KY Tragedy Is Why Stephen King Novel Will Never Be Printed Again

April 5th, 2024 marked the 50th anniversary of the first print run of Stephen King's iconic horror classic Carrie. Already a hit, its popularity exploded with the release of the 1976 blockbuster film adaptation starring Sissy Spacek.

With that, King was off and running and almost immediately became identified as the "King of Horror." Massive hits like The Shining, Salem's Lot, The Stand, and The Dead Zone quickly followed with many more to come.

But those who aren't Stephen King fans may not realize that he wrote a number of books under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, and two of those--The Running Man and Thinner--were successfully adapted for the big screen.

A Kentucky Tragedy Leads Stephen King to a Personal Business Decision

The first novel published under the Bachman name was released in 1977. Twenty-one years later, however, King let the book fall out of publication never to be printed again. The book--entitled Rage--is about a high school student named Charlie Decker who shoots a teacher then holds the classroom hostage.

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In December of 1997, then-14-year-old Michael Carneal walked into Heath High School in West Paducah KY and opened fire on a group of students, killing three and injuring another five. This tragic event would be followed two years later by the Columbine school shooting in Aurora CO in 1999. Sadly, many more would follow.

After a copy of King's Rage was found in Carneal's locker, the iconic author ceased any further printings of the novel. And that wish remains honored to this day. That doesn't mean early copies aren't still available, but they come at a cost.

If you do a search like this one, you'll see that even tattered paperback versions will run you more than $4,000. And the value is likely to only increase.