The Shining by Stephen King

The shining is a horror novel written by author Stephen King in 1977. The story’s main plot follows Jack, a struggling author, who is hired to be a caretaker at the Overlook Hotel, where the murder of two young girls and their mother had previously taken place. At the hotel, the family starts hallucinating and having supernatural visions. Meanwhile, Jack’s son, Danny, learns that he has been born gifted with the ability to communicate via telepathy, mind- read and experience premonitions, called The Shining. During their stay, Jack gets possessed by the spirit of the haunted Overlook Hotel, which leads to him having intrusive thoughts of killing his own family, much like the previous caretaker of the hotel responsible for the previous murders. The tale follows Jack in his descent into madness, Danny in the discovery of his powers, as well as Jack’s wife, Wendy, trying to make sense of the bizarre situation, and trying to keep her son safe from his own father, who ultimately loses his bearings in the end and goes on a murderous rampage. I think that part of what makes the novel so enjoyable is the relatability of the characters, especially Jack. Despite turning out to be the antagonistic villain in the end, at the start, he is illustrated as a character struggling with alcoholism and temper management, with the will to become a better father and husband. Both his flaws and good qualities make Jack a very complex character, which further adds to the realness, and thus horror element, of the book. The book is also extremely thrilling and exciting. Each room in the Overlook Hotel houses its own unique supernatural display, adding on to the creepiness of the atmosphere and fictional environment. These displays range from the topiary animals in the garden coming to life, to the demonic ghost disguised as a foxy woman in a bathtub in one of the hotel rooms. Every occurrence and happening in the plot is described vividly with great detail, which makes the novel all the more intimate, in a terrifying way. Although the story can get lengthy, or seem to drag on at times, this is a small price to pay for well-written character development, as well as a suspense and thrill-driven ending. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thriller and horror genres. The novel is a true page-turner that is sure to fill you with tension and fear. However, readers have to remain patient and committed throughout, for the entire novel spans 447 pages, and is said to take approximately 11 hours to finish reading! Reference: https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Shining-novel-by-King#:~:text=The%20Shining%2C%20gothic%20horror%20novel,Sleep%2C%20was%20published%20in%202013. Valerie Tan 3 Faith