Douglas E. Winter

Gives a personal look at the man, husband, father and writer who became "Master of the Macabre." Also describes how his works were conceived and written.

The Art of Darkness

Stephen King

Jack Torrance’s new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he’ll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote . . . and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.
--back cover

The Shining

lucy p

Yet he could not equate these simple symbols with the shifting complex reality of his mother; she satisfied his childish definition of eternity. She had been when he was not. She would continue to be when he was not again. He could accept the possibility of his own death, he had dealt with that since the encounter in Room 217. But not hers. Not Daddy's. Not ever.

He squeezed her tightly. "I love you." She squeezed him back, touched. Those had never heen cheap words with John Torrance; she could count fhe number of times he had said them to her, both before and after marriage, on both her hands. "I love you too."

Tough old world, baby. If you're not bolted together tightly, you're gonna shake rattle and roll before you turn thirty.

Danny is only five years old, but he is a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father becomes caretaker of an old hotel, his visions grow out of control. Cut off by blizzards, the hotel seems to develop an evil force, and who are the mysterious guests in the supposedly empty hotel?

Maria Buitrago

Tough old world, baby. If you're not bolted together tightly, you're gonna shake, rattle, and roll before you turn thirty. 

Griffin Thompson

She had never dreamed there could be so much pain in a life when there was nothing physically wrong.

This isn’t the first incident that shows that Jack isn’t all there, but it is the first one that shows a hint of hallucinations. I never realised how good a job King did with making Jack a 3 dimensional character that is so incredibly human and believable.  

“I think that’s what we ran over Jacky-boy”

Jack frowned. It had all happened with such crazy speed. 

For aren’t memories the true ghosts of our lives? Do they not drive all of us to words and acts we regret from time to time?

tonka

Justin Staack

Before Doctor Sleep, there was The Shining, a classic of modern American horror from the undisputed master, Stephen King. Danny is only five years old, but in the words of old Mr Hallorann he is a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father becomes caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, Danny's visions grow out of control. As winter closes in and blizzards cut them off, the hotel seems to develop a life of its own. It is meant to be empty. So who is the lady in Room 217 and who are the masked guests going up and down in the elevator? And why do the hedges shaped like animals seem so alive? Somewhere, somehow, there is an evil force in the hotel - and that, too, is beginning to shine . . .

Patrick Book

This was good! Really good. Better than the movie, even!

Such a gripping book, some of the most well written characters I've ever seen and I'm not likely to forget this book anytime soon.

Joe Mccaffery 

Roman

Shining

Literally quite boring. Listened to the audiobook while reading and I don‘t think I would’ve finished it otherwise. 

Ayca

Literally quite boring. Listened to the audiobook while reading and I don‘t think I would’ve finished it otherwise. 

Disappointing :/

Isolated. Creative. Creepy. I really liked this book. It can be slow at times but I think other than that it's wonderful 

Carrie-Ivy-Viper

Sarah Sammis

Got this copy as a Christmas give in 1996.

The Shining was my first introduction to Stephen King. It was the film, actually just the scene of chase through the maze, that I saw first. The clip was part of a group math project in high school.

Anyone who has read the book knows that the hedge maze isn't in the book. Instead, the garden is filled with topiaries that work much like the angels in the "Blink" episode of Doctor Who. But that hedge maze was a foot in the door which lead me to watch the film in its entirety with my grandmother. It would be another eight years or so though before I got around to reading the book.

I was newly wed and Ian and I would spend our free time together discussing movies and books. I was taking a horror genre film class at UCLA and The Shining wasn't part of the course. Being though in the mind set to think of horror novels and film adaptations, I decided to finally read King's novel.

Stephen King's novel goes deeper into Jack's history and his own abilities. Danny isn't the only one with "the Shining." For Jack, the ability to see the dead combined with an abusive childhood has lead him alcoholism.

Like most of my favorite horror stories, The Shining is grounded in a physical location. Here it is the Overlook Hotel, a remotely located hotel that was once popular with the rich and famous and is now in its last days. To add to the feeling of dread the family is sent in winter to serve as caretakers while it is closed for the season. Left alone in the harsh winter storms, Jack and Danny start seeing things as the hotel begins to reveal its secrets.

Like the manor in The Thirteenth Tale, the Overlook Hotel is a central character. All those years of excesses have piled up to give life to a very angry structure. Who is the greater threat to the Torrance family, the ghosts or the hotel? That's what Danny and his mother must figure out if they are to survive.

