Utah bans Stephen King collection 'Different Seasons' from public schools

booksJul 15, 202628126

Utah state board of education banned Stephen King’s 1982 novella collection Different Seasons from public school libraries and classrooms on July 6 after the Davis, Jordan, Tooele and Washington school districts removed the book. Different Seasons contains four novellas, including Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption and The Body, which inspired the films The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me; the board said the collection had previously been available to students in grades seven through 12. Under Utah law a book is removed statewide if at least three school districts or two districts and five charter schools find it contains “objective sensitive material,” defined in state code as instructional material that is pornographic or indecent or that is harmful to minors and that may include certain fondling or other erotic touching. The state board’s banned-books list had 35 titles as of July 15, including The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The removal of Different Seasons follows a January lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah on behalf of the estate of Kurt Vonnegut and several bestselling authors, arguing the statewide bans violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Scott Horton

@robertscotthorton.bsky.social

The Kingdom of Deseret has put Stephen King on its Index of Proscribed Books. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

3045d ago

Colls1

I did a paper on some of SKs books in college. Now they're removing them from schools. Hitler would be proud.

Ed Macdonald1

I believe the official reason was derp derpie derp derp derp derp.

slavko62.bsky.social1

LDS Elders have spoken Here is another news source I won't be reading. www.deseret.com/politics/202...

Puer Aeternus Crescit1

lol. Must have ruffled some Jesus Jammies.

brightnessinsight.bsky.social1

But incest and pedophilia is ok with the Mormons 🤬

Lawrence

@ldog562.bsky.social

Utah bans Stephen King novella collection from public schools. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

2145d ago

Netaloid 📸3

They've banned Kurt Vonnegut's works, too. Yet they're perfectly happy to let Mike Lee spew his toxic bullshit all over the state...

Miaganga2

Fuck Utah. Child molesting cult state.

Elizabeth 🇺🇲🦋💜💛🧬1

The state that turns a blind eye on bigomy and groomers who raise their girls to become good sister wives is banning works of fiction? Oh, that's rich. People in a glass tabernacle shouldn't throw stones. Have a coke and a smile, and shut the cult up.

Bill1

Fascists ban books. There is not one Stephen King novel that should be banned. It’s censorship. It’s wrong, and it should never be happening here in America. Let children read. What is feared? Children with knowledge. Because knowledge is power!

Anne Billson

@annebillson.bsky.social

If I went to school in Utah, I would totally make it my mission to read this and all the other books on the "banned" list, same way we set out to watch every single one of the films on the UK's "video nasty" list back in the early 1980s.

3145d ago

Cat Vincent (he/him, Useless Eater)8

Reminiscing recently about Irving Rappaport, brother of David. He was a founder of Palace Pictures, involved in Ken Campbell's Illuminatus & Handmade Films... & hid the print of Evil Dead under his bed during the nasties. He was also the original Lord Buckethead. I miss him. He passed 3 years ago.

Emerson6

Even better: be the one who reads AND also lends your copy to all classroom pals.

Alan B1

This is advertising of a quality that you couldn't buy for him.

ImmigrantPete1

I was always grateful as a teenager when the "Parental Advisory" notes appeared on CD covers. It meant I was in for some good sweary music with adult themes. It's not like my parents were ever going to buy that stuff. Thank you, Nancy Reagan.

Derek Haas

@derekhaaswriter.bsky.social

I read this book as a 12-year-old and it set the course of my life. Kids of Utah... read banned books!

1146d ago

Randy Fair

@southerngayteacher.bsky.social

“The removal of King comes as the ACLU of Utah filed a lawsuit against state officials on behalf of the estate of Kurt Vonnegut and several bestselling authors, arguing that the book bans are “unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

645d ago

Quoting this

Vania3

Profiteers deny reality to children because the less humans know of the world, the more willingly we participate in our own enslavement to profiteers. Money's living organisms converted to dead resources. Greed eats. Love saves. That's the global-emotional system #BetterDems #ArmageddonCapitalism

Kirk Wolcott

@kirkwolcott.bsky.social

Read books, ban bigotry & intolerance! 📚 "Run, don't walk, to the nearest nonschool library or the local bookstore and get whatever it was that they banned." - Stephen King #books #authors #freespeech www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

445d ago

Quite Contrary

@quitecontrary09.bsky.social

Utah thinks your kids are stupid and don't deserve conversation or critical thinking. Keep 'em dumb. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

745d ago

TomC360

@tomc360.bsky.social

www.kpcw.org/state-region... Wtf Utah? I love this man's writing . Why ban a near 50 y/o book... Rape-ublicans

545d ago

mtshastamothership

@mtshastamothership.bsky.social

I loved these stories and this collection. Stephen King is such a creative writer and his stories just flow. Yet here goes Utah - land of suppression of personal will and the creative mind, among other things.🙄 www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

145d ago

Lilja’s Library - The World of Stephen King

@liljaslibrary.bsky.social

Can someone explain why Utah is banning Different Seasons? I don’t understand…

345d ago

iAmTheTot

@tot.aedelor.com

On its website, Davis school district said Different Seasons “violates the standards” because it describes “genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.” Gods forbid kids know about their genitals!

145d ago

Alex Marten 🇧🇷🇺🇸🇺🇦🇸🇾🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

@amarten.bsky.social

Stephen King's books banned!? Are they stupid? Oh wait, answered my own question. @stephenking.bsky.social #bookbans #FightFascism www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

45d ago

newsouth.bsky.social

@newsouth.bsky.social

This is what happens when a state, in this case Utah, is run like a theocracy. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

145d ago

Scott A. Leadingham

@scottleadingham.bsky.social

Utah has removed Stephen King's book "Different Seasons" (collection that spawned 3 movies, including Shawshank Redemption) from all public schools. State law says if 3 districts remove a book for certain "objective sensitive material" it prompts a state-wide ban. www.sltrib.com/news/educati...

144d ago

Invalid Handle News

@news.invalid-handle.com

Ukraine parliament prepares to vote on a new prime minister. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launches a testosterone screening program for military personnel. A Muslim mall worker in Utah was stabbed in a targeted attack. Utah schools ban a collection of Stephen King novellas.

145d ago

1 source

theguardian.comUtah bans Stephen King novella collection from public schools

Nine of 10 UK bestselling paperbacks feature a murdered womanbooks Utah bans Stephen King collection 'Different Seasons' from public schoolsbooks

Utah bans Stephen King collection 'Different Seasons' from public schools

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