Why one of Stephen King's novels has been pulled from shelves and will never be printed again

Legendary author Stephen King asked for one of his novels to be taken out of print for good, and it will never be available again for a specific reason.

King has produced a plethora of bestselling books throughout his career, penning 65 in total since the release of his first novel back in 1974, titled Carrie.

Best known for his work in the horror genre, with many such as The Shining and IT making it to screen, the American author is known as one of the best to ever put pen to page, with his ability to produce so much quality work over a short period of time leaving many in awe.

But there is one book among his bibliography that you wouldn't be able to find in any bookstores.

He removed the book from shelves for a very good reason (Ulf Andersen/Getty Images)

It's from pretty early on in his career - back in 1977, King released The Shining, while author Richard Bachman also published his novel, Rage.

But it turns out that King and Bachman were the same person, with the author's name of the latter simply a pseudonym.

If you go looking for Rage though, you won't find a newly printed copy, as the only ones left in circulation are those printed before the author decided he didn't want it being released any more.

For a short while it was still being published in The Bachman Books collection, but now versions of those also come without the novel.

You can buy old copies that appear for auction online, but there's not going to be new stock coming onto the bookshop shelves.

"Now out of print, and a good thing," King wrote of Rage at the beginning of his novel Blaze, while during a speech in 1999 he explained why a 1997 school shooting from a 14-year-old named Michael Carneal where three were killed and five injured convinced him it was time to pull the book from print.

You won't find any new editions of the 1977 novel (Wikimedia Commons)

He said: "The Carneal incident was enough for me. I asked my publisher to take the damned thing out of print. They concurred."

At the time of the shooting the 14-year-old had a copy of Rage in his locker.

Rage follows a high school student who carries out a school shooting after being expelled, killing two of his teachers and threatening to kill students unless his demands are met.

By the end of the book, the school shooter is shot, arrested, found not guilty by reason of insanity, and committed to a psychiatric hospital.

The book was linked to a number of school shootings.

Following the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012, King wrote the essay Guns where he further explained why he didn't want Rage in print any more.