Stephen King has been named the author most likely to be banned from schools in the U.S., according to a new study that reveals his novels have been censored hundreds of times.
A study by PEN America on banned books found that King’s novels had been censored a record 206 times, with classic novels such as Carrie and The Stand among the 87 titles removed from school libraries.
“His books are often removed from shelves when ‘adult’ titles or books with ‘sex content’ are targeted for removal,” PEN director Kasey Meehan told the Associated Press.
“These prohibitions overwhelmingly ban LGBTQ+ content and books on race, racism, and people of color—but also affect titles like Stephen King’s books,” he added.
In many cases, books pulled from the shelves were not done so because of specific objections, but due to a fear of community, political, or legal pressure if they did not.
“Some districts—in being overly cautious or fearful of punishment—will sweep so wide they end up removing Stephen King from access, too,” said Meehan.
The bans follow a series of executive orders signed by Trump in July 2025, which sought to “End Racial Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” and “Defend Women from Gender Ideology Extremism,” with the vast majority of the bans taking place in Texas, Florida, and Tennessee.
“Since returning to office, the Trump administration has mimicked rhetoric about ‘parents’ rights’, which, in Florida and other states, has largely been used to advance book bans and censorship of schools, against the wishes of many parents, students, families, and educators,” the report reads.
“This functions as a form of ‘obeying advance,’” it added, “rooted in fear or simply a desire to avoid topics that might be deemed controversial.”
Reacting to the news, King, a longtime critic of the president, tweeted, “I am now the most banned author in the United States—87 books. May I suggest you pick up one of them and see what all the p—ing & moaning is about? Self-righteous book banners don’t always get to have their way. This is still America, dammit.”
The author previously quipped, “I think Donald Trump is a secret fan. He’s got all my books.”
During a Q&A with The Guardian in August, King was asked how he envisioned the end of Trump’s reign. “I think it would be impeachment—which, in my view, would be a good ending,” he said. “I would love to see him retired, let’s put it that way. The bad ending would be that he gets a third term and takes things over completely. It’s a horror story either way. Trump is a horror story, isn’t he?”
Other prominent authors affected by the book ban include Anthony Burgess, whose novel A Clockwork Orange was removed 23 times. Jennifer Niven’s Breathless and Sold by Patricia McCormick were also banned 20 times each.
The PEN report does not include data from other red states such as Ohio, Oklahoma, and Arkansas due to a lack of adequate documentation and differences in state laws.
“It’s become harder and harder to quantify the scope of the book-banning crisis,” Meehan says. “In a state where a banning law is passed, we don’t have the data to know whether every school in that state had the books affected. Our data is a snapshot. It’s what we were able to collect through what’s publicly reported or on websites or what journalists have uncovered.”
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