Anybody who has read it may still be chilled by it: The Long Walk, by Richard Backman (a.k.a. Stephen King). The 1979 novel, the first King wrote, is about a life-and-death walking contest in America’s dystopian future. Kind of like a cross between Rollerball and The Road.

King is known to be a prolific writer, but he’s just as prolific a walker. In his memoir On Writing, he explains how central the act of walking is to his creative process. Over the years, it’s been a cure for writer’s block. And this is a man who nearly died when he was run over by a van while out on his daily walk in rural Maine.