Four legendary Stephen King books could be worth a small fortune if you have them lying around

Legendary author Stephen King has millions of fans around the world due to the many hundreds of novels and short stories he has written.

And owners of a certain few could he sitting on a small fortune while the copies gather dust on their bookshelf.

Debuting with Carrie way back in 1974, King, now aged 77, established himself as the so-called 'King of Horror' very early on in his career as he focused on themes of mystery, suspense, and science-fiction.

With other work including Misery, The Green Mile, It, and Cujo, King stands alone in his genre and the writing world as a whole after very much making the horror his thing.

King is the king of horror (Marc Andrew Deley/Getty Images)

And while you should not expect to get much for your copies of The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, or Salem's Lot, there are certain books written by King that attract far more than what they were bought for.

One of those is rare copies of one of his novels that was stopped from being sold, with plans to never print it again.

That book was 1977's Rage, a harrowing tale about a school shooter who kills his teacher. That was banned after the very real and tragic Heath High School shooting in West Paducah, Kentucky, back in 1997.

With three girls being shot and killed by a boy named Michael Carneal, aged 14, King made the proactive approach to request the book was never made or sold again.

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

Of course, copies of Rage still exist. And given they are now a limited product, supply and demand comes in to play for those wanting to give it a read or add it to their collection.

Copies have sold for as much as $4,000, which is roughly £3,200. As with any book, the edition and condition of the product are factored in to how much a copy is going to fetch.

But it's not the only King novel that will strengthen your bank account if you've got a copy lying around.

Another was released back in 1985 by King under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman. And when we say, we actually mean four.

Stephen King asked for Rage to not be printed any more after the shooting (Olivia Wong/Getty Images)

See, King wrote four books under the Bachman name. That included the aforementioned Rage.

These books, released between 1977 and 1982, were published together in one collection in 1985. Called The Bachman Books, the collection placed in The New York Times Best Seller list.

But, as with Rage, the collection was altered after the 1997 shooting in the United States.

The collection was reduced to three books - The Long Walk, Roadwork, and The Running Man; the last of which you may know from the 1987 movie adaption starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The original copy of The Bachman Books with all four stories (Wikimedia Commons)

Given the fact the original was left to fade out of print and sale, it sells for pretty decent money. Online copies for sale go for more than £1,000, mainly due to the inclusion of Rage. Signed copies are also currently listed for up to $1,850 (£1,520).

Copies of the collection without Rage go for around £10, showing just how much the original is sought after.