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RICHARD BACHMAN Richard Bachman is a Pen Name for Stephen King , considered by many to be the master of the Horror genre. After publishing many wildly successful novels under his own name, King wanted to know if some of his early works (those written before '' Carrie '') would sell without having his name on them. He also worried that many of the non-horror novels he wanted to write would clash with the expectations of his fans. So he convinced his publisher, Signet Books , to print these novels under a Pseudonym . The name "Richard Bachman" was supposedly chosen partly in tribute to crime author Donald E. Westlake 's long-running pseudonym Richard Stark , and partly in honour of Bachman Turner Overdrive , a band King was listening to at the time he chose his pen name. King dedicated all of Bachman's early books to people close to him and worked in obscure references to his own identity. When fans picked up on these clues, not to mention the similarity between the two authors' literary styles, horror fans' and retailers' suspicions were aroused. Still, King steadfastly denied any connection to Bachman, and to throw fans off the trail Bachman's 1984 novel ''Thinner'' was dedicated to "Claudia Inez Bachman", supposedly Bachman's wife. There was also a phony author photo of Bachman on the dustjacket, credited to Claudia. Nevertheless, a persistent bookstore clerk couldn't believe that Bachman and King were not one and the same, and eventually located publisher's records at the Library Of Congress naming King as the author of one of Bachman's novels. At that point, the link became undeniable. This led to a press release heralding Bachman's "death" -- supposedly from "cancer of the pseudonym". At the time of the announcement in 1985, King was working on '' Misery '' which he had planned to release as a Bachman book. The Bachman story didn't quite end with ''Thinner'', though. In 1996 , Bachman's '' The Regulators '' came out, with the publishers claiming the book's manuscript was found among Bachman's leftover papers by his widow. Still, it was obvious from the book's packaging and marketing campaign that it was really written by King. There was a picture of a young King on the inside back cover, and the "also by this author" page listed not only works Bachman was credited with writing, but also works he wrote ''"as Stephen King"''. Furthermore, ''The Regulators'' was released the same day as the King novel ''Desperation'', and the two novels featured many of the same characters. As well, the two book covers were designed to be placed together to form a single picture. Around the time of ''The Regulators''' release, King said that there may be another Bachman novel left to be "found". However, no further updates on the state of Bachman's trunk of unpublished works has been issued since that time. King has taken full ownership of the Bachman name on numerous occasions, such as in the introduction to '' The Bachman Books : Four Early Novels by Stephen King''. This introduction, entitled "Why I Was Bachman", lays bare the whole Bachman/King story in clear, undeniable detail. King also used the "relationship" between him and Bachman as a concept in his book '' The Dark Half '', a story in which a writer's darker pseudonym takes on a life of its own. King dedicated ''The Dark Half'' to "the deceased Richard Bachman". THE DARK TOWER Richard Bachman appeared in King's ''Dark Tower'' series, albeit indirectly. In the fifth book ''Wolves of the Calla'', the sinister children's book ''Charlie the Choo Choo'' is revealed to be written by 'Claudia y Inez Bachman'. The 'y' was added to make the total numbers of letters in her name nineteen, a number prominent in King's series. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Richard Bachman slowly built up a readership despite being published in original paperbacks. ''Thinner'' was Bachman's first title to be published in hardback. It sold 28,000 copies before it became widely known that the author was really Stephen King , whereupon sales went up tenfold. The original editions of the first four Bachman books are now among the world's most sought after original paperback novels, with resale prices in the thousands of Dollar s. The first four Bachman titles were also republished in a single volume as '' The Bachman Books '' in 1985 . After the Columbine High School Massacre , King announced that he would allow ''Rage'' to go out of print, fearing that it might inspire similar tragedies. Bachman's other novels are now available in separate volumes. SEE ALSO
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