The Long Walk, the 1979 dystopian horror novel written by Stephen King, was originally published under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman. The book has a 4.0 rating on Goodreads with over 200,000 reviews and was recently named the “Most Disturbing Stephen King Book” by Collider.
According to Goodreads, the book is about a teenager who competes in a competition called The Long Walk. “One hundred boys must keep a steady pace of four miles per hour without ever stopping with the winner being awarded ‘The Prize’—anything he wants for the rest of his life. Slow down under the speed limit and you’re given a warning. Three warnings and you’re out of the game—permanently.”
When King was asked why he made the walking speed four miles per hour during a recent Reddit AMA, he explained, “At the time, I thought that was walking speed. I suggested J. T. Mollner change it to 3 MPH in the movie, and they did. More realistic. In my own defense, there was no internet or chatbots or any of that in 1967.”
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He also explained why he had written the book under a pseudonym. “I had published some books under my own name,” he said. “The publisher (Signet) liked THE LONG WALK and ROADWORK, but they thought too many books would glut the market, so I published under the name Richard Bachman.”
The book has been banned from several school libraries, mostly in Florida, within the last few years. When speaking about book bans in the past, King has made his position clear. In a 1992 issue of The Bangor Daily News, he said, “To the kids: There are people in your home town who have taken certain books off the shelves of your school library. Do not argue with them; do not protest; do not organize or attend rallies to have the books put back on their shelves. Don’t waste your time or your energy. Instead, hustle down to your public library, where these frightened people’s reach must fall short in a democracy, or to your local bookstore, and get a copy of what has been banned. Read it carefully and discover what it is your elders don’t want you to know.”
The Long Walk was recently adapted into a 2025 movie that has an 88% critic score and 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
This story was originally published by Parade on May 13, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
