Sebastien's Reviews > The Shining

Along with It, probably one of my favorite Stephen King books. This was a great read. Fantastic storytelling and I love the psychological aspects of the characters. The careful and paced revealing of Jack's background help us understand his impending metamorphosis, grounding his disintegration with a believable psychological framework. My favorite horror generally has foundations in real-life problems and personal struggles of the characters (like Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House). The horror aspect can be an initial catalyzer for the characters' conflict, and/or can be a great prism to delve deeply into those characters' psyches and their personal struggles. But I do love the supernatural aspects as well. I especially liked the hedge-animals, those were cool and terrifying!... wish they could have included that part in the movie version but probably a bit too tricky in regards to CGI at the time.

Plus I just love the premise. Being stuck out in the middle of nowhere in some giant creepy hotel (with a dark past) for a very long period of time with an increasingly unstable partner (who exhibits violent tendencies) is pretty scary! maybe because I've watched the movie too many times since I was young I have imprinted the expectations of horrible things happening in these kind of places!

My main quibble was how the character Hallorann was depicted. There is the magical black man aspect which is such a common trope that it's hard to only beat up one writer for it. But it's the constant swirling racial aggression around Hallorann that seems excessive, pointless, and tacked on for no discernible purpose. I couldn't make heads or tails of it, but I mostly found it distracted from the story.

But overall great story. Highly recommend.