THE SHINING

BY STEPHEN KING AND STANLEY KUBRICK

BOOK PLOT
•JACK TORRANCE IS A WRITER WHO HOPES TO FINISH A PLAY OVER THE WINTER. HE
RECEIVES A JOB AS A CARETAKER AT THE OVERLOOK HOTEL IN COLORADO AS AN ACT OF
CHARITY FROM HIS FRIEND AL SHOCKLEY. SHOCKLEY IS A NEAR-MAJORITY STAKEHOLDER IN
THE OVERLOOK. JACK AND AL WERE DRINKING FRIENDS, BUT BOTH ARE NOW SOBER. HIS
TEMPER—AND ALCOHOLISM—HAVE PLAGUED JACK’S LIFE. ONCE, WHEN HIS SON DANNY
SPILLED BEER ON HIS PAPERS, JACK ACCIDENTALLY BROKE DANNY’S ARM WHILE PULLING HIM
AWAY. THIS BROUGHT WENDY TO THE BRINK OF DIVORCING JACK AND LEAVING WITH DANNY.
MOVIE PLOT
•JACK TORRANCE BECOMES A WINTER CARETAKER AT THE OVERLOOK HOTEL IN
COLORADO, HOPING TO OVERCOME HIS WRITING BLOCK. HE SETTLES THERE WITH HIS
WIFE, WENDY, AND THEIR SON, DANNY, WHO IS PLAGUED BY PSYCHIC PREMONITIONS. AS
JACK'S WRITING DOESN'T FLOW AND DANNY'S VISIONS GROW MORE TROUBLING, JACK
UNCOVERS THE HOTEL'S DARK SECRETS AND BEGINS TO BECOME A HOMICIDAL MANIAC,
HELL-BENT ON TERRORIZING HIS FAMILY.
IN T E R E ST I N G
FA C T S O F T H E
BOOK
1. ‘THE SHINING’ WAS THE FIRST OF KING’S BOOK TO INTRODUCE THE
SUPERNATURAL ABILITY OF THE SAME NAME
IF YOU’RE A FAN OF THE STEPHEN KING MACROVERSE (WHICH I EXPLAIN
IN-DEPTH HERE), THEN YOU KNOW HOW PREVALENT “THE SHINE” IS IN
HIS BOOKS. WHILE THE ABILITIES OF THOSE THAT POSSESS THE SHINE
RANGE FROM PYROKINESIS TO PRECOGNITION, IN THE SHINING IT’S
EXPLAINED AS TELEPHONY, AND IT’S THE FIRST OF KING’S NOVELS THAT
INTRODUCES IT TO HIS WORLD. SINCE THEN, DOZENS OF CHARACTERS
HAVE BEEN THEORIZED TO POSES THE SHINE, FROM JOHN COFFEY IN THE
GREEN MILE TO MOTHER ABIGAIL IN THE STAND, AND WHILE CARRIE
WAS WRITTEN BEFORE THE SHINING, IT’S BEEN RETCONNED (AT LEAST
BY THE READERS) THAT HER TELEKINESIS WAS ALSO A RESULT OF THE
SHINE.
2. THE NOVEL WAS ADAPTED INTO AN OPERA
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT A SUPERNATURAL HORROR NOVEL WOULD BE
INSPIRATION FOR AN OPERA? AND WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT THE
PERFORMANCE WOULD HAVE RECEIVED LARGELY FAVORABLE REVIEWS? DIRECTED
BY ERIC SIMONSON AND PREMIERING AT THE ORDWAY MUSIC THEATER IN SAINT
PAUL, MINNESOTA, THE OPERA WAS, ACCORDING TO CRITICS, “AN UNQUALIFIED
SUCCESS.”
3. THE HOTEL THAT KING USED AS INSPIRATION IS ALSO HAUNTED
MANY BELIEVE THE STANLEY HOTEL IS HAUNTED, HAVING REPORTED A NUMBER OF
CASES OF GHOSTLY ACTIVITY. KITCHEN STAFF HAVE REPORTED TO HAVE HEARD A
PARTY GOING ON IN THE BALLROOM, ONLY TO FIND IT EMPTY. PATRONS IN THE
LOBBY HAVE ALLEGEDLY HEARD SOMEONE PLAYING THE BALLROOM’S PIANO;
EMPLOYEES INVESTIGATING THE MUSIC PURPORTEDLY FOUND NOBODY SITTING
THERE. EMPLOYEES BELIEVE THAT PARTICULAR GHOST IS OF FREELAN O. STANLEY’S
WIFE, FLORA, WHO USED TO BE A PIANO PLAYER. IN ONE GUEST ROOM, PEOPLE
CLAIM TO HAVE SEEN A MAN STANDING OVER THE BED BEFORE RUNNING INTO THE
CLOSET. THIS SAME APPARITION IS ALLEGEDLY RESPONSIBLE FOR STEALING
GUESTS’ JEWELRY, WATCHES, AND LUGGAGE. OTHERS REPORTED TO HAVE SEEN
GHOSTS IN THEIR ROOMS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, SIMPLY STANDING IN
THEIR ROOM BEFORE DISAPPEARING. ARE THESE REAL GHOSTS OR SIMPLY THE
IMAGINATIONS OF THE INHABITANTS HIJACKED BY THE NOVEL’S REPUTATION?
4. KING HATED THE KUBRICK FILM
THIS ONE MAY NOT BE AS UNKNOWN TO FANS OF STEPHEN KING, BUT TO THIS DAY
HE CLAIMS HE WAS DISAPPOINTED BY THE 1980 FILM ADAPTATION BY STANLEY
KUBRICK, DESPITE IT BEING REGARDED AS ONE OF THE GREATEST HORROR MOVIES
OF ALL TIME. HIS CRITICISMS MOSTLY STEM FROM HOW POORLY KUBRICK
ADAPTED THE NOVEL’S THEMES, AS WELL AS HOW LITTLE THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
MATERIAL WAS FOLLOWED. I, FOR ONE, HAVE TO AGREE THAT, AS AN ADAPTATION,
THE 1980 THE SHINING IS SUBPAR.
THE END