With September’s The Long Walk and November’s The Running Man, you’d be forgiven for thinking audiences have been inundated with Stephen King adaptions. But that’s not quite right. We’re been inundated with adaptions of King’s alter-ego, Richard Bachman.
Who was Richard Bachman?
King’s Bachman era ran from 1977 to 1984. During this time, he published Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, The Running Man, and Thinner as Bachman, while releasing gems like The Shining and The Stand as King. In “Why I was Bachman,” which prefaces the modern collection The Bachman Books, he denies having a perfect explanation, but posits that the pseudonym was, in part, a means of seeing if he could duplicate his success – rather than a random stroke of luck.
Bachman almost got Misery to his name, but was found out through mundanely logistical means: the dedications of his novels were to people related to King, and King’s name ended up on one of the copyright forms. The jig was up – and if Stephen King is writing under another pen name these days, no one suspects a thing.
(Though look up John Swithen’s The Fifth Quarter for another surprise.)
The Bachman Books (and Films)
King wrote seven books as Bachman. They are, in order of publication:
- Rage
Now out-of-print, Rage detailed a school shooter in the era before they became an epidemic. Unfortunately, multiple violent incidents were linked to the book, and King took it off the presses, calling it “dangerous.” He writes more about taking the story off the market, and gun violence in general, in his 2013 essay titled Guns.
Rage is unlikely ever to be adapted.
2. The Long Walk
Set in a future version of the USA that’s a little scant on details, The Long Walk might have the simplest premise of any King book. A group of boys compete to see who can walk the longest. Fall below 4 mph three times, and you “buy your ticket” - and get shot in the head. The last man standing wins the nebulous prize of “anything he wants.”
The Long Walk was recently adapted for the screen by Francis Lawrence. Most of the film is extremely book-accurate with a few tweaks, but the ending takes a serious (King-approved) diversion at the end.
3. Roadwork
This one is a melancholy meditation on change and those it leaves behind. Bart Dawes’ home is set to be torn down to make way for a highway extension. He needs to move house – and move the department he manages – but finds himself completely unable to do either. Within the first few pages of the story, he buys a gun.
It’s a relatively inconspicuous part of the King canon and has never been optioned for the screen. King himself calls it “the worst” of the Bachman bunch, but Mike Flanagan might be able to do something interesting with it!
4. The Running Man
Another dystopia (no hint as to whether it exists in the same world as The Long Walk), The Running Man details a future where reality TV games are many people’s only hope to claw their way out of poverty. One of the most popular shows is “The Running Man”, where a contestant must evade professional hunters who are literally out to kill him. Money will be sent to his family each day he survives as long as he physically posts a tape of himself to the studio. Ben Richards, in order to help his wife and sick daughter, auditions for the show and makes it on – but Ben is cleverer than most candidates.
November 7th, 2025 will see the release of The Running Man. It’s highly anticipated and will probably be a crowd-pleaser among everyone, not just King fans. The story’s been turned into a movie before (the 1987 Schwarzenegger version), but it didn’t make much of a splash or keep very close to the novel.
5. Thinner
Ever wished you could lose weight without trying? Think again. Billy Halleck, an overweight lawyer, accidentally hits a member of the Romani community with his car. Her father responds by putting a curse on him, and slowly, Billy begins to waste away. As the scale ticks lower, readers watch the main character’s desperation grow.
A lackluster adaption of Thinner came out in 1996 – might be time for a remake!
6. The Regulators
This one came out after Bachman’s exposure. It’s a "mirror novel" to Desperation, which was released at the same time under King’s actual name. Among the fandom, it’s largely viewed as one of his poorer novels, most (though not all) strongly preferring Desperation. Debates on how to read the two books, whether to choose one or the other, which to read first, etc. are common amongst King fans, since the duology is a bit of a unique concept. Both books involve an alien called Tak possessing someone and terrorizing a small town.
While The Regulators has never been adapted, Desperation was made into a miniseries in 2006. Many King books in the ‘90s and aught years got the same treatment (think 1990’s IT), but now we’re on to the much more agreeable streaming series or high budget film era. Which brings us to the film version of The Regulators that’s in the works from Bohemia Group. News has been pretty scant, so keep your ear to the ground for this one.
7. Blaze
Another piece published post-humorously after Bachman’s “death” (of “cancer of the pseudonym,” according to King), Blaze is the last Bachman book. Apparently predating Carrie, Blaze lived in storage until 2006. It’s a crime novel that King referred to as a “tearjerker” about a developmentally disabled criminal.
Blaze has never been adapted for the screen.
The Bachman books are a treasure trove of some of King’s best work, and it’s great to see some of them on the big screen this year. Who knows what might be next?
The Long Walk is in theaters now, and The Running Man comes out on November 7th.