Will I love The Long Walk?

The Long Walk is one of King’s earliest and most brutal works. It’s a dystopian tale that reads like a psychological endurance test, both for the characters and the reader. The horror here isn’t just the looming threat of death, but the slow unraveling of young men forced into impossible choices. If you enjoy stripped-down storytelling with creeping dread and a sharp emotional edge, this is one to revisit.

I know, I know…’What about Sixth Sense’? That’s usually the Stephen King book people remember when they think of plot twists. It was great, but this one is by far my favorite King novel. It’s got multiple twists, starting with one near the beginning, where you quickly realize you’re not reading the kind of story you thought you were reading.

Then there’s a more traditional twist near the end. And in between King displays his special genius, immersing the reader in a character’s slow, steady descent into madness. I finished it in a single session, and after thirty years… show more.

Writing as Richard Bachman, this quite short story (for King) is set in a future where once a year, young people are invited to take part in the ‘Long Walk.’ The premise is simple; you walk until you can’t walk any further. Keep above a certain speed limit or, after a couple of warnings, the soldiers who trail the walkers will shoot you dead. The winner is the one who survives. It sounds stupid, but, my God, when I first read it, I felt as if I had been on the walk with the characters you get to know. Horrifying… show more.