Stephen King is the most-banned author in U.S. schools.
According to PEN America’s Banned in the USA, the King of Horror has the most banned or censored books of any author throughout the United States school system. The report tracked more than 6,800 instances of books being permanently or temporarily banned in the 2024-25 school year — and King took home the top honor.
Three states were responsible for 80% of all the book banning done in the report: Florida, Texas, and Tennessee.
Florida in particular was responsible for 2,000 bans and a number of counties were behind many of King’s removals.
“His books are often removed from shelves when ‘adult’ titles or books with ‘sex content’ are targeted for removal – these prohibitions overwhelmingly ban LGBTQ+ content and books on race, racism and people of color – but also affect titles like Stephen King’s books,” Kasey Meehan, director of PEN’s Freedom to Read program and an author of the report, said. “Some districts – in being overly cautious or fearful of punishment – will sweep so wide they end up removing Stephen King from access, too.”
King’s work ranges from well-known classics like “It,” “The Shining,” “The Stand,” and “Misery” to lesser-known and more recent gems like “Revival” and “Joyland.” PEN’s report shows that the author’s work was censored 207 times. “Carrie” and “The Stand” were among the 87 works affected.
However, the title of most-banned author in the United States likely won’t slow down the prolific author. His 61st novel “Never Flinch” released in May 2025. On top of his books, he continued to be among the most adaptable authors around. 2025 alone has three films releasing – “The Life of Chuck,” “The Long Walk,” and “The Running Man” – and the HBO prequel series to “It,” called “Welcome to Derry.”
