(NEXSTAR) -- "The Long Walk," a dystopian thriller adaptation based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, is out in theaters this weekend after a decades-long journey to getting made.

But did you know the original book wasn't by Stephen King?

You see, if you were to go back to the book's publishing in 1979, you wouldn't find "The Long Walk" under the King section, alongside his horror classics like "Carrie" and "The Shining." Instead, you'd need to double back to the Bs and find a lesser-known author by the name of Richard Bachman.

Who is also Stephen King. But this isn't some split-personality twist from one of the author's own books. Here's what happened.

By the end of the 1970s, King was already a literary and pop culture phenomenon. Even more impressive, he writes a lot. A

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