History Literature / TheShining

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Horace Derwent, an eccentric millionaire recluse, aviator, and director who bought the Overlook in the '30s, is clearly patterned after Creator/HowardHughes.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The ghosts, [[spoiler: and by extension The Overlook entity]], are only visible and can only interact with people who has at least minor psychic abilities. That is why Ullman and Watson have never experienced any of the supernatural aspects of the hotel, despite spending huge amounts of time there. Watson has worked at the hotel far longer than any of the other characters but has never felt so much as a ghostly chill. Hallorann, Danny and the unfortunate maid who was the first to encounter [[spoiler: the woman in Room 217]] are not so lucky.

* DropTheHammer: Jack's weapon in the novel and miniseries is a roque mallet.

King released a sequel titled ''Literature/DoctorSleep'' in late 2013, and Creator/MikeFlanagan adapted the novel to film in 2019. The film stars Creator/EwanMcGregor as the now-grown Danny Torrance and represents something of an attempt to synthesize both of King's original novels in addition to the Kubrick film adaptation.

King released a sequel titled ''Literature/DoctorSleep'' in late 2013, and Creator/MikeFlanagan adapted the novel to film in 2019. The film stars Creator/EwanMcGregor as the now-grown Danny Torrance and represents something of an attempt to synthesize the original ''Shining'' novel, the Kubrick film adaptation and the ''Doctor Sleep'' book.

King released a sequel titled ''Literature/DoctorSleep'' in late 2013, and Creator/MikeFlanagan adapted the novel to film in 2019. It stars Creator/EwanMcGregor as the now-grown Danny Torrance and represents something of an attempt to synthesize the original ''Shining'' novel, the Kubrick film adaptation and ''Doctor Sleep.''

''The Shining'' was loosely adapted by Creator/StanleyKubrick into a 1980 [[Film/TheShining feature film]] starring Creator/JackNicholson and Creator/ShelleyDuvall. Though quite different from the original, the movie has come to be regarded as a classic in its own right. Still, Stephen King was irritated at the changes (while remaining lukewarm-to-positive about the film overall), and it was more faithfully remade as a 1997 {{miniseries}} starring Creator/StevenWeber and Creator/RebeccaDeMornay, which was met with overwhelmingly positive critical reception upon release but has become increasingly scrutinized over the years (in part for being perhaps ''too'' faithful to the source material) and is nowadays seen by most fans and critics as being inferior Kubrick's film.

* HellHotel: The modern TropeCodifier.

* ISeeDeadPeople: Numerous and varied.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Mr. Ullman, the hotel manager, may be an "officious little prick," but he is quite right that hiring Jack Torrance, an abusive alcoholic, as the winter caretaker is a bad idea.
** For all Jack's loathing of him, Ullman is very good at his job, including cleaning up the messes and keeping the hotel in the black.
* KillItWithFire: Jack and Hallorann recall [[spoiler: burning wasps' nests and how "fire destroys everything" and later, good!Jack delays possessed!Jack just long enough so that he fails to dump the steam in the hotel boilers and [[StuffBlowingUp blows up]] the Overlook in a glorious fireball.]]

* NewHouseNewProblems: The hotel, though the Torrances are only planning a temporary stay.
* NiceGuy: Hallorann.

* NothingIsScarier: Almost nothing supernatural happens for the first part of the book, aside from the blood stain Danny sees in the presidential suite. After the wasp nest incident, however...

* PsychicPowers: The "shining" of the title.

* RedHerring: The Presidential Suite, where a mobster and his bodyguard were murdered by rivals in the 60's. It's also the place where Danny sees the first supernatural event at the hotel, a bloodstain on the wall. When Jack finds the backstory on the murders in the room, it seems like it would be the source of something really bad. It's not. In fact, the only haunting associated with the room is the bloodstain.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: In the miniseries, [[spoiler: Jack returns to normal one last time and lets his family escape to deal with the hotel himself. He and the hotel were killed in the explosion of the boiler. He reappears as a ghost one last time in the ending.]]

* TheResenter: The Hotel is an expert at preying on these types of emotions, and will exploit them to the fullest when trying to take a host. However, it only works on people with some level of "shining", like Jack or Hallorann. Wendy has basically no trace of psychic ability, and Danny is too young to have any particular resentments.
** More specifically, it preys on Jack's artistic frustration, alcoholism and subconscious resentment against Wendy for "judging" him. In Hallorann, it preys on his repressed anger and resentment of a lifetime of being bossed around by white people.

* {{Room 101}}: Room 217, and the Presidential Suite.

* ShoutOut: At one point Jack comes upon an invitation to a masked ball at the Overlook's grand opening, and is reminded of "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath" by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe (whom he [[TakeThat dismisses as "the great American hack"]].)

* TheUnfavorite: Wendy harbors some resentment towards the bond between Jack and Danny, often feeling excluded when Danny prefers to open up to Jack over her. She feels immensely guilty over this because that's how her own mother felt about ''her'' and her father.

* SnowedIn: "''WE ARE SNOWED IN!''" (Jack to Wendy when she keeps talking about getting Danny out of the Overlook.

* TheMillstone: Jack Torrance is one of literature's most tragic examples. He is the architect of every single disaster he and his family suffers, because he can't control his temper and he can't (easily) control his drinking. Over the course of events, Jack manages to destroy his marriage, his career, his friendships, his literary ambitions, and ultimately, his family. If given second or third chances, he will just screw up again. At one point, he almost gets himself fired from his caretaker job because he calls the hotel manager and viciously taunts him about the secret history of the Overlook Hotel (history which mostly predates the manager and doesn't directly involve him). Why? He has no self-control. ''He literally can't stop himself from doing shit like that.'' Although the dumb move of taunting Ullman is implied to be at least partially a result of the hotel working on his mind.
** It's implied that his taunting of Ullman might have been Jack's subconscious trying to get him fired so they would be forced to leave the Overlook.

* AxCrazy: Though it's more like Mallet Crazy.

* TormentedTeacher: Jack Torrance subverts this. Prior to the story, he worked as a teacher until a student slashed his tires and Jack beat him up in a fit of rage. Jack increasingly views himself as having been victimized by the student as he undergoes SanitySlippage, and he had indeed been pranked by him several times prior. However, he ignores that he had viciously bullied the student prior and unfairly cut him from the debate club [[GreenEyedMonster out of jealousy of his wealth.]]

* IgnoredEpiphany: In one chapter, Jack realizes he's being manipulated by the hotel, but changes his mind and blames things on his son. He understood quite well what was happening. He also realized at that point it was too late, and just how deep the hotel's claws had sunk into his mind. Kind of like a self loathing alcoholic who knows he's fallen off the wagon, but feels he's too far gone to even try anymore. Blaming his son was just his way of shifting the blame for his own failure from himself.

* TheAllegedCar: The Torrance's beat up old Volkswagen, which is basically falling apart by the time Jack gets the caretaker job. They plan to retire it once they reach the Overlook, and use the hotel truck for trips to Sidewinder until the snow comes.

''The Shining'' was loosely adapted by Creator/StanleyKubrick into a 1980 [[Film/TheShining feature film]] starring Creator/JackNicholson and Creator/ShelleyDuvall. Though quite different from the original, the film has come to be regarded as a classic in its own right. Still, Stephen King was irritated at the changes (while remaining lukewarm-to-positive about the film overall), and it was more faithfully remade as a 1997 {{miniseries}} starring Creator/StevenWeber and Creator/RebeccaDeMornay, which was met with overwhelmingly positive critical reception upon release but has become increasingly scrutinized over the years (in part for being perhaps ''too'' faithful to the source material) and is nowadays seen by most fans and critics as being inferior Kubrick's film.

** Wendy's mother abused her emotionally - and still does so, making Wendy feel like an inadequate mother.
** Jack also accidentally broke Danny's arm - while trying to spank him for misbehaving. Later {{Defied|Trope}}, as Jack is horrified by what he does to Danny.