Fast forward to September. My book club decided to read a scary book for October in honor of Halloween. Who does scary better than Stephen King? That's kind of his thing, right? We finally settled on reading The Shining. I was pretty stoked, but a little apprehensive at the same time. If I can't even watch the trailer to a movie based off a book I would probably have nightmares reading it right? The imagination is a powerful thing and I was worried that it would conjure up images even worse than the movie depicts. But I knew I HAD to read this book and what better excuse than a book club to do the deed!
It ended up taking me longer to read than it should have. Not because Stephen King isn't a brilliant writer, or because the book wasn't good. I told myself I could only read the book during the day so that I wouldn't get too freaked out right before bed. I was really terrified that I would end up having some creepy nightmare and John would have to soothe me back to sleep. Luckily that didn't happen :)
A quick synopsis for you: Jack Torrance takes a job as a groundskeeper/maintenance man at the Overlook Hotel located at the top of a mountain in Colorado. He is responsible for all maintenance to the hotel and grounds during the winter off-season. He moves his family (wife Wendy and son Danny) to the Overlook. Jack ignores the advice of Ullman, the hotel manager, to maybe let his wife and Danny stay behind because of how remote the hotel is once the snow starts. People can go stir crazy without access to the outside world and crazy things can happen to stir crazy people.
Danny, who is 5, has a gift that he and the hotel cook call The Shining. Danny essentially has "visions" that somewhat tell the immediate future. The hotel cook has them as well. The 2 of them realize that their gift also gives them the unique ability to communicate with each other without speaking. Using their gift, the cook tells Danny to be on alert at the hotel and to call him if Danny ever needs anything.
For the most part things start off well for the Torrances. There are a few odd experiences, but Jack, Wendy, and Danny explain them all away. Until more and more unusual things occur. Eventually the hotel comes to life and leaves them with very limited options and no forseeable way out.
The book was really good. When I sat down to read it I really got into the story. But I have to say it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, there is some freaky stuff that goes down. And there are some creepy mental images that one gets while reading the book. But it's not a story about boogy men or serial killers or even scary clowns (don't get me started). There aren't psychos hiding around every corner (for the most part) waiting to jump out and kill you. I think I was expecting something a lot scarier because of all the hype from the movie. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But a little disappointed. I think if I had read this book before the movie came out it would have been better, or at least more "scary" to me. Unfortunately the book and movie both came out well before I was born so the hype of the movie is something I have always known.
Horror is definitely not a genre of book I read ever. And to be honest I probably won't ever read it again . I think The Shining was well written and the story was captivating. But I'm just not a fan of horror. I'm glad I read it. But I probably won't ever bring myself to see the movie. This image is all I need:
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| Jack Nicholson really can be a creepy guy. Brilliant actor, but creepy | . |
Until next time!
~Tara
P.S. after finding this picture I realized I don't remember Jack actually saying "Here's Johnny" in the book. It really is unfortunate since it's THE MOST popular line in the movie. But don't let that deter you. The part of the book that I imagine this is from is plenty creepy and disturbing even without "Here's Johnny"
