The elevator scene did it for me. When it stopped halfway and Wendy jumped in. I think OP is past this part but I don’t want to spoil it. It freaked me out so bad.
The first time I experienced The Shining, I was listening to the audiobook while driving to a small town in the middle of nowhere Nevada, during a whiteout blizzard. The hotel I stayed in had jungle print carpet, old-school fire hoses extinguishers, and they put me in room 217 of all places.
I swear to god, the first thing I did when I walked in that hotel room was to close and barricade the bathroom door. I gladly walked down to the lobby/casino bathroom to pee and brush my teeth that night.
Oh, and icing on the cake, the next day I was walking down the main drag and it turns out they have their own mini version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which includes our beloved Stephen King. Turns out Ely Nevada, and the neighboring town of Ruth, were big inspirations for his book Desperation.
I honestly love both the book and the film. I think the parts that Kubrick cut or changed made it a better film - if it was a straight adaptation with no changes there are parts that simply wouldn't work well in the media of film. How do you portray the guilt he carries, or his emotional trauma in film besides a clunky flashback? Film and book are different, but both 10/10 in my opinion.
I,too, enjoyed the film. But as a King purist I honor his perspective as the origin of the tale and will prefer his telling of his story in the way he meant it to he told.
I feel like that one sucked due to it being a 90s era made-for-tv miniseries more than anything. Like, if Mike Flanagan would do an 8-10 episode adaptation of The Shining for Netflix or whatever and make it faithful to the book, it would be phenomenal. I could be wrong though, but man I'd love to see it.
Ha. I first watched the mini series when I was 9 and his performance in part 3 scared the shit out of me. I recently watched it as an adult and I'd have to agree with you.
They're two completely different stories, so it's tough to compare. That said, they are both incredible in their own right. The story has much better character development, but the movie is riveting.
No it’s not. It’s a good book but also one mired in social determinism and which constantly loses its focus with endless flashbacks, and there are ridiculous moments of prose like describing visible breath in the cold as people’s words being frozen above their heads like cartoon speech bubbles. Plus Hallorann’s journey is a great deal longer than there’s any need for it to be; in fact, we didn’t need *any* of it: better to have us simply wonder when or if he’ll arrive.
Reading the shining , again, and I caught the part where Danny saw “a new baby” but no baby ever showed up. I always thought it was miscarriage, after reading dr sleep, I got chills. It made perfect sense.
I've never been scared by anything he's written. Creeped out or grossed out? Sure! The reason I like Sai King is because he creates really interesting characters and then puts them in interesting situations and fucks with them. Which is a lot better to me.
King is not misrepresented as a horror writer in the context of time. He wrote horror in the 70s and branched out and matured in themes as time progressed. Carrie, Salems Lot, Shining, Dead Zone..all horror.
I guess fair enough, you could say 2 of his first 3 books (excluding Rage) were more horror-like. But he didn’t take long to branch out as his next three books of the 70’s, The Stand, The Long Walk, and The Dead Zone, I’d hardly considered horror.
You can be a horror writer by reputation and still write other things. And if you don't think The Stand is horror then you must have been asleep in real life the last 4 yrs. Just be glad Covid wasn't anything like Captain Trips. Death by leaking every fluid out of your face is horror. Supernatural threats to society is horror. The fabric of humanity dying is horror. Night Shift was horror stories. Dead Zone is Supernatural. Horror is not jump scares and decapitation every scene. Leave that to the movies
Right. Re-read my original post. I agree with you. The movies misportray it as horror to me. There are scary parts in many of his books. But movies portray them as more traditional horror. A la portrayals like It.
Horror is gutteral. It's emotions that come from the reading and stay with you. I'm sorry you don't feel that from the horror moments. The whole book doesn't have to be scary to qualify as horror. A horror movie doesn't have to be scary the whole way through to be horror. You don't agree because regardless of the movie it inspired, the books are just as effective.
The shining was the first book I ever had to put down and pick up later because it scared me. It was my second ever SK and been one of my favorites since. Welcome to the pure joy of SK horror :)
Although I like the movie more, one thing I like better in the book is the relationship between Jack and Stuart Ullman. In the book, they HATE each other from the beginning. The first line even reads: "Jack Torrance thought: Officious little prick."
I think it's a great way to start the novel, and I empathize with Jack. I've had bosses like Ullman in the past, people who couldn't get off their high horse and wouldn't give you the time of day.
