(NEXSTAR) — “The Long Walk,” a dystopian thriller adapted from a novel written by Stephen King, is hitting theaters this weekend following years of production challenges.

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

If you were to travel back to 1979, when the book was first published, you wouldn’t find “The Long Walk” listed with Stephen King’s other horror masterpieces such as “Carrie” and “The Shining.” Instead, you would need to search under the name Richard Bachman, a pseudonym for the prolific author.

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 close of the 1970s, King was already a sensation in the literary world and popular culture. His productivity was remarkable, leading his publishers to worry about flooding the market with his books and potentially wearing out readers.

King chose the name Richard Bachman in a time crunch and pulled the first and last name from things he saw in the room.

“… They needed it immediately, and there was a novel authored by Richard Stark on my desk, so I opted for the name ‘Richard,'” King explains on his website. “… Meanwhile, ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet’ by Bachman Turner Overdrive was playing, and I combined the two.”

King began using the Bachman pseudonym in 1977, starting with the release of “Rage,” a psychological thriller centered around a high school shooter. Due to its connections with real-life school incidents, King eventually allowed “Rage” to go out of print, making it only available within the 1985 compilation called “The Bachman Books.”

“The Bachman Books” was released after King had published six novels as Bachman, but by early 1985, the secret was out. Steve Brown, an employee and fan of King at Olsson’s Bookstore in Washington, D.C., spotted similarities between Bachman’s and King’s writing. After investigating, he found the books were credited to King’s agent in the Library of Congress database, with “Rage” registered directly to King himself, as reported by Mental Floss.

So Brown contacted King’s agent to ask about all of this. While he didn’t plan to expose King, he wanted to know what to do with the information, since there were already rumors circulating about the King-Bachman connection.

Two weeks later, he received a call at work and heard the voice of King on the other end.

“Steve Brown? This is Steve King,” Brown recalled King saying. “Okay, you know I’m Bachman. I know I’m Bachman. What are we going to do about it? Let’s talk.”

King suggested Brown write an article and interview him for it. And thus came the end of the Bachman Era. Sort of.

Since 1985, King has published two more books under the pseudonym, 1996’s “The Regulators” and 2007’s “Blaze.” King and his publishers billed these books as novels that Bachman’s widow “found” and decided to publish.

King has routinely referenced or joked about Bachman in his books and interviews. In fact, King dedicated his 1989 book “The Dark Half” — which deals with a writer and his pseudonym — to “the late Richard Bachman.”