I've only recently gotten into Steven King, and for a while I've been looking for something truly chilling. I started with Dreamcatcher, a mediocre book with little fright. Green Mile was excellent but intentionally not scary. Thinner finally began to give me what I was looking for, but it was The Shining that delivered the frightening tale I had been seeking all along.

The Shining tells the story of the Torrances, a family struggling to survive against personal demons and the supernatural. Jack Torrance is a recovering alcoholic with a good heart but a nasty temper. After being fired from his teaching job for attacking a student, Jack takes his wife Wendy and their five-year-old son Danny to Colorado for his last attempt at a job. He becomes caretaker of the Overlook, a beautiful hotel up in the mountains but one with a shady history. Because of the brutal winters, the Overlook gets no guests for those months. Therefore the Torrances must live there alone until spring while Jack tends to the place.

Herein lies a major problem. Being trapped in a strange place for months at a time with no outside contact other than a CB radio can cause people to lose a bit of sanity. Holding onto sanity is even more difficult for Jack who wants nothing more than a drink to calm him down, even though he knows it will be have an opposite effect.

Also, Jack and Wendy are worried about Danny. He is constantly going into trances and having nightmares, often ending with one mysterious word plastered across Danny's mind: REDRUM. They also discover that he has the ability to read minds, know how people are feeling, and even predict the future. Too young to fully understand these powers, Danny is frightened too, especially when in these visions he is instructed to do things by Tony, who may be an imaginary friend or imaginary foe. The hotel's chef Dick Halloran tells Danny that he has the same kind of mental power that Danny has - he calls it a "shining." Danny, however, has a stronger shine than anyone Dick has ever met.

King's writing is excellent in this book. He creates suspense with perfect pacing, revealing information gradually and having events occur in a such a way that they build upon each other until the huge climax. Although a bit much at times, I do like the Edgar Allen Poe motif that runs throughout the book. It's nice to see the premiere horror writer of today paying homage to the one of yesterday.

The characters are all believable, especially Jack, whose mental anguish is captured perfectly. King gives us direct insight into Jack's thoughts so that we can see him slowly grow insane. Danny's character, however, can be puzzling. Usually King writes him as a realistic five year old, confused about the strange occurrences in his life. But many times, his words and thoughts seem too old for him. This annoyed me at first, before I realized that King probably made a conscious effort to write Danny as a five year old forced to grow up too fast. Eventually I came to like this aspect of his character as it made Danny's shining even more scary.

What made this a frightening read was the way King brought us into the minds of the characters, allowing us to see all their fear, anger, and whatever else was stirring in there. The personal struggles against insanity are what kept me up late reading, wondering what would happen next and how far Jack's temper would take him. Although the end of the book is less realistic, it is still an enjoyable trip into the supernatural. However, the best aspect of the book is the realism - the personal, mental battles of a family suffering from cabin fever.

If you're looking for a great Steven King book, there are many to go after, but for a chilling tale that will keep you in suspense until the very end, The Shining is a sure bet. This wonderfully crafted tale of insanity is a must-read for fans of horror.


Also from Stephen King:

Different Seasons / Dreamcatcher / The Green Mile / The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon / Misery / The Stand / Thinner
The Dark Tower Series:
I: The Gunslinger / II: The Drawing of the Three / III: The Waste Lands / IV: Wizard and Glass / V: Wolves of the Calla / VI: Song of Susannah



Recommended: Yes