The Long Walk -- Is It Worth the Read?

The Long Walk ~ is it Worth the Read?

by P. Orona

The Long Walk is a short story by the American horror writer, Stephen King, published in 1979. It’s a suspense-induced book with gore, thrill, and cruelty. For this reason, some people may avoid it; not to mention that The Long Walk was published under King’s pseudonym, Richard Bachman, meaning it didn’t have any of King’s previous works to back it up. Even with all of these challenges, the story has still gained mass popularity, but was said popularity truly deserved?

The Long Walk is arguably one of the best books to get your blood running. It takes place in Maine, following along in the mind of 16-year-old Ray Garraty, who walks a restless 450-mile marathon just to win the prize of “anything he wants for the rest of his life.” The story is incredibly straightforward and exciting, with a constant sense of wonder and worry for the next conflict. The plot is interesting and the characters, even more. Each character has their own story, style, and personality. The interactions between all of the people are surprising, exciting, and investing. Although the story is technically considered a horror book, it's more of a physical or even psychological horror than anything. It’s almost difficult to put the book down, and even if you do, you’ll know exactly what happened previously. Because the vocabulary is of a higher difficulty, you can learn plenty of interesting words and phrases to show off.

While it’s an amazing book, it also has numerous topics that veer closer to the mature side of things, so reader discretion is certainly advised. Anyone who may be skittish about firearms, violence, or sexual themes should not read this book.

Overall, whether you simply want to start reading more Stephen King or just one quick, exciting horror book, The Long Walk is a great way to start.