Posts Tagged ‘The Shining (1980 film)’

“The Shining” Hits Differently For Me As I Age

Posted: November 10, 2025 in Living and Life, Reflections
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The first time I read Stephen King’s The Shining, I think I was thirteen or fourteen. And while I was reading at the adult level, I didn’t always understand all the deep stuff that was being thrown my way. I think I understood Danny’s point-of-view the easiest. Sure, he wrestled with concepts usually grasped by brains more developed than a kindergartener’s, but he was still the youngest of the characters, and the one closest to me in age.

As for Jack and Wendy…well, they were adults. And at the age I first read the book, anyone past college age, especially any with parents, were ancient. Hell, some people just past high school age were ancient to me! So, when I saw the movie after I read the book (and I’m in the camp that hates the movie, like King himself does), I saw Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall playing Jack and Wendy Torrance, respectively, and was like, “Yeah, they seem the appropriate age.”

Then, in 2018 or 2019, I read it again. And not only did I understand all the difficult concepts way easier than I had last time, but I was shocked by something I hadn’t noticed before. And that was Jack and Wendy’s ages. Based on hints in the book, I realized they were around my age, in their mid-to-late 20s. In fact, at one point in the book, Jack hints that he’s only 29 or 30. And at the end of the book, Dick Halloran notices that Wendy no longer has any of the young girl he met in September the previous year, but is all woman. Which is something you might think when describing a woman moving out of her 20s (especially after an experience like the Overlook).

Like I said, I was shocked. As I said before, when I first read the book, Jack and Wendy seemed ancient to me just by being parents. So understanding that they were around my age, and had yet done so much more, like having a kid, was more than a bit of a surprise. Plus, the fact that Jack Nicholson, who was clearly in his 40s when he filmed The Shining, threw me for a loop. I mean, he already looks insane, but you also cast a guy who was so much older than the other characters? Boggles my mind.

Jack Nicholson may have been iconic as the character, but he’s at least a decade older than the character in the book.

And last month, I started the audio book of The Shining as part of my Halloween reading. And I’m 32 now, though I would say everything since 2020–COVID, elections, wars, etc.–has aged me mentally in some ways. Anyway, I just finished it yesterday, and I think I love the book more now than I did the first two times. I mean, I loved it plenty the first two times, but I think with age and getting hopefully wiser with it, my love has deepened. I understand the characters and appreciate how well-written the book is better.

And speaking of the characters, my reaction this time around to Jack and Wendy was much milder. Mostly me thinking, “Poor kids,” whenever they experienced something tough (which is pretty much everything from after their wedding to around the time Jack got possessed). Remember, these past five years have aged me mentally in some ways.

Also, Jack Torrance nearly got tenure in his teaching position before he lost it, and he wasn’t even thirty yet? I don’t know if that was more common in the mid-70s than it is now, but given the average age these days to get tenure, I’m impressed.

Anyway, every time I read The Shining, I get something new out of it. It’s like my relationship with the book, especially with its characters and themes, changes with every read. I wonder how old I will be the next time I decide to check into the Overlook, and what reaction I’ll have when I do. Maybe I’ll post about it after I find out!

What are your thoughts on the book? Has your relationship or reaction to The Shining changed over time? Let’s discuss.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m planning on starting a new short story tomorrow, so I better log off and get some rest. So, until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and–who let that bloated ghost lady into my bathtub?! I’ll have you know, only ghosts I invite in with me are allowed in there!

Review: Doctor Sleep (2019 film)

Posted: November 8, 2019 in Review, Scary Stuff
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Now let’s get one thing out of the way: the Doctor Sleep movie is based on the novel Doctor Sleep by Stephen King, which is a sequel to King’s previous novel, The Shining. The movie is also an attempt to reconcile the novels and Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining, which King hates (and which I kind of agree with). And apparently King loved the script for this movie, as well as the final product. Everybody got that? Good.

Doctor Sleep follows Danny Torrance post-Overlook. He’s grown up to inherit his father’s issues with anger and alcohol, though once he arrives in a small New Hampshire town, he does sober up. At the same time, he makes a psychic connection with a young girl in a neighboring town named Abra Stone and who shines way more powerful than Dan does.* Which is good, because there’s a group of people known as the True Knot roaming around America in RVs, kidnapping kids with shine abilities and killing them to extract their power in the form of steam. In order to defeat the True Knot, as well as their leader, Rose the Hat, Dan and Abra will have to go someplace special to defeat them. A place Dan never wanted to revisit.

Well, I’m going to say this: it does feel like a Stephen King novel brought to film. In a good way.

So there are a lot of callbacks to the source material, as well as to King’s works in general. I had a private laugh at shots meant to pay homage to the Kubrick film, as well as to a field of corn and the number “19” showing up (folks who know King get it). And it’s really awesome to see the theatrical Overlook brought back to life (though degraded with age). And the novel does a great job of hybridizing the books and the Kubrick film in a way that would satisfy most King fans.

And the actors also do their jobs very well. I should mention that. The True Knot actors are particularly creepy when they’re sucking up steam or doing something else freaky, inhuman and cult-like.

That being said, there are some issues. For one thing, there is a lot of exposition, which in a novel we can get away with (especially in a King novel), but in a film it can slow things down. There are some things from the original novel that never made it to the movie that I would’ve liked to see, and there were some changes I didn’t care for.

And I didn’t find it that scary. I mean, there were a couple of moments where I jumped or was a little freaked out, but they weren’t enough to scare me. My criticisms of the Kubrick film aside, at least it’s unnerving to watch. But while the intent is there, Doctor Sleep can’t bring that unnerving feeling to life.

On the whole, I’m giving the Doctor Sleep film adaptation a 3.5 on a scale of 1 to 5. If you’re a big fan of the Kubrick Shining film, you’ll be disappointed. If you’re here for a horror movie, you’ll find it so-so. And if you’re a fan of King and the original novel, as well as interested to see how the film version can reconcile all the books and films, you’ll walk away satisfied.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m going to bed and getting into writing tomorrow. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

*Fun fact, I named a character Abra in my NaNoWriMo project Toyland after reading Doctor Sleep. No psychic powers though. Not a spoiler, just a statement of fact.