'Amazing' Stephen King book bought for 20 pence is actually worth a small fortune due to controversial inclusion
A Stephen King fanatic has revealed how they came across a rare copy of one of his books for just a handful of pennies, with the real value of the novel a 476,000 percent increase on what they paid.
The find comes as King welcomes in yet another adaptation of his many works, with The Monkey starring Theo James and Tatiana Maslany hitting cinemas across the world.
A horror (of course), the trailer for the film was so shocking it was denied a spot on TV by four networks due to how eye-opening it was. And if it's anything like the adaptation of Gerald's Game, some might be left feeling rather nauseous.
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Away from the big screen and Netflix adaptations, King's books remain among the best selling in the world from Misery and The Green Mile to It and Cujo, King truly is the GOAT of his genre.
But you can't buy everything he's ever written, with specific books no longer sold or even printed - and one particular creation banned by King from ever being produced again.
We're talking about Rage. Published back in 1977 under King's pseudonym, Richard Bachman, it is the quite terrible tale about a high school shooter who kills his teacher.
It was after the very real and tragic Heath High School shooting in West Paducah, Kentucky, back in 1997. Three students had been shot and killed by a boy named Michael Carneal, aged 14, in the incident, leading to King making the proactive approach to request the book was never made or sold again.
Obviously, copies of Rage still exist. Both on their own and in another book from King known as the The Bachman Books.
As it sounds, this is a collection of all novels King wrote under the pseudonym, with there being four in total.
And it is one of these that has been discovered over on Reddit. And not just any, but a first edition.
Posting in the r/stephenking subreddit, they labelled it an 'amazing find' adding: "Got this 1st edition Signet printing at the AMVETS thrift stores today for $.27. I have been wanting to buy a copy and so happy to find this for such a steal."
They added: "It isn't printed anymore, so it's pretty sought after by collectors and / or fans."
At 27 cents, we're talking 21 pence over here in the United Kingdom. Which is outrageous for such a find.
"That is identical to my copy but you got an amazing deal," one Redditor replied with.
As for how much it could be worth on the open market, LADbible found copies for sale for more than £1,000 ($1,260) mainly due to the inclusion of Rage. That's because copies of The Bachman Books continued after 1997 with Rage taken out; these sell for around £10 ($12.50).
Signed copies are also currently listed for up to $1,850 (£1,520). What a find, if you can do just that.
Topics: Stephen King, Books, Money, Reddit, US News, Celebrity, Entertainment
Tom Earnshaw