The Shining

Interesting Facts

• Stephen King wrote this book inspired by his stay at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, where he and his wife were the only guests at the end of the season.
• The main character, Jack Torrance, is partially based on Stephen King himself, who was struggling with alcoholism and a creative crisis at the time.
• The book's title references John Lennon's song "Instant Karma!", which includes the line "We all shine on."
• Stephen King was dissatisfied with Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation, believing the director missed the novel's core themes and altered the characters' personalities.
• The Overlook Hotel in the book is a composite of several real hotels King stayed at, including the Stanley and the Mohonk Mountain House in New York.
• The book explores themes of domestic violence, alcoholism, and mental health, making it one of King's most personal works.
• The character Danny Torrance, who possesses "the shining," became the protagonist of the novel's sequel, Doctor Sleep, published in 2013.