The Running Man, in which economically desperate people participate in a deadly game show, was first published in 1982 by one Richard Bachman, the fourth of an eventual seven of Bachman's novels. At the time of its release, no one knew this was a pseudonym.

Before The Hunger Games, The Truman Show, and Squid Game, there was King's 1982 movie about a dystopian America where men are hunted for sport on reality television