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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKnown Alias: How Stephen King Was Outed as Richard Bachman
Known Alias: How Stephen King Was Outed as Richard Bachman
A bookstore clerk reads through Kings deception, kicking off the final chapter in the story of Richard Bachman.
Mental Floss
Jake Rossen
Steve Brown was working his shift at Olssons Bookstore in Washington, D.C. in the spring of 1985 when he heard his name come over the store intercom. There was a call waiting for him.
When Brown picked up the telephone, he heard a voice ask, Steve Brown? This is Steve King. Okay, you know Im Bachman, I know Im Bachman, what are we going to do about it? Lets talk.
King was referring to Richard Bachman, the alias he had adopted eight years earlier and carried through four books (Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, and The Running Man). The titles had floated in and out of the market in relative obscurity, drawing only passing suspicion that their true author was one of the most well-known and successful writers of the 20th century. New American Library (NAL), Bachman's publisher, refuted any suggestion that the author was fictional.
But Browna bookstore clerk, writer, and fanzine publisherhad read enough King novels to recognize that Bachmans latest book, Thinner, was unequivocally a King work. After some additional investigation, Brown wrote a letter to Kings agent sharing his discovery and asked how theyd like to proceed. It marked the beginning of the end for Bachman, who would soon perish, King wrote, owing to cancer of the pseudonym.
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Known Alias: How Stephen King Was Outed as Richard Bachman (Original Post)
babylonsister
May 2022
OP
Ohio Joe
(21,894 posts)1. Cool...
I'd first heard of Bachman when The Bachman Books was released but never really heard the story behind it.
Bayard
(24,240 posts)2. I like this quote:
This is what Stephen King would write like if Stephen King could really write, remarked one reviewer. (of Bachman's work).
Have loved Stephen for a very long time.
AZSkiffyGeek
(12,685 posts)3. I remember when Joe Hill first hit the horror scene
He was trying to hide he was Kings son and wouldnt do appearances or interviews. People speculated he was actually King.
Ive even heard a couple of Hills books described as the best Steven King novels since It. (I kind of agree with that point, 11/22/63 notwithstanding)