Stephen King’s novel The Running Man was originally published under the pen name Richard Bachman.
The Running Man appeared in 1982 as a Bachman Book. King used the pseudonym for several novels, partly to test whether his books would sell without the established Stephen King name and partly to publish more than one book in a year.
The novel is set in a dystopian future where Ben Richards enters a violent televised contest to earn money for his sick daughter. Its title refers to the government entertainment program at the center of the plot, not to a supernatural creature or haunted location.
King’s identity as Bachman was eventually uncovered after a bookseller researched similarities between the authors. Later editions identify King as the author, but Richard Bachman remains the name associated with the novel’s original publication.