Book Review: The Shining by Stephen King

‘The Shining’ is arguably one of the most iconic titles by horror writer, Stephen King. I had initially been apprehensive of reading it, having seen the scene with the twin girls in blue dresses a long time ago, and its uncanniness chilled me to the core.

Perhaps that’s why curiosity finally forced my hand, and I ended up reading it.

The story follows the Torrance family, a fracturing unit of three. The patriarch, Jack was a recovering alcoholic, a writer, desperately clinging to the hopes of one day achieving success with his play, and eaten up by guilt from his past actions. His wife, Wendy, was estranged from her parents, lacking in self-confidence, and was frustrated with the hand she’d been dealt post Jack’s addiction and subsequent sobriety. Then there was their young son, Danny, inquisitive, perceptive and gifted with a unique power, one to see behind the shields and walls we put up, physically and mentally. A gift he later learned to refer to as shining. And he was powerful too, able to wield his power deftly, especially for someone so young.

When Jack is offered a job opportunity he cannot refuses, he uproots his family to begin residing in a remote, glamorous hotel called The Overlook, one with a nefarious, sometimes patchy history, stained with misdeeds and wrongdoing. It was a cursed place, and during the winter months, it was completely cut off from the rest of the world by heavy snowfall. Jack, as the new winter caretaker would have to entertain himself in the Hotel’s grounds from September until the season began again.

But as secrets and horrors of The Overlook crawl out from the woodwork, nobody could come out unscathed.

I really enjoyed ‘The Shining’. I felt almost let down that the film had skewed my perception of what was going to happen. I spent most of the book waiting with baited breaths for the twins to make an appearance, and was genuinely disappointed that they didn’t. Instead, I felt almost personally called out by the wasp incident which occurs in the first third of the book, where wasps keep coming and coming with their relentless rage and nasty stings. Wasps have been a phobia of mine since childhood, and the wasp incident was my worst nightmare brought to life. I’m glad I read it in the colder months, before they resurface.

The book was filled with tension, and I loved how Jack Torrance’s job at The Overlook acted as a metaphor for his mentality. And as he became more invested in the story of the  hotel, in the mysteries, the horrors that took place within its wall, he loses sight of his purpose in being there in the first place. It was fantastic!

It is certainly a cult classic for a reason, and although I didn’t get what I expected from the book, I found myself loving what I found instead. I’d recommend reading ‘The Shining’ to any horror fan, though it might not be the best book to take on holiday!