Steven King, the author of the book, The Shining, had a truly interesting story for writing this suspenseful and horrifying book. The story behind the book, The Shining, is almost a horror story in itself. The story behind The Shining originates from the very similar hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, The Stanley Hotel.
Like many of the other novels Steven King has written, The Shining was based off of a dream that he had. Steven King also just happened to have this dream in one of the most notorious haunted hotels in the world. The Stanley Hotel has been known for its transparent guests that never check out. The Stanley Hotel is also known for magnificent parties that are heard throughout the hotel, but rarely seen. If, perchance, a lucky guest gets a peek at these parties, they disappear like they were never there at all. The Stanley Hotel is also known for the two rooms that are famous throughout the world as being haunted, rooms 217 and 401.
Steven King, being the horror guru that he is, stayed in room 217. Not only did he stay in one of the most haunted rooms in the hotel, but he and his wife stayed there the night before the hotel closed due to the bitter cold Colorado winters. Since he stayed there the night before the hotel closed, there was no other guests, living anyways, staying in the Stanley that night. Steven King and his wife had the 420 room hotel to themselves other than a few employees who were excitedly awaiting their upcoming vacation. This night was the inspiration for the book, The Shining. The author of the New York Post, Timothy Mitchell, states, “In 1974, master of horror Stephen King and his wife Tabitha spent just one night in Room 217 at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colo. By morning, his seminal 1977 novel ‘The Shining’ was born.” (Mitchell). It took Steven King only one night to have the basic idea for the book, The Shining.
The night that Steven King stayed at the Stanley, he had a horrifying dream. A dream that greatly resembles The Shining. In the book, a family’s misfortune turned even worse when the main character, Jack Torrance, got a job as the winter caretaker for the hotel called the Overlook hotel. The hotel wanted Jack’s son, Danny because he had a special power called the shining where he could read people’s minds, see ghosts, plus many other truly intriguing powers. Since Danny had this power he could see ghosts who had died at the hotel. So, the hotel used Jack to try to get Danny so that the hotel could use the powers. All of this information was based off of Steven King’s dream. From a website, Steven King states, “That night I dreamed of my three-year-old son running through the corridors, looking back over his shoulder, eyes wide, screaming. He was being chased by a fire-hose. I woke up with a tremendous jerk, sweating all over, within an inch of falling out of bed. I got up, lit a cigarette, sat in the chair looking out the window at the Rockies, and by the time the cigarette was done, I had the bones of the book firmly set in my mind.” (StevenKing.com). Steven King’s single, terrifying dream led to the 659 page book, The Shining.
References
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.stephenking.com/library/novel/shining_the_inspiration.html.
Mitchell, T. (2015, October 28). Inside the creepy hotel that inspired ‘The Shining’. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2015/10/28/inside-the-creepy-hotel-that-inspired-the-shining/.
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