The Shining – Stephen King

The first tick off the Booket List.

Jack Torrance is down on his luck, at least he thinks so, having lost his teaching job in New England due to an unfortunate incident with a student. Of course, if he could just finish writing his play, all would be fine, but now he has writer’s block too. It’s not all bad, he has a wife, Wendy, who is attractive but recently distant, and a son, Danny, whom he loves ferociously but with whom he sometimes gets frustrated.

Truth is, Jack’s drinking (now paused) and anger issues are the problems, as Wendy and Danny (oddly perceptive for a five-year-old) know all too well.

But there is a solution. Jack’s ex drinking buddy has pulled a few strings to get him a job on the other side of the country – off-season caretaker at the Overlook Hotel. The hotel is high up in the Colorado Rockies, snowed in and inaccessible in winter, so it closes down from October to April, but needs someone to maintain the heating and keep an eye on things. The bar is cleared of stock (and therefore temptation) and there will be plenty of free time to finish that damned play, so it is perfect. Wendy and Danny are not so sure, but accept that what is best for Jack, is best for them too.

As soon as Danny arrives his heightened perception goes into overdrive. Dark deeds have occurred in the Overlook’s seventy year history. Stains remain, invisible to most but indelible to Danny, who has the ‘shining’. Among the departing staff is Dick Hallorann, the chef, who recognises Danny’s psychic awareness and shares it to a lesser degree. He warns Danny off certain rooms and areas of the grounds, telling him to ‘shout’ if he needs help. He will be in Florida but will hear anyway.

Alone at the Overlook Jack, Wendy, and Danny settle, along with the snow that cuts them off completely. Jack finds the basement full of archives and delves into the hotel’s history; he finds himself drawn to and even into its past. Things go bump in the night, and worse. Danny sees more horrors, Jack fears for his sanity, and Wendy fears for their lives. Will Danny’s ‘shout’ for help be heard in Florida? If it is, could Hallorann get to him in time?

It is a classic for a reason. King is the consummate story-teller who creates real and complex characters and puts them through hell for our entertainment. In his hands the tension ratchets up degree by degree, the unbelievable becomes all too credible, and pages turn fast and furious.