Stephen King Book Club: The Shining

Our next read is The Shining, King's third published novel. We continue with the cold, snowy theme by reading a story set in Colorado at a hotel during its winter off-season. Although we are in the midst of the holiday season, The Shining is a horror novel, published in 1977. The setting and characters are influenced by King's personal experiences, including his visit to The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, and a writer's struggle with alcoholism. King stated that he had the bones of the novel before he left the hotel and finished the story in four months.

The Shining centers on Jack Torrance, a struggling writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a position as the off-season caretaker of the historic Overlook Hotel in the Rockies. His family accompanies him on this job, including his young son, who possesses "the shining"- another way of saying he has psychic abilities.

What can go wrong in an isolated hotel with an unstable family? Let's find out together.

If you read Misery, remember that Annie lived in Sidewinder, Colorado, the closest town to the Overlook Hotel.

I will send out the Zoom link a few minutes before the meeting.