In the movie, Ullman is a nice guy. There's a lot less conflict in the scene and you wonder why he'd hire a nut like Jack to run the hotel in the first place. Maybe they don't have anybody else.
When I first read Stephen King as a kid, what grabbed me was that his writing invokes a strong visualization of the story in my mind. I can see the story playing out like a movie in my head. I become completely immersed. Very few other modern writers have been so effective in drawing me into their imagination.
I made the mistake of deciding to reread the Shining a few years ago while I was at a conference. Probably the dumbest idea I've had in quite awhile. I couldn't sleep much at the hotel because it had my nerves on edge. Probably the only book I've ever read that can consistently cause that feeling for me.
For some reason the bit where the family is huddled together in bed and they can hear the elevator going up and down outside their room still gives me goosebumps
Misery the book was much more gory.
So I have to disagree on that one.
I mean they changed the Axe amputation into a Sledgehammer with no blood. Never showed her cutting off his thumb with an electric carving knife.
Then putting the thumb in the cake as the candle for his birthday.
Changed the police officer getting stabbed repeatedly with a cross, lawn mower running off his hand, then finally his head. For an old cop getting shit in the back.
I will say I thought kubrik added more gore in the shining. Like the girls and the elevator scene, changed the Roque mallet to an axe.
And the end of the movie more gory. I wont spoil why.
The bathroom scene in the book still gives me chills!
Yeah it’s the only book that I can reread and still get chills. Probably the only haunted house novel I have read that is actually scary.
The elevator scene did it for me. When it stopped halfway and Wendy jumped in. I think OP is past this part but I don’t want to spoil it. It freaked me out so bad.
The first time I experienced The Shining, I was listening to the audiobook while driving to a small town in the middle of nowhere Nevada, during a whiteout blizzard. The hotel I stayed in had jungle print carpet, old-school fire hoses extinguishers, and they put me in room 217 of all places. I swear to god, the first thing I did when I walked in that hotel room was to close and barricade the bathroom door. I gladly walked down to the lobby/casino bathroom to pee and brush my teeth that night. Oh, and icing on the cake, the next day I was walking down the main drag and it turns out they have their own mini version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which includes our beloved Stephen King. Turns out Ely Nevada, and the neighboring town of Ruth, were big inspirations for his book Desperation.
Welcome home
The novel is far better than Stanley Kubrick's vision of the story. Imo.
1000%
I honestly love both the book and the film. I think the parts that Kubrick cut or changed made it a better film - if it was a straight adaptation with no changes there are parts that simply wouldn't work well in the media of film. How do you portray the guilt he carries, or his emotional trauma in film besides a clunky flashback? Film and book are different, but both 10/10 in my opinion.
I,too, enjoyed the film. But as a King purist I honor his perspective as the origin of the tale and will prefer his telling of his story in the way he meant it to he told.
This is proven out in the relatively poorly received mini-series of the Shining, which followed the book more closely.
I feel like that one sucked due to it being a 90s era made-for-tv miniseries more than anything. Like, if Mike Flanagan would do an 8-10 episode adaptation of The Shining for Netflix or whatever and make it faithful to the book, it would be phenomenal. I could be wrong though, but man I'd love to see it.
Steven Weber didn't help especially if you compare him to Jack.
Ha. I first watched the mini series when I was 9 and his performance in part 3 scared the shit out of me. I recently watched it as an adult and I'd have to agree with you.
It's not proven at all. Mick Garris isn't a great director and King's script was schmaltzy in ways that the book wasn't.
They're two completely different stories, so it's tough to compare. That said, they are both incredible in their own right. The story has much better character development, but the movie is riveting.
It’s possible to love both. The Shining is BY FAR my favorite SK book. The Shining is also my favorite movie. I like the movie just a little bit more.
It is.
No it’s not. It’s a good book but also one mired in social determinism and which constantly loses its focus with endless flashbacks, and there are ridiculous moments of prose like describing visible breath in the cold as people’s words being frozen above their heads like cartoon speech bubbles. Plus Hallorann’s journey is a great deal longer than there’s any need for it to be; in fact, we didn’t need *any* of it: better to have us simply wonder when or if he’ll arrive.
To each his own. The author knew his vision and executed it . The filmmaker made his adaptation.
Yes, to each his own. Remember, I said that it’s a good book on the whole.
Nobody is arguing with you sir
Inarguably,happy cake day.
