The Shining

There’s no list I can create in my head about haunting locations that doesn’t include this book. One of the most interesting aspects of horror novels that take place in a vivid setting is that they draw you in and both make you wish you could visit the location while at the same time thanking all that’s good and holy that you’re not there. That’s what The Shining did for me when I read it. 

The Overlook hotel is larger than life, treacherous, and inviting, and King does an incredible job at maintaining the high-pitched hum of tension from the… show more.

My troubled childhood left deep, lasting scars on my psyche. I’m a gentle, loving soul with a caring nature. I love animals and children, and they seem to love me just as much. I’m happiest when spending time with children, and raising my own brought me the greatest happiness. Yet as any parent knows, we’re not just parenting, we’re also dealing with our own issues and challenges.

Stephen King takes that reality and turns it into one of the most terrifying stories about a family isolated in a remote snowbound mountain hotel. On the surface, The Shining is a horror… show more.

Of all the horror novels I’ve read, which number in the hundreds, “The Shining” stands first among them. It’s hard to write a horror novel that has both great characters and a great plot, and King succeeded in doing both.

I don’t think there’s a moment in the entire book where he eases up on the tension, and impending horror lurks on every page. Of particular note, Chapter 36–“The Elevator”–may be the finest chapter of horror ever written. It’s a perfect example of the moment you find out the monsters in your head might be real.

Perhaps a trip to the mountains is more your style? Spend some time in a snowy cabin with a hot drink and a copy of this classic ghost story. If you’re only familiar with the film version of this tale, then buckle up, buddy.

The book goes places the film never could, and is very much worth the time. The set up and pay off are great, and the sense of isolation and dread which pervades the book is palpable. It’s a classic for a reason. I reread this book every winter, and it never gets old.

Ahh, the perfect book to read while on a winter skiing vacation.

A young boy, Danny, gifted with psychic abilities named “shining,” becomes trapped in a hotel with his parents following a winter storm. His father, Jack, slowly loses his sanity due to the influence of supernatural forces that inhabit the hotel.

This book will keep you up at night while you continually glance at your locked bedroom door, praying someone won’t try to enter your room with an axe.

You never forget your first. This was the first grown-up haunting book I ever read, and it was complete adoration at first sight. King’s work has had a huge influence on me as a writer. (Yes, when I get stuck, I do quite literally think, okay, what would Uncle Stevie do?) This novel has all the great King elements—realistic people trying to survive an insanely unreal situation; engrossing, detailed backstory that makes that situation feel like it’s always been there, waiting, watching, inevitable; snappy dialogue and unexpected jolts of humor. The Overlook Hotel is a perfect clockwork trap of unholy… show more.

Jack Torrance is struggling with his creativity and his alcohol consumption and when he takes his family to the Overland Hotel he becomes possessed by the hotel! Spending a winter in isolation, his imagination runs rampant. I recommend the novel because it shows a writer who is deep in agony, stressed about being dried up, and then finds himself in such isolation his mind hooks into the dark, disturbing nightmare of murder and mayhem. Though Stephen King at first disliked the Stanley Kubrick film, he is slowly changing his mind. For me, the novel shows what could happen to a… show more.

The Shining centers on the life of a struggling writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a position as the off-season caretaker of the historic Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies. It is a novel filled with richly complex characters. These include the three central characters and supernatural entities. The supernatural elements in this book fascinated me and I always knew I wanted to include something along these lines in my own story, although it really isn’t close to being the same thing. It just sparked my imagination and remains one of my all-time favorite scary reads.

This was the first book of his that I read and it changed my entire perception of horror writing and reading. I read the book when it first came out, mainly because everyone I knew was reading it. King wasn’t that well known yet, but after The Shining…well, you know the rest. Many years later having read just about every one of his books, he wrote a book on writing. To say that my having read every word changed the course of my life would be a gross understatement. 

The Shining is the classic trapped-in-a-snowstorm horror novel for me. It holds a special place in my memories. I was working in New York City in the early nineties, in the middle of winter, and I had this book to keep me company at night before falling asleep. I feel that this is one of Stephen King’s best books of all time, and I highly recommend this one for that closed-in, claustrophobic feeling.