SPOILERS AHEAD!

The meaning behind “The Shining”

“The Shining” in Stephen King’s world refers to a psychic ability that allows people to communicate with others using their minds: giving people the ability to see things that have happened in the past and foresee the future. Grady, who was the ghost of a murderer in the hotel, tells Jack Torrance that his son Danny was gifted with the “Shine” and we see the shine in its full effect during “Doctor Sleep” ⎯ the second installment of the story.

What was “The Shining”?

“The Shining” was originally a book written by Stephen King in 1977 and was adapted into a movie in 1980. “The Shining” was about a family that went to an isolated hotel to watch over for the winter; where the father, Jack Torrance, was influenced by the hotel’s sinister presence. When the family arrived at the Overlook hotel, they were warned about the off-limit room 237. 

Throughout Jack’s time there, he started to slowly lose his mind while feeling trapped in an environment of snowstorms and tormented by strange occurrences and visions. Eventually, more and more voices in his head demanded a sacrifice. Meanwhile, Danny, a psychic, saw the horrific past and future of the hotel. 

When Danny arrived at the hotel, chef Dick Hallorann recognized that Danny is telepathic and explained that he knows people with the same gift. He also told Danny about the hotel, hinting that something terrible had happened there. Danny asked Dick about what happened in the hotel and about Room 237, as Danny could see that Dick was scared of that room. Dick just warned Danny to stay out of that room. 

Danny had visions of the two murdered Grady girls, but never mentioned them to his father or mother. He then kept thinking about what could’ve happened in room 237. He then had a seizure while talking to his imaginary friend Tony about the hotel. He had a vision of blood splashing out of an elevator in the hotel, which is a vision that is seen several times throughout the movie. 

One day, a ball rolled toward Danny when he was playing with his toys. It had come out of the open door of Room 237, which Danny entered. Then his mother Wendy came running from the basement at the sound of Jack’s screams in the lounge. He told her that he had a nightmare in which he used an axe to chop her and Danny to pieces; causing Wendy to see how psychotic Jack had become. Jack finally spiraled out of control and it caused Wendy to get a bat to protect her and Danny. 

Walking up to his typewriter, she could only see the repeated phrase “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” After reading the repeated phrase, Jack ended up behind her and she had no choice but to knock him out. Meanwhile, Danny was in a trance repeating  “REDRUM” and writing it on the bathroom door. Wendy broke him out of this trance and escaped to the maze outside of the hotel where Jack followed, but met his demise; freezing to death in the maze.

How successful was “The Shining”?

When the movie first came out, the movie was a huge letdown by critics. Over the years, it was viewed as a classic and was seen as a hit. Years later, the sequel “Doctor Sleep” came out and hit immediate success.