There’s something exquisitely cruel about watching teenagers march toward their own deaths while the world claps from the sidelines. And now, thanks to Francis Lawrence’s upcoming film adaptation of The Long Walk, that cruelty is about to get a cinematic upgrade.
On September 12, the story that made you question the value of endurance and the price of obedience will hit the big screen, and if you thought reading it was unsettling, wait until you see it unfold in Dolby surround.
But let’s not pretend this is just about one book. The Long Walk cracked open a genre vein pulsing with dread, moral ambiguity, and the kind of psychological torment that lingers like a bruise.
So if you’re bracing for the film and want to marinate in more stories that punch just as hard, sometimes harder, this list is your twisted little roadmap. From parasitic horror to televised slaughter, from staircases that gaslight you to dystopias that smile while they erase your soul, these ten books, like Stephen King’s The Long Walk, will keep you walking long after the credits roll.
1. The Running Man by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)
Before reality TV became a grotesque parody of itself, King, under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, imagined a world where entertainment meant bloodshed. The Running Man follows Ben Richards, a desperate man in a crumbling society who volunteers for a televised manhunt to earn money for his sick daughter.
The rules? Stay alive for thirty days while being hunted by professional killers and cheered on by a voyeuristic public. It’s capitalism with a sniper scope and a ratings chart.
Richards isn’t your typical action hero. He’s angry, cornered, and painfully human. The novel’s dystopian backdrop is a grimy, corporate hellscape where the poor are disposable and violence is monetized.
If The Long Walk made you question the price of survival, The Running Man will make you question who’s profiting from your pain and whether you’re complicit just by watching.
Why we recommend it: This one’s for readers who like their dystopia served with sweat, blood, and a side of media critique so spicy it burns. If you’ve ever screamed at your TV during a reality show, this book will make you wonder if the contestants should be running for their lives instead of roses.
2. Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
If The Long Walk made you wince at the slow erosion of humanity, Battle Royale will make you flinch at its sudden implosion.
In an alternate-reality Japan governed by a totalitarian regime, the government enforces the “Battle Experiment No. 68”: each year, one randomly selected class of ninth graders is abducted and forced to fight to the death on a remote island.
No cameras. No audience. Just pure, state-sanctioned terror designed to crush youth rebellion before it even sprouts.
Takami doesn’t hold back. His cast of forty-two students is a kaleidoscope of fear, loyalty, rage, and heartbreak. Shuya, Noriko, and Kiriyama aren’t just names; they’re psychological detonators. The novel is a brutal dissection of trust under pressure, and every alliance feels like a ticking bomb.
If The Long Walk left you wondering how far someone would go to survive, Battle Royale asks whether survival is even worth it when the cost is your soul and your best friend’s blood on your hands.
Why we recommend it: Ideal for fans of high-stakes chaos and moral implosions, this novel doesn’t ask if teenagers can survive; it asks what they become when survival is the only rule. If you thought gym class was traumatic, wait until you meet Kiriyama.
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3. The Troop by Nick Cutter
Take a group of Boy Scouts, strand them on a remote island, and unleash a bioengineered parasite that turns people into ravenous husks. The Troop is body horror with a scalpel, slicing into the soft tissue of adolescence and exposing the rot beneath.
Think Lord of the Flies meets The Long Walk, with tapeworms and a side of government conspiracy.
Cutter’s prose is surgical and merciless. Each character, Max, Shelley, and Kent, represents a different flavor of fear, and their descent into madness is both grotesque and tragically believable.
The novel’s interludes (fake news clippings and lab notes) add a layer of realism that makes the horror feel disturbingly plausible. If The Long Walk made you squirm with psychological tension, The Troop will make your skin crawl and then itch.
Why we recommend it: Perfect for horror lovers who enjoy their coming-of-age stories with parasites and psychological decay. If you’ve ever looked at a biology textbook and thought, “This could be grosser”, congratulations, you’ve found your book.
4. Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
Sleepwalkers. Hundreds of them. Silent, unstoppable, and heading toward an unknown destination. Wanderers begins with a mystery and unfolds into a sprawling epic of apocalypse, conspiracy, and resilience.
Shana, the sister of one of the afflicted, becomes a “shepherd”, following the flock across a collapsing America. It’s The Long Walk on a national scale, with a dash of The Stand and a sprinkle of Black Mirror.
Wendig’s cast is vast and vibrant, including scientists, rock stars, militia leaders, and each character adds a thread to the tapestry of societal breakdown. Themes of pandemic, AI manipulation, and ecological collapse swirl together in a narrative that’s both intimate and cinematic.
If The Long Walk felt like a slow burn toward oblivion, Wanderers is a wildfire of dread, hope, and the terrifying beauty of human endurance.
Why we recommend it: Recommended for readers who want their apocalypses layered, literary, and laced with conspiracy. It’s the kind of book that makes you question everything, including your Wi-Fi router and the silence of your neighbors.
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Subscribe to our weekly newsletter5. House of Stairs by William Sleator
Five teenagers wake up in a surreal structure made entirely of staircases. No walls, no exits, just endless steps and a mysterious machine that dispenses food, sometimes.
House of Stairs is a psychological experiment disguised as a YA novel, and it’s as unsettling as any adult dystopia. The teens must navigate not just the physical maze, but the emotional manipulation of their unseen captors.
Sleator’s genius lies in his minimalism. The setting is bare, but the tension is suffocating. Each character, Peter, Lola, and Blossom, reacts differently to the stress, and their interactions become a microcosm of societal conditioning.
