10 Best Non-Horror Stephen King Stories You Must Read

In 1977, writer Richard Bachman published his first novel, Rage, and subsequently followed it up with four more releases throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. Sadly, Bachman died in 1985 of "cancer of the pseudonym, a rare form of schizonomia".

Richard Bachman is also Stephen King.

After some snooping in America's Library of Congress, a King fan suspicious of Bachman's writing style discovered that King and Bachman were one and the same. It turned out that King had created Bachman for two reasons: 1. to justify releasing more than one novel a year without over-saturating the market, a concern of his publisher; and 2. to see if his burgeoning success was down to either talent or luck.

It's safe to say 'Bachman's' success was down to talent. Under his pen name, King released stories with a more realistic, gritty slant (barring Thinner and The Regulators). Rather than literal monsters, the horrors found in the Bachman books were more likely: a school shooter; a dystopian contest of endurance; and this, a touching tale of an unfortunate gentle giant.

Released in 2007 (an unpublished Bachman manuscript supposedly found by his widow), Blaze is the story of Clayton 'Blaze' Blaisdell, Jr., one half of a pair of criminals who plan to kidnap the baby of a wealthy family. George is the brains of the due, and Blaze is the brawn - he became mentally handicapped after an accident as a teenager.

Despite his career of choice, Blaze is, at the bottom, a good person, and the unwitting pawn of George (who, it has be said, genuinely cares for his partner despite exploiting him.) There's an obvious parallel with John Steinbeck's classic novel Of Mice & Men. One of the main differences here is that it's revealed early in the novel that George has recently died, yet speaks to Blaze in his head. Is he a ghost? Part of Blaze's over-active imagination? Is Blaze cracking up? It's unclear.

Perhaps it doesn't matter in the end. The voice inside his head guides Blaze as he successfully kidnaps and then cares for the baby by himself. It's obvious that scheme isn't going to be successful. Blaze just doesn't have wits to to pull the job off. But what's also obvious is that sometimes, good people do bad things due to unlucky circumstances. Prepare to have your heart broken.