Season 3 of Sons of Anarchy featured a cameo from none other than horror author Stephen King. Although King only appeared for a few minutes, his role as a crime scene "cleaner" was a memorably one. The show wrote him in after learning he was a big Sons of Anarchy fan. Along with giving King a fittingly horrific part and a chance to ride a motorcycle, his character's name -- Bachman -- offered another opportunity to pay tribute to the king of horror's massive bibliography.
His Sons of Anarchy appearance was far from the first time King's appeared onscreen. Much like Alfred Hitchcock and Stan Lee, King cameoed in many of his book-to-film adaptations, including Maximum Overdrive, Pet Sematary and, more recently, in IT: Chapter Two. He also had a few more prominent roles, such as when he played the tormented recluse Jordy Verrill in Creepshow. As such, King's brief appearance in Sons of Anarchy wasn't his first rodeo, and creator Kurt Sutter conjured up "a suitably nasty part."
The Season 3 episode "Caregiver" featured King as Bachman, a mysterious crime scene cleaner. In the episode, Gemma (Katey Sagal) tied her father's caregiver, Amelia, to a wheelchair in the basement because she knew too much about Gemma's situation. Although Gemma released her, it created chaos and confusion, resulting in Amelia stabbing herself and dying. With Gemma in a tricky situation, Tig (Kim Coates) called Bachman, a trusted cleaner, for the job.
In the next scene, King's Bachman, decked out in a leather jacket and sunglasses, rode up on a Harley. Bachman got right to work, taking measurements of the body and writing down necessary supplies on a notepad. He handed the list to Gemma while inquiring about the drain in the slop sink. He concluded the conversation by saying, "I'm in the mood for some music -- '80s."
While King's onscreen for mere minutes, he managed to transfer a touch of comedy and his famous love of '80s music to Bachman. As for his mononymous character, that was a sneaky reference to King's pen name, Richard Bachman. Under his writing alias, King published well-known novels like The Running Man, The Long Walk and Thinner. Although the famous author's pen name was ultimately traced back to him, it gave him a chance to produce more material that publishers limited to prevent oversaturation and experiment with his literary style.
For King fans, Sons of Anarchy's Richard Bachman reference was a delightful nod. Due to his character's eccentric nature and chilling profession, King left quite the impression. However, it seemed Sons of Anarchy also left a mark on him. As written on his personal website, King's only regret was not being allowed to take home his bright red motorcycle from the set.