Themes of conformity, authority, and moral compromise echo the psychological torment of The Long Walk. If you’re drawn to stories where survival depends on more than just endurance, this one’s a must, and it’ll leave you staring at staircases with suspicion.
Why we recommend it: A must-read for fans of psychological thrillers who enjoy watching social norms collapse like a Jenga tower. If you’ve ever suspected your school cafeteria was a behavioral experiment, this book will confirm your worst fears.
6. The Last One by Alexandra Oliva
Zoo thinks she’s still on a reality show. She’s not. The world has ended, and she’s wandering through the ruins, believing every horror is just another challenge. The Last One is a brilliant blend of satire and survival, where the line between performance and reality blurs until it vanishes
It’s The Long Walk with a camera crew, except the cameras have stopped rolling and no one’s watching.
Oliva’s narrative alternates between Zoo’s perspective and the show’s production notes, creating a layered experience that critiques media, perception, and isolation. Zoo’s journey is physical, yes, but it’s also deeply emotional.
Her denial, her resilience, and her slow realization mirror the psychological unraveling of King’s walkers. If you want a story that makes you question what’s real and what’s just good TV, this one delivers and then pulls the plug.
Why we recommend it: Tailor-made for readers who binge survival shows and secretly wonder if they’d notice the apocalypse happening mid-season. It’s reality TV meets existential dread, and yes, it’s as deliciously disturbing as it sounds.
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7. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
A father and son walk through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. That’s it. No names, no backstory, just a journey through ash and despair. The Road is minimalist, poetic, and devastating. It’s the emotional inverse of The Long Walk, less spectacle, more soul, but the thematic resonance is undeniable.
McCarthy’s prose is stripped to the bone, and every sentence feels like a prayer or a dirge. The bond between the man and the boy is the novel’s heartbeat, and their struggle to “carry the fire” is a metaphor for hope in a world that has forgotten it.
If The Long Walk made you feel the weight of every step, The Road will make you feel the weight of every breath and every silence.
Why we recommend it: Best suited for literary masochists who crave emotional devastation and poetic bleakness. If you’ve ever wanted to cry over a can of peaches, this book will ruin you, most beautifully.
8. Contest by Matthew Reilly
Dr. Stephen Swain thought he was attending a scholarly lecture at the New York Public Library. Instead, he’s locked inside the building with his daughter and six other combatants from across the galaxy, forced to participate in the Presidian Contest, a brutal interspecies tournament where only one can survive. No escape. No negotiation.
Just a library turned into a death trap, and a countdown that doesn’t care how many degrees you’ve earned.
Reilly’s pacing is ferocious, and the stakes are interdimensional. Swain isn’t battling for humanity’s future; he’s battling for his own life and the safety of his daughter, while trying to outwit creatures who don’t play fair.
The setting, confined entirely to the labyrinthine halls of the library, becomes a claustrophobic arena of intellect versus brute force. If The Long Walk made you feel the pressure of every step, Contest will make you feel the weight of every breath and the dread of every echo in the stacks.
Why we recommend it: For adrenaline junkies who think libraries are too quiet and aliens too polite. If you want nonstop action with zero patience for subtlety, this book will punch you in the face and then offer you a second round.
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9. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
No death marches here, just engineered happiness, mandatory pleasure, and the eradication of individuality. Brave New World is a dystopia with a smile, and that’s what makes it terrifying. In a society where everyone is conditioned to conform and consume, rebellion looks like asking questions. And asking questions gets you exiled, or worse, reprogrammed.
Huxley’s vision is eerily prescient. From genetic manipulation to mood-altering drugs, the World State controls every aspect of life. Characters like Bernard and John the Savage challenge the system, but the cost of dissent is steep. If The Long Walk made you ponder the price of freedom, Brave New World will make you wonder if comfort is worth the cost of your soul and whether rebellion is even possible when everyone’s smiling.
Why we recommend it: Essential reading for anyone who’s ever side-eyed a motivational poster or questioned why everyone’s smiling in dystopias. If you like your satire sharp and your futures unnervingly plausible, welcome to the World State.
10. Rollerball Murder by William Neal Harrison
In the future, war is obsolete. Instead, we have Rollerball, a violent sport where corporate gladiators battle for dominance. Jonathan E., the star player, begins to question the system that made him a legend. Rollerball Murder is a short story, but its impact is massive.
It’s The Long Walk meets Gladiator, with a dash of Orwell and a helmet full of existential dread.
Harrison’s prose is lean and sharp, and the world he builds is chillingly plausible. Corporations rule everything, and violence is both entertainment and control.
Jonathan’s journey from pawn to rebel mirrors the arc of King’s protagonist, and the story’s themes of memory, identity, and resistance resonate deeply. If you want a quick read that punches above its weight, this one’s a knockout, and it’ll leave you questioning who’s really keeping score.
Why we recommend it: Recommended for readers who enjoy short fiction that hits like a steel ball to the gut. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when corporations replace governments and sports replace war, this story answers with a helmet and a death wish.
With The Long Walk marching onto the big screen this September, the dread is no longer confined to the page; it’s going widescreen. And if you’re the kind of reader who thrives on discomfort, who finds beauty in bleakness and poetry in psychological collapse, this list is your post-credit scene.
These ten books don’t just echo King’s premise; they mutate it, challenge it, and sometimes laugh in its face.
So yes, pick your next read. But don’t expect closure. These stories won’t offer redemption or relief. They’ll drag you deeper into the maze of endurance, morality, and spectacle, and just like Garraty, you’ll keep walking long after you’ve forgotten why you started.