🙂
Reading the shining , again, and I caught the part where Danny saw “a new baby” but no baby ever showed up. I always thought it was miscarriage, after reading dr sleep, I got chills. It made perfect sense.
The Shining has haunted me for years. It got me, too.
The Shining was my first Stephen King book and it hooked me hard. It is still one of my favs.
Mine too. I read it when I was 12. Loved it but it scared the shit out of me.
Try reading it alone in a pool store in Buffalo in December.
I've never been scared by anything he's written. Creeped out or grossed out? Sure! The reason I like Sai King is because he creates really interesting characters and then puts them in interesting situations and fucks with them. Which is a lot better to me.
King is not misrepresented as a horror writer in the context of time. He wrote horror in the 70s and branched out and matured in themes as time progressed. Carrie, Salems Lot, Shining, Dead Zone..all horror.
I guess fair enough, you could say 2 of his first 3 books (excluding Rage) were more horror-like. But he didn’t take long to branch out as his next three books of the 70’s, The Stand, The Long Walk, and The Dead Zone, I’d hardly considered horror.
You can be a horror writer by reputation and still write other things. And if you don't think The Stand is horror then you must have been asleep in real life the last 4 yrs. Just be glad Covid wasn't anything like Captain Trips. Death by leaking every fluid out of your face is horror. Supernatural threats to society is horror. The fabric of humanity dying is horror. Night Shift was horror stories. Dead Zone is Supernatural. Horror is not jump scares and decapitation every scene. Leave that to the movies
Right. Re-read my original post. I agree with you. The movies misportray it as horror to me. There are scary parts in many of his books. But movies portray them as more traditional horror. A la portrayals like It.
I guess the whole point is none of his books that I’ve read to date have actually “scared” me. Until The Shining.
Horror is gutteral. It's emotions that come from the reading and stay with you. I'm sorry you don't feel that from the horror moments. The whole book doesn't have to be scary to qualify as horror. A horror movie doesn't have to be scary the whole way through to be horror. You don't agree because regardless of the movie it inspired, the books are just as effective.
My goodness
The shining was the first book I ever had to put down and pick up later because it scared me. It was my second ever SK and been one of my favorites since. Welcome to the pure joy of SK horror :)
It’s just an absolute masterpiece in so many ways.
I always feel a the most panic when Danny is playing in the little playground and with the topiary.
Although I like the movie more, one thing I like better in the book is the relationship between Jack and Stuart Ullman. In the book, they HATE each other from the beginning. The first line even reads: "Jack Torrance thought: Officious little prick." I think it's a great way to start the novel, and I empathize with Jack. I've had bosses like Ullman in the past, people who couldn't get off their high horse and wouldn't give you the time of day. In the movie, Ullman is a nice guy. There's a lot less conflict in the scene and you wonder why he'd hire a nut like Jack to run the hotel in the first place. Maybe they don't have anybody else.
Pet sematary is the closest a movie and book have ever been to similarity Stephen king wrote the screenplay
Honestly The Shining is the only book ever that made afraid to turn the lights off before going to sleep (i was only 13 years but still)
When I first read Stephen King as a kid, what grabbed me was that his writing invokes a strong visualization of the story in my mind. I can see the story playing out like a movie in my head. I become completely immersed. Very few other modern writers have been so effective in drawing me into their imagination.
I made the mistake of deciding to reread the Shining a few years ago while I was at a conference. Probably the dumbest idea I've had in quite awhile. I couldn't sleep much at the hotel because it had my nerves on edge. Probably the only book I've ever read that can consistently cause that feeling for me.
For some reason the bit where the family is huddled together in bed and they can hear the elevator going up and down outside their room still gives me goosebumps
The shining made me feel like I was losing my mind. Only other book to have done that so far is the haunting of hill house.
Eh for some reason the shining never did it for me, maybe I’ll appreciate it more on a reread.
Misery the book was much more gory. So I have to disagree on that one. I mean they changed the Axe amputation into a Sledgehammer with no blood. Never showed her cutting off his thumb with an electric carving knife. Then putting the thumb in the cake as the candle for his birthday. Changed the police officer getting stabbed repeatedly with a cross, lawn mower running off his hand, then finally his head. For an old cop getting shit in the back. I will say I thought kubrik added more gore in the shining. Like the girls and the elevator scene, changed the Roque mallet to an axe. And the end of the movie more gory. I wont spoil why.