Stephen King is one of the world’s most famous authors, but one of his novels will never hit bookstore shelves again. It was his own decision — and once you read why, it’s easy to understand.
Charlie Kirk controversy
Author Stephen King has once again made headlines.
The “King of Horror,” born in 1947 in Portland, Maine, recently issued an apology for comments he made on social media following the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. The 31-year-old controversial activist was killed during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University and a suspect was arrested days later.
In the immediate aftermath of Kirk’s death, King faced backlash on X for responding to a Fox News host who referred to Kirk as a “PATRIOT.”
In one post, King wrote, “[Kirk] advocated stoning gays to death. Just sayin.” He later deleted the tweet.
But another story involving Stephen King has also been making waves recently, and this one ties closely to the deadly use of guns in the U.S.
A troubled high school student
Long before Stephen King became the master of horror we know today, he wrote a controversial novel in high school called Rage (1977).
Published a decade later after he found success with his other works, the psychological thriller follows Charlie Decker, a troubled high school student who, after a violent confrontation with a teacher and principal, grabs a gun from his locker, shoots his algebra teacher, and holds his classmates hostage in a tense standoff.
Over the years, Rage became infamous — linked to multiple school shootings between 1988 and 1997. In some cases, the shooters had read the book, and in at least one instance, a student even wrote an essay on it.
But it was a single tragedy that forced King to take action. On December 1, 1997, 14-year-old Michael Carneal opened fire at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky, killing three students and injuring five more. When authorities searched his belongings, they found a copy of Rage in his locker.
”Take the damned thing out of print”
The discovery deeply shook King, who had originally published the book under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. In response, he made the unprecedented decision to pull the book from print in the U.S., asking that it no longer be printed due to concerns it could be influencing violent behavior, as detailed by The Express.
”The Carneal incident was enough for me. I asked my publisher to take the damned thing out of print. They concurred,” King said in 1999.
Rage remained available in the United Kingdom and other countries in The Bachman Books (a collection of short novels by Stephen King) for a time, but later appeared to become unavailable.
The novel has remained out of print ever since, turning existing copies into highly sought-after collector’s items — some fetching hefty sums on the secondary market.
Looking back on Rage, King has admitted that he poured his own teenage frustrations and struggles into the story. Discussing his inspiration, he has said he drew on his personal turmoil as a high school student.
The response
In an article for Entertainment Weekly about the chilling writings of Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho, King reflected, ”Certainly in this sensitized day and age, my own college writing — including a short story called ‘Cain Rose Up’ and the novel Rage — would have raised red flags, and I’m certain someone would have tabbed me as mentally ill because of them…”
In 2013, following the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, King released the essay Guns, which speaks out against gun violence. All proceeds from the essay are donated to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Though Rage may never be republished, it stands as a haunting reminder of how fiction can sometimes collide with real life in tragic, unintended ways — and a rare moment when an author chose to silence one of his own stories out of conscience.
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