Stephen King Hits Out at Utah for Banning His 1982 Novella Collection From All Public Schools

Key Points:

• Utah has banned Stephen King's 1982 novella collection Different Seasons from all public schools after four school districts deemed it contained "objective sensitive material," triggering a statewide ban effective July 6.
• The ban was based on descriptions of human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation found on three pages, reportedly in the novella Apt Pupil, a psychological thriller involving a high school student and a Nazi war criminal.
• Different Seasons includes stories that inspired the acclaimed films Stand by Me and The Shawshank Redemption, which King highlighted in his criticism of the ban on social media, questioning the decision given the stories' themes of friendship and courage.
• This is not the first time Utah has banned Stephen King's works; his 1998 novel Bag of Bones was also banned earlier this year, amid a broader pattern of book bans in the state.
• The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah has filed a lawsuit challenging these bans as unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, representing multiple authors and estates.