Stephen King, the legendary author behind some of the most iconic horror novels, is well known for voicing his opinions. His books, known for their chilling plots and deeply unsettling characters, have been adored for decades.
So when the 76-year-old learned that 23 of his works were recently banned from Florida schools, he didn’t hold back. King’s response? A sharp, three-word retort that perfectly sums up how he feels about the situation. Here’s what he said.
Stephen King Gives A Blunt Repsonse To A Ban On His Books
In 2022, Florida governor, Ron DeSantis signed a landmark legislation that targeted books that included any sexually explicit material, following complaints from conservative group Moms for Liberty.
The law was brought into effect in July 2023 and has seen noteworthy classics all removed from elementary, middle, and high school libraries. Amongst the novels by King that have reportedly been banned include ‘Carrie‘, ‘It‘, ‘The Gunslinger‘, ‘The Running Man‘ and ‘The Long Walk‘.
When King learned about the ban on nearly two dozen of his novels, his reaction was simple and to the point: “Florida has banned 23 of my books. What the fuck?“
The new law allows the removal of other classics like ‘Brave New World‘ and ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ being some of the first to go. Even ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ by Anne Frank was targeted!
Publishers Fight Back Against The Ban By Florida Governor
Unsurprisingly, Stephen King isn’t the only one pushing back. Six major publishing houses including Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan, and Sourcebooks have now teamed up to challenge the “sweeping book removal provisions” of House Bill 1069.
In a press release, they highlighted: “HB 1069 requires school librarians to remove books that contain anything that can be construed as ‘sexual conduct,’ with no consideration of the educational value of the work as a whole. If ‘a parent or a resident of the county’ objects to a book, the book must be removed within five days and remain unavailable until the objection is resolved. There is no requirement to review a book within a reasonable time frame — or even to return it if it has been found not to violate the statute.”
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As the publishers put it, “Students need access to books that reflect a wide range of human experiences to learn and grow.” They added that “teachers and librarians must be allowed to use their professional expertise to match our authors’ books to the right reader at the right time in their life.“
Florida Department of Education spokesperson, Sydney Booker, told the BBC that it is a “stunt.” She added, “There are no books banned in Florida and that, “sexually explicit” material and instruction are not suitable for schools.”
