Quitters, Inc.

Infobox short story |
name = Quitters, Inc.
author = Stephen King
country = United States
language = English
genre = Horror short story
published_in = "Night Shift"
publisher = Doubleday
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pub_date = 1978
preceded_by =
followed_by =

Quitters, Inc. is a short story by Stephen King, first published in 1978 in the compilation "Night Shift".

Plot summary

The main character, Richard ("Dick") Morrison, is a middle-aged man who would like to quit smoking. A friend advises Morrison to go to Quitters, Inc., the firm that had he says helped him kick the habit. The firm is said to have a 98% success rate with their clients and guarantees that once the person has enrolled for treatment, he will never smoke again.

Morrison finds out about the brutal enforcement methods used by Quitters, Inc. from Vic Donatti, Morrison's quitting counselor. These include administering non-fatal electric shocks of increasing intensity to his family members if he is caught smoking a cigarette, and eventually, with enough infractions, administering shocks to him as well. Donatti also reveals that after the ninth infraction, Morrison's mentally disabled son's arms would be broken. Finally, if Morrison commits a tenth infraction, Donatti says, placing a gun on his desk, Morrison would become part of "the unregenerate two percent." "But even the unregenerate two percent never smoke again. We guarantee it."

With some difficulty, Morrison is able to quit, after only one slip, which results in his wife being abducted and shocked. But she understands- she too wants Morrison to quit smoking, so she forgives him. Morrison, however, now must deal with other aspects of the firm's strict methods. His counselor gives him a prescription for some diet pills, and said that if he does not lose the weight he has gained as consequence of quitting smoking, then his wife's finger will be cut off. Morrison loses the weight, but later learns that the friend who sent him to Quitters, Inc. had not been so lucky... His wife is missing a finger.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

It was dramatized as a section of the film "Cat's Eye" starring James Woods and Alan King.

No Smoking is a 2007 Bollywood film, starring John Abraham and Ayesha Takia in lead roles. It is directed by Anurag Kashyap and produced by Vishal Bharadwaj and Kumar Mangat. Paresh Rawal is to play the villain in the movie. This movie has been heavily inspired by this short story. The screenplay has been written by Anurag Kashyap for this movie. In this movie John Abraham plays the role of Morrison and Paresh Rawal plays the role of the counselor. The movie is very similar to the original story where Paresh Rawal runs an institution which helps people to quit smoking using brutal tactics. The movie has an abstract presentation.