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Book Review: The Shining by Stephen King

The Shining by Stephen King is one of the best horror stories ever written by him. The book is riveting because of the fact that it involves a child as a lead character who can see and feel the unusual things around him but generally is not aware of this supernatural power.


In this novel, Danny Torrence is one such boy with some amazing brilliance. He can typically read and feel the minds of adults like his parents and their thoughts of suicide and divorce subsequently. Ironically, he assumes this feeling is a mist of the mind until he meets Dick Halloran of the Overtook Hotel. Dick Halloran says that he shines on, means he is extraordinary.

Jack Torrence is the father of Danny. His father is a writer but keeps himself drowned in the realms of alcohol. Jack gets the job in the Overtook Hotel which remains closed in winter due to heavy snow-like adverse conditions. The jobs seems perfect for him, since Jack has really a difficult task of coping up with his dull and broken past, so he wants to patch up the things once again for his family by spending more time with the family.

Well, he is not aware of the fact that the hotel subsists on the evils committed in its premises. The hotel has a dark and negative shadow during winter when it remains closed. It is astonishing to note that in this novel instead of a human or animal or ghostly spirit it is the hotel (an object) that works as an antagonist. Well, the hotel too has a spirit of its own.

The hotel wants Jack to turn vile and hostile against his family so as he can commit crime against them to feed the malign intentions of the hotel. Parallel to the transformation of Jack into negative shadow, Danny’s capabilities begin growing. He knows the fears hidden inside him; he rather takes them openly, in a challenging way. It is sad to express that the family meets a tragic fate in the end. All of Danny’s hope and aspirations of becoming a good, successful man go in vain that he thought of himself.

Obviously, it’s a different kind of horror story. The growing of fear, suspension and evil intentions has been put in the most riveting way. A terrific story with immaculate plot! It is an amazing piece from the master story teller of this genre.

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