By Gricelda Cerpa
Danny said, "It, Daddy. And it's you. It wants all of us. It's tricking Daddy, fooling him, trying to make him think it wants him the most. It wants me the most, but it will take all of us." (King 79).
For as long as I can remember, the movie THE SHINING has always been scary for me. The famous scene in the movie where Jack Nicholson breaks the door with an ax and says, "Here's Johnny!" is still iconic today. I watched this movie every year for Halloween, but in 2020, when Covid was at its peak, I decided to buy the book. It was the best decision I could have ever made. This book not only took me on a roller-coaster of emotions but also inside the Overlook Hotel, where Danny, Mr. Torrance, and Wendy resided for the long winter months.
The book took me into the mind of Mr. Torrance's mental struggles with addiction and his rage. The book describes the struggles of the mom, Wendy, who had difficulty trusting her husband. She wanted to protect her son but didn't know what to do. The book describes Danny, the son, and his condition in detail. Danny struggled to express his emotional turmoil to both his parents. As the family of three settled into their temporary home in the Overlook Hotel for the winter, they began to unravel as a family. The Overlook Hotel liked to collect souls, and it wanted Danny because Danny had the shining. The shining is his ability to read minds, communicate telepathically, and see ghosts. The Overlook Hotel used Danny's father, Mr. Torrance, to make him crazy and believe he had to end his family's lives so he could be the person he always wanted to be. He thought his family was why he couldn't drink or do anything with his life. So, in his mind, the end result was to kill his family.
There were so many events in the book that the movie left out. For example, the book described more in detail how the Torrance family dynamic was so toxic and how Danny's little "imaginary" friend came into existence. The scene in the truck where Danny talks to Dick Hallorann about the "shining." The scene inside the infamous room 217. The boiler room scene and many others did not make it into the movie. I could not put the book down, and I must admit, this book is 100 times scarier than the movie!
If you haven't seen the movie, don't! Read the book instead!