The Shining remains one of my favorite Stephen King novels. I love a good ghost story.

Vicky  Nuñez 

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2017 - A book set in a hotel. 2/52



The Shining tells the story of Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic whose addiction has made him lose his job and is now in the road for recovering. His good friend Al Shockley got him a job as the winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, a hotel whose reputation goes back for decades. He will live in the hotel throughout the winter with his wife Wendy and his son Danny. But Danny sees things other people can't, he's a shiner, and the many deaths on the hotel left their presence behind. And it transforms the hotel from a paradise into a living nightmare.

What a ride! I have to admit I read this book in the middle of the night and I jumped more than once thinking the hotel had come alive through its pages about to terrorize me.

Stephen King is definitely the King of Horror(get it?) and it shows. The Shining is not a scary book, but its creepy, suspenseful tone that keeps you on edge with every page. It is his narrative that sticks in your mind and draws itself perfectly and you can't help but imagine you are in his character's place.

It is a beautiful, suspenseful book that people who love horror will enjoy and does who don't will too! If you haven't read any of King's books this definitely a good way to start!

Disclaimer: I haven't seen the movie and probably won't because it creeped me out just reading about it and I can't imagine that watching the things unfold on the screen will be less terrifying.

Daniel Spruill

4.5

Jack Torrance is my favorite King character as of now. King paints a perfect portrait of an alcoholic wrestling with his demons that ultimately get the better of him (not entirely of his own choosing) and his family in the process.

This was King’s first foray into really exploring what addiction looks like. Jack is complex and incredibly wounded by his own father and childhood that I can’t see him as only a villain. He spent much of his early years in fear of what his father might do— to him and his siblings and his mother, so much so that he becomes his father. It speaks to how we carry everything from our parents if we don’t heal it.

The hotel uses every bit of this to its own advantage. It wants Danny’s power to become fully sentient and Jack is used as a means to an end to achieve it.

It’s hard to not compare this to the Kubrick film because of how seeped in popular culture it’s become. Kubrick’s film is perfect on its own, but it’s a piss-poor adaption of this novel.

Early King is my favorite. I really, really loved this.

He rubbed his hand harshly across his lips and followed Watson into the boiler room. It was humid in here, but it was more than the humidity that brought the sick and slimy sweat onto his brow and stomach and legs. The remembering did that, it was a total thing that made that night two years ago seem like two hours ago. There was no lag. It brought the shame and revulsion back, the sense of having no worth at all, and that feeling always made him want to have a drink, and the wanting of a drink brought still blacker despair—would he ever have an hour, not a week or even a day, mind you, but just one waking hour when the craving for a drink wouldn't surprise him like this?

esme villanueva

It's one of my favorites, I read it often and it never fails to amaze me. It's the perfect mix between a spooky and a sad story. LOVE IT.

oh delectable! so very scary, especially with the constant well timed scratches and squeaks from the bats in my ceiling. i couldn’t put it down- mostly because i wanted to finish it before the snow down south here melted, and usually that’s pretty quick. i love the movie, so digesting the book was really interesting and fun to compare throughout the read.

wauwa

GODDD

It took me long to finish, sorry I was busy.
But God!! 
I had hard times with how slow paced things were, however it truly helped with getting to know and see the family dynamics of the three. You just grow to like Wendy and Danny and even at times I felt bad for Jack.
Jack, there’s so much to say. He’s a great character, in a sense that he was written well. I disliked him so much at times but there were times I felt bad. Especially in the end, it’s really sad.
I loved Wendy with all my heart, she was written so well and she was strong and resourceful. I enjoyed her!

I have so much to say but I don’t want to keep rambling! I just enjoyed this so much.

Mirella

Aamna

Could not put it down. The most engaging, terrifying novel I've read so far.

Jaden Nelson

First real Stephen King read! I really like The Shining. This is supposedly one of King's scariest books, but there were only maybe one or two times when I got a little scared and even then it was just like getting chills or something. The plot was very well developed and interesting, King somehow making a man and his family staying at a hotel into a thrilling story of insanity, trust, and demonic forces (and so much more). The ending was definitely not what I expected, but I liked it. Sometimes, things got a little confusing, but I managed to figure everything out eventually. Also, I of course liked the whole actual "shining" element of it (referring to the ability) and how it played into the story. I would recommend this book possibly as a starter to Stephen King (although as a beginner, I can't really say much else) and to anyone who is looking for a good little thrilling scare, who can handle some gore and can stick with a longer book like this.

Geoffrey Froggatt

As a horror aficionado, I’ve regrettably procrastinated reading anything by Stephen King. I’ve tried to pick this up and read it many times, but the shadow of the movie always hung over me, and prevented me from reading it through the lens of the original source material. We all know this story. Jack Torrance becomes the winter caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado, hoping to cure his writer's block. He settles in along with his wife, Wendy, and his son, Danny, who is plagued by psychic premonitions. As Jack's writing goes nowhere and Danny's visions become more disturbing, Jack discovers the hotel's dark secrets and begins to unravel. Content warning for alcoholism, addiction, domestic violence, child abuse, racism, and themes exploring mental illness. Stephen King’s writing can sometimes feel a bit dense in the sense that I feel like a lot of this book could have been edited down, especially in the middle. Stephen King often writes every thought that his characters have, regardless of how much it does or doesn’t fit or benefit the overall story. This can be a good and bad thing; Good in the sense that it fleshes out the characters and makes them feel like real people. Bad in the sense that it makes a lot of their thoughts feel redundant to the story overall and makes the book feel bloated in certain parts. 

I liked that the character of Jack Torrance felt sane and rational in the beginning of the book, contrasting Jack Nicholson’s portrayal that shows his character to be mildly unhinged and crazed since the beginning of the movie adaptation. Danny Torrance’s character was very compelling and is one of the first POVs from a child that I actually enjoyed reading from. Wendy Torrance was a lot stronger of a character in the book but I still visualized Shelley Duvall when I read from her perspective, even when she was described to be blonde. As much as I liked this book, I felt like I had missed out experiencing it as intended as many of the reveals had already been spoiled for me since I had seen the movie and know most of the story. The visions and “hallucination” scenes would have been more impactful had I never experienced this story before. I found the racial slurs in the book to be unnecessary but I try to remember the time that this book was set and when it was written and it makes it more understandable, like a racist elderly relative born and raised in another time. I can see why Stephen King felt like the movie adaptation butchered the story, because it did. I still love the movie for what it was, but I can see where book fans are coming from when they say they prefer the book. If you think reading this book will ruin the movie adaptation for you, I wouldn’t worry about it, because they can both stand on their own and be loved based on their own merit. I still recommend this book for fans of The Shining movie and those who want to read classic horror and Stephen King. I enjoyed the suspense in this book, but I think I’d prefer the Stephen King books that I don’t already know well.

Lara Engle

This book is mostly better than I remember it being when I read it in high school. I'm sure that's me and my life experience talking. I feel like I understand the characters better now than I did then. I still think Jack was a terrible person even before they reached the Overlook Hotel and I'm really annoyed by the number of times King mentions Wendy's breasts. But the characterization is strong and the tension cannot be denied, especially when the hotel is in its full throes of possession. The Shining is King at his creeptastic best.

My first Stephen King book, and what a one to pick!

This was nothing like I was expecting at all, but it was incredible! The whole haunted house (hotel) aspect, while spine tingling in its descriptions, was not the winner here. Rather the psychological aspect of facing your inner demons was so thought provokingly well written that I found it difficult to put this book down!

I'm definitely reading more King books ASAP!

Victoria Justice

My first Stephen King book, and what a one to pick!

This was nothing like I was expecting at all, but it was incredible! The whole haunted house (hotel) aspect, while spine tingling in its descriptions, was not the winner here. Rather the psychological aspect of facing your inner demons was so thought provokingly well written that I found it difficult to put this book down!

I'm definitely reading more King books ASAP!

Briar's Reviews

To say Stephen King is a genius and a legend in the horror world is an understatement.

I had been meaning to read The Shining for a very long time - I became determined to read the book before the movie, and I've been dying to watch the movie for the past two years! While I have heard the comments over and over that the book and the movie aren't the same, I'll stil wanted to stick to my word and read the book well before I found the movie again.

This book didn't strike me as hard as It and Carrie did, but I still found it incredibly fascinating. The work is legendary and sits on many top shelves of readers I know and look up too. So, of course, I had to dive right in and tear this book apart.

This book was slow starting, but Stephen King's descriptions and writing style kept me hooked. I didn't enjoy the slow pace, but it did pick up about halfway through the novel. Then I was hooked and needed to finish this book, and yearned to know what would happen to these characters.

I read someone, a long time ago, that this book was based on cabin fever. It definitely seems possible, but there were lots of ghosts or mystical beings mashed up within this book as well. After watching Ready Player One and seeing references I didn't understand, reading this book and seeing those figures helped me grasped a better understanding of what was happening in that movie. The creepy descriptions of the lady in the bathtub and all of the other weird creatures really made me feel like I was in this story. At times, I totally understood how this book got turned into a movie (and how has there not been twenty remakes by now? The story is so cool!). If you're looking for a frightful read with descriptions that will blow your mind, Stephen King is absolutely for you!

While I don't find myself to be a crazy horror fan (since I don't get scared from these books, but I am always in awe), I have to say I really like this book. I like how Stephen King writes and I like that it's such a different story. Just comparing this book to It and Carrie (the only two Stephen King books I have read), these books are always well thought out, absolutely insane and full of scenes you'd never imagine! It's A+ horror and one of the best thrillers.

To me, this book wasn't scary - I don't find books scary because of the lack of noise and background sounds, but it was an epic thriller with scary scenes. I could see readers easily finding this scary, and I would not recommend reading this to children. It's R rated, but a really great R rated ride! Jack, Wendy and Danny are also really interesting characters that develop in crazy ways. Slowly you can see their minds unwinding and going into dark terroritories. Although, I'm really curious as to how Stephen King got into the mind of Danny. Is that how little six year olds think? Or is he mature because of the Shine?

The shine seems to pop up in many books from this point on, which makes me excited to throw myself into Mr. King's collection and have these books intertwine with each other like a horror-filled Pixar theory. 

I might never read this book again, mainly because I need to catch up with all of Stephen's other books. Is it worth a second read? Heck yes. I'm sure there are lots of scenes and easter eggs I missed throughout! Would I recommend this book? Oh my gosh, yes! It's a great book, and if you're only going to pick one horror book it might as well be by the King of Horror.

Five out of five stars!

Erik Wallace

I saw the movie long ago and forgot most about the story except for the things that have been embedded into pop culture. I don't think I can accurately express how terrifying this book is. Not in a being afraid of the dark way, but the Overlook's manifestations and the terror in the book is some of the most frightening I have ever read or seen.

I can confidently say after reading more than a few of King's books that this is my favorite and possibly the best written (in my opinion). That said, I have not read The Stand, It, or his newer books.

harikaydi her sey kafamda tamamlanmis gibi oldu

ruby

michelle cardone

There is nothing to say about this book that hasn't already been said. So this is just a fan saying it is absolutely, 100% worth the hype and I will certainly be re-reading it.

Cheri Fuller

I thought I read this book in my teens but the farther I got into it, the more certain I became that I hadn't. I would have remembered how well done Jack's descent into madness was. For me, that was the best part of the book. I did enjoy Danny's parts of the book, and Wendy's to a lesser extent, but the star of the show was Jack's changes and his growing connection to the hotel.

I think my biggest shock was just how different Kubrick's film is to the novel. I need to watch the movie again since I don't remember a lot of the details. That and the insane number of times the N-word was used. I wasn't expecting it and it really put me off.

I listened to the audio book and initially Campbell Scott's calm tone made me wonder if I wouldn't fall asleep while reading. Luckily, he got down to business when the dialogue and more intense narration called for it. He did a really good job. 

I don't know if it was just the audio book and there were clearer demarcations in the physical book, but I was throw off regularly which POV switches. There were a few times when I had to rewind to see if I either missed something or to figure out who was sharing info. 

I'm glad I read this one. It won't end up on my all-time favorite Stephen King list but I enjoyed the story. 3.5 stars for me.

Lynn

3.75 ⭐️ rounded up to 4. A hefty number, but quite well-paced for its length. The characters were well-rounded, you get plenty of time with them throughout 500 pages. King’s descriptions and ability to build tension ‘shine’ in this book. Unbelievably well-suited to spooky season, the hotel setting and winter season help build the icy, murderous and mysterious vibe. Halloran is likely my favourite character. My only complaints are that the book might be unnecessarily long and that Danny really didn’t feel like a kid of 5, I think making him 8 or 9 might have had the same effect but made it a little more believable.

Stephen King The Art of Darkness

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