Success can be a strange burden. In the 1970s, Stephen King found himself in an unusual predicament: his books were selling too well. His publisher worried that releasing more would flood the market. But King had stories burning to be told. So he created a secret identity. What name did the Master of Horror choose?
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The answer is: Richard Bachman
Stephen King's literary alter ego, Richard Bachman, came with his own carefully crafted life story. He lived in New Hampshire with his wife, Claudia, where he ran a medium-sized farm and wrote his books at night. This ordinary man would go on to publish extraordinary books.
Under Bachman's name, King released a string of raw, powerful novels: "Rage" (1977), "The Long Walk" (1979), "Roadwork" (1981), "The Running Man" (1982), and "Thinner" (1984). Each book found its audience without riding King's coattails. While writing what was planned to be Bachman's next great piece, "Misery," fate intervened.
In 1985, a persistent bookstore clerk named Steve Brown noticed something familiar in Bachman's prose. His investigation revealed the truth, and King owned up to it with characteristic wit, announcing that Bachman had died of "cancer of the pseudonym." But he wasn't quite done with his alter ego. King has published two novels under Bachman's name, claiming these lost manuscripts were mysteriously found, proving that even fictional authors can have an afterlife.
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