"Sometimes dead is better."
-Stephen King, Pet Sematary
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It might sound strange to some fans, but if one were to ask about my favorite books by horror master Stephen King, more than one of them would come from his alter ego, Richard Bachman.
King used Bachman as a pseudonym for several excellent works published from the late 1970’s and into the 1980’s. Most of the Bachman novels were gritty, dark, potent, timely and socially relevant.
While this persona was killed off in 1985, due to “cancer of the pseudonym, a rare form of schizonomia”, he appeared again with “lost manuscripts” in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.
However, this isn’t meant to dwell on Richard Bachman as a fictional character, but to take a moment to reflect on the short, yet definitively unique bibliography of novels released over this brief career.
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RAGE (1977): The first book to come out under the Bachman name, also ultimately ended up being the most controversial. Due to the nature of the work, involving a school shooting and hostage situation, the novel was heavily criticized as inciting violence in a series of real school shootings in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Inevitably, King took RAGE out of print in 1999, making original copies even scarcer to find. If you want a 1st printing of RAGE by Richard Bachman now, you might expect to pay thousands of dollars. Thankfully, RAGE was republished in the THE BACHMAN BOOKS (1985) collection, but that too has since been taken out of circulation.
THE LONG WALK (1979): I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that THE LONG WALK is my favorite novel not only by Richard Bachman, but Stephen King in general. It’s every bit as powerful and socially relevant as 1984 by George Orwell, or Lord of the Flies by William Golding, standing completely on its own merit as an important work of fiction in a pessimistic future which is becoming all too relatable. The book is a timely, haunting cautionary tale, and should be recognized as a crucial work of late 20th century literature. After decades of rumors, a film adaptation is finally in the works.
ROADWORK (1981): This novel gives us the tale of an “every-man” who is pushed too far by the state, the government, and his own personal loss. Expertly written, and once again controversial, ROADWORK tackles themes of government bureaucracy, Eminent Domain, and the sacrifice of personal freedoms for the sake of “progress”. The angry and cynical lead protagonist, Barton George Dawes, is mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!
THE RUNNING MAN (1982): While the first thing that might come to mind is the cult classic movie from 1987 starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, THE RUNNING MAN is another anti-totalitarian, post-apocalyptic adventure, this time set in the far distant future of 2019 (haha). In it, humans are hunted as sport on a live game show, while poor and uneducated viewers fanatically vote on their favorite “runners” and “stalkers”, all as corporate sponsors look down on the masses atop their luxury skyscrapers. Interestingly, a remake is currently in the works from talented filmmaker, Edgar Wright.
THINNER (1984): The final book published before King was outed as Bachman, THINNER is another dark, cynical, psychological thriller, centered around a gypsy curse (which I’m sure is no longer politically correct), and the last title to print early editions with Richard Bachman as the credited author. There’s a twist ending for the ages, and noted horror filmmaker, Tom Holland, directed a movie adaptation in 1996.
THE BACHMAN BOOKS (1985): This collection was released with the announcement of Bachman’s untimely “death”. It reprints all 4 of Bachman’s previous novellas, with a new forward by Stephen King on “Being Bachman”. Inevitably, the death of Bachman did everyone a favor, as it gave all of the books massive attention for the first time, dropping 4 new Stephen King tales on readers at once, and increasing sales 1000%. The unfortunate downside is that King never got to see if his experiment worked, or if Bachman would have eventually found success and notoriety on his own merit.
THE DARK HALF (1989): This follow-up book was inspired by Kings “separation” from Bachman, as a writer struggles with the sinister and parasitic doppelganger who wants to take over his life. A reinvention of Jekyll and Hyde, one can’t help but view this as King publicly struggling with his own personal demons and substance abuse issues during this period. King dedicated the book to “the late Richard Bachman”, and legendary director, George Romero, headed up the film version in 1993.
THE REGULATORS (1996): While the resurrection of Bachman was arguably a marketing ploy (tied in with King’s co-release of DESPERATION), this “lost manuscript” was still a welcome addition to the legacy of Richard Bachman. Weird, wacky, surreal, gory and menacing, THE REGULATORS resides in its own little world of far-out fantasy freakshow. You can’t deny that it’s a fun experience the first time you read DESPERATION and THE REGULATORS side by side.
BLAZE (2007): While BLAZE is a very touching and well written book, to me it doesn’t quite read like a newly discovered work from Richard Bachman, which is why many fans forget that it’s actually a “Bachman book”. Still, it’s a nice addition to the repertoire, and an overall solid story which we’ve come to expect from King on any given day of the week.
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We can only wonder what might have happened had Bachman continued writing, even if relatively unknown and hidden. King has previously stated that MISERY (1987), one of his most well known works, was originally intended to be credited to Bachman. Would MISERY have served as Richard Bachman’s breakthrough success, or would it still be in relative obscurity?
Eventually, if for no other reason than sales and publicity, King would have to let readers in on the “prank”. There was simply too much money to be made to allow these works to go unnoticed for another decade and fans were hungry for new King material in the 80’s and 90’s (as well as today). Still, it might nice if, somewhere out there, was one more lost manuscript and final story to be told.
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Michael A. Dyer is the host of the HORROR TO CULTURE podcast and website.
