Challenge Book: 3
My Rating: 4*
Book Title: The Shining
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: January, 1977
Genre(s): General Fiction (Adult), Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Suspense, Paranormal
Pages: 447
My Review: Everybody knows ‘The Shining’, right? Come on, let’s face it, who hasn’t seen the film? The film is good, very very good but the book is something else altogether.
Unsettling, unnerving, nail biting and hide behind a cushion freaky – that is exactly what I’ve been doing throughout reading it and THAT’S despite having already read it years ago. I think reading it years ago when I was much younger just didn’t cut the grade, I mustn’t have taken it in properly, but now I have and I’ve been hanging on every single word and every single thing portrayed throughout. EEK!!
Oh! And not to mention the cover! Arh man. Arh man. Arh man. That cover!!!!!! It says it all. I think if you were to show just the cover to someone who knew absolutely nothing about The Shining, they’d take one look and run for miles with goosebumps covering every inch of their body. The cover is just perfect for what lies beyond it!
Beyond it, you will find demons, nightmares and all things abound mercy showing it’s face … I was utterly utterly petrified! The little boy, Danny is just too frightening; he can read minds and can see some real scary thoughts inside his mum and dad’s mind, and anyone else really, however, despite this, it gets worse, as The Overlook Hotel has far worse things up its sleeve for both him and his parents! Hallucinations??? Pah! They happen, but they don’t come close to what else happens!
On more than one occasion I could have easily done a Joey from Friends and hid the book in the freezer for a while, just to see if it would help me come to terms with what I was reading, or freeze the prose. Some of those passages scared the bejesus out of me especially those regarding the topiary, the fire extinguisher and oh my gosh, the woman in the bathroom of Room 217 – YIKES!!!!!!!
What can I say to conclude this review other than The Shining is one of the best, if not THE best, horror stories ever to come out of any author! However, don’t sink yourself into it thinking it’ll be an easy read; at times it’s quite difficult .. but … OMG so good!!!
About the Author: For more information about Stephen King, visit his website.
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