1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 28

   40 years ago today, a book debuted in stores nationwide that would enter into the corners of horror literature, pop culture, and our collective nightmares. The book I am talking about is Stephen King's The Shining.
  
    The book is about a man named Jack Torrance. Battling alcoholism, Jack lost his temper and his job when he caught one of his students slashing his tires. As a last ditch effort to make some cash and regain his family's trust, Jack moves his wife and son Danny to Colorado where Jack will be the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel during it's off-season.

     After first, everything seems to be okay for the family. But when the snows come, the Torrances are cut off from civilization until spring and that's when the insanity happens. Blood trickles down walls, strange sayings appear on mirrors, oh!, and some creepy ass twin girls want little Danny to play with them.

     See, it appears that Danny has latent psychic abilities and the hotel wants him. With Danny around forever, the hotel can continue to get stronger and take more victims, like the previous caretaker who went nuts and slaughtered his wife and two little girls, along with himself.

    Hey, what's Jack Torrance doing with that mallet and newly discovered bottle of scotch?

Original 1980 theatrical poster of Kubrick's adaptation.

   The Shining was Stephen King's third novel and his first best-seller. It was a massive hit that later became a hit film by one of personal favorite director's Stanley Kubrick. While Kubrick's movie is a horror classic, it's really nothing like the book. King hated it and afterwards led the author to have complete control over the future adaptations of all of his works.

In the 90s, ABC did an authentic remake of the Shining.
In part the original novel and remake, Torrance used a croquet mallet instead
of an axe as used by Jack Nicholson in the 1980 feature film.

     I remember watching the Shining as a little kid. It scared me but it wasn't a film that frightened me off. I could watch that movie over and over. One reason it may not scare me is because of personal experience.
 

In the red circle is what is reported to be the Stanley ghost.
Stephen King supposedly had a run-in with it and was part of his inspiration for the Shining.

   The Overlook is based on a real hotel called the Stanley Hotel. During a stay in 1974, Stephen King was so freaked out by the place and a nightmare that he had, that he used it as the backdrop of a novel he would craft in part with his personal struggle with alcohol. I actually known people who have stayed at the Stanley. A very good friend in high school stayed last year. But more importantly, I had an uncle and aunt who stayed in the 90s and brought me a tee-shirt that said "I survived room 217. The Stanley Hotel Estes Park, Co." 

  I loved that shirt. I hate that I can't find it. So last year when TeeVillain posted a shirt for the Overlook, I bought me a one right away! 

  

    Before I go, I wanted to point out the irony. On the same day that the Shining hit book shelves, the North East of the US was hit with the largest blizzard in American history. A blizzard and a book about people trapped in a haunted hotel during blizzard season- on the same day?! A major publicity stunt by the Master of Horror? Possibly! Coincidence? I think not!

The legacy of King's frightening book was
played up in an episode of Friends.

    Talk about creepy...