The Long Walk by Richard Bachman
⭐ 3.5/5 STARS: The Long Walk by Stephen King — The Book That Walked Me Into Existential Despair 🚶♂️💀
📖 Buy The Long Walk on Amazon (affiliate link)
⚠️ Trigger Warnings
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Graphic violence & execution-style deaths
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Starvation, exhaustion, and physical suffering
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Misogyny & anti-gay bias (minor but present)
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Descriptions of mental breakdown and trauma
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Dystopian government violence
💬 My Reading Experience
This one’s a hard one to rate. 🤔
I’ve read Misery and Pet Sematary (and a few others) by Stephen King — and I know the man is a master storyteller. His prose? Impeccable. His atmosphere? Creepy brilliance. His pacing? Addictive.
But The Long Walk? This one feels... different. It’s deep, thought-provoking, and extremely well written — but it also feels intentionally empty. Which, I guess, is kind of the point.
Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t read this one first. If I had, I might not have appreciated it for what it is: a slow-burn psychological nightmare that’s more about endurance and existential dread than “plot twists.”
Let’s just say: this book delivers exactly what the title promises — a very, very long walk. And that’s both its genius and its limitation. 😅
🧠 Overview
The Long Walk (1979) was published under King’s pseudonym, Richard Bachman, long before the world knew “Bachman” was really him.
It’s set in a dystopian America ruled by a totalitarian regime where every year, 100 boys participate in a national event called The Long Walk. The premise is brutal in its simplicity:
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100 boys start walking.
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They must stay above 4 mph.
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Drop below that three times, and on the fourth — you’re shot.
The last boy left standing wins “The Prize.” (No one knows exactly what that means, but apparently, it’s life-changing.)
It’s a haunting mix of survival, futility, and youthful arrogance, all wrapped in King’s eerie, minimalist horror.
🚨 Spoiler Warning: Full Plot Summary Ahead! 🚨
(This story doesn’t rely on “twists” per se, but fair warning — the ending is very King-esque and open to interpretation.)
🩸 Full Plot Summary (With Ending)
Seventeen-year-old Ray Garraty is one of 100 teenage boys chosen for this year’s Long Walk. His mother begs him not to go, but Ray is determined — though we never quite learn why. Maybe curiosity. Maybe pride. Maybe rebellion.
The Walk is led by The Major, a militaristic figure who represents the government. Soldiers in halftracks monitor the walkers, rifles ready. Every boy gets three warnings; on the fourth, they’re shot on the spot.
🏁 The Rules Are Simple — and Deadly
From the start, one thing is clear: the Walk is designed to break them.
They can’t stop to eat, sleep, or rest.
If they slow below four miles an hour for more than 30 seconds — warning.
Four warnings = dead.
Ray quickly bonds with a few other walkers — McVries, Baker, Scramm, and Stebbins — as they march through small Maine towns, cheered on by oblivious spectators.
The public treats it like entertainment, waving and clapping as boys collapse and die at their feet. (Classic dystopian King commentary on human cruelty, right?)
💀 Death, Delirium, and Desperation
The boys start dropping quickly — from exhaustion, heatstroke, despair, or madness. One kid runs off the road to kiss a girl in the crowd and is instantly shot. Another tries to fake an injury. Another simply lies down to die.
McVries becomes Ray’s closest ally — sarcastic, loyal, and tragic. Their friendship is one of the book’s emotional cores. McVries tries to find meaning in the Walk while Ray clings to thoughts of his girlfriend, Jan, and his mother.
The boys talk, argue, hallucinate, confess secrets, and lose their minds — all while walking endlessly. King somehow makes repetition hypnotic; you feel the exhaustion through the page.
⚔️ The Final Stretch
As the miles drag on, Ray learns more about the others.
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Scramm, the gentle, married one, collapses after illness.
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Stebbins, the quiet loner, finally reveals his secret: he’s the Major’s illegitimate son, hoping that by winning the Walk, his father will acknowledge him.
The symbolism is sharp — the Walk as both a literal and psychological gauntlet of suffering.
By the time they cross into Massachusetts, only a handful remain: Ray, McVries, and Stebbins.
McVries, exhausted, deliberately slows down and is shot. Stebbins makes it to the very end — then collapses dead just before the finish line.
That leaves Ray. The “winner.”
The Major approaches to congratulate him, but Ray is completely delirious. Instead of stopping, he starts running...
😶 The Ambiguous Ending
The book closes with Ray hallucinating a figure ahead of him — someone walking, just out of reach. He calls out, "There was still so far left to walk!" and continues running toward it.
Does he die?
Does he finally lose his mind?
Or is he walking toward death itself?
King doesn’t say — and that’s what makes it haunting.
💬 My Thoughts
I went back and forth on this one.
It’s brilliantly written — raw, disturbing, and deeply metaphorical. It’s also… kind of punishing. You’re exhausted by the end, which feels intentional.
But I wish we’d gotten more explanation — about the world, the Walk’s origins, the Prize, or even the aftermath. King leaves all that vague, which fits the theme but left me feeling unsatisfied.
That said, the fact that I can’t stop thinking about it probably says everything.
🧩 Verdict
⭐ 3.5 out of 5 stars.
A bleak, mesmerizing dystopian novel that’s less about what happens and more about how it feels.
If you’ve read Misery or Pet Sematary, this one will feel more restrained — but just as unsettling in its own quiet, cruel way.
🔎 If You Liked This, Try:
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Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
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Lord of the Flies by William Golding
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The Running Man (also by “Richard Bachman”)
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The Road by Cormac McCarthy
💭 Final Thoughts
The Long Walk is an endurance test — for both its characters and its readers.
It’s hypnotic, horrifying, and hopelessly human.
Would I read it again? Probably not.
But am I glad I read it once? Absolutely.
👣💀🕰️
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