The horror of ‘The Shining’ continues

Stephen King is one of the most acclaimed authors of the contemporary horror genre with successes such as “Carrie,” “Salem’s Lot,” and “The Green Mile.” His books have sold over 350 million copies and have been adapted to award-winning feature films such as “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Misery.” King cites “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Lord of the Flies” as two of his favorite books and has mentioned fellow horror genre author Ray Bradbury as a major influence.

After his mother’s death, King and his family moved to Boulder, Colorado. This is where he wrote one of his most successful novels, “The Shining,” published in 1977, which was also adapted to the silver screen starring Jack Nicholson.  The novel was largely influenced by King’s visit to a haunted hotel called the Stanley Hotel located in the Rocky Mountains. “The Shining” was King’s third published novel and first bestseller. The success of the novel firmly established King as a preeminent author in the horror genre.

After 36 years, King has published the sequel to “The Shining.” The long anticipated “Dr. Sleep” has finally hit shelves and is also available as an e-book.

The sequel focuses on middle-aged Danny Torrance and his struggle to settle in life after the tragic year he spent at the Overlook Hotel as a child that still haunts him. Drifting for decades, he finally settles in a New Hampshire town, with an AA community that sustains him and a job at a nursing home where he provides peace to the dying with his “shining” abilities that once proved