Quitters, Inc. is a short story written by Stephen King, first published in his 1978 short story collection called "Night Shift".
Richard, a middle aged heavy smoker runs into his old college buddy. After talking a bit, his buddy tells Richard about a company called "Quitters, Inc." to which he credits his ability to finally quit smoking and advised Richard to give them a try.
Richard, who is not only fed up with being a smoker, has now also started drinking and hates his job. Richard needs a change, so he decides to contact this new company, Quitters, Inc, that claims to have a 98% success rate and guarantees that their clients will never smoke again. Why not try it, right?
On his first visit, Richard meets Victor, a man who will be his "quitting counselor". Victor explains to Richard their method of finding out about EVERYTHING in Richards life, every secret, everything from his past to present, as well as everything in his family's lives. Even though he explains that this information about him will remain confidential, Richard is quite angry at the intrusion. Matters are made worse when Victor explains that Richard will be under CONSTANT supervision, even inside his own home.
He also explains their use of "aversion training" in which he demonstrates how a rabbit can be trained to not eat by shocking it with electricity. He explains that if Richard is caught smoking (the first time) his family will be shocked in a similar manner. If shocking him and his family members (including his son and wife) isn't enough, they will move on to beatings, the breaking of bones. The 10th and final infraction is death.
How will Richard fare with his struggle to quit smoking?
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