It’s hard to imagine a time when Stephen King adaptations stop appearing in the world of cinema. The phenomenon is so frequent that almost every work by the master of horror boasts multiple films or series based on it. However, in King’s extensive bibliography, there’s one book that has almost no chance of ever being adapted into a movie or show — because it’s simply no longer on bookstore shelves.
Stephen King’s Rage Was Pulled from Publication at the Author’s Request — And There’s a Reason
The novel Rage was published by King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1977. The story revolves around Charlie Decker, a teenager who one day decides to bring a loaded revolver to school, takes an entire class hostage, and shoots two teachers. Compared to King’s other works, Rage stayed on bookshelves for a relatively short time — just 20 years — and for good reason. In 1997, King personally requested the novel be taken out of print after realizing with horror that his book had been used as a kind of manual for planning school shootings.
The coincidences are not accidental.
As the author explained years later, three nearly identical school attacks in 1988, 1989, and 1997 forced him to say goodbye to the book forever. According to King, police investigations revealed that all three attackers had indeed read Rage and mimicked the actions of its protagonist. One of them even paraphrased a line from the novel after killing three people. King admitted this was enough for him to immediately call his publisher and request the book’s removal from circulation worldwide.
