daughter a child (and therefore innocent) forever, beats Carrie for having her first period. While punishing the girl, Mrs. White recites her own version of the Garden of Eden story: '"And Eve was weak and loosed the raven on the world,' Momma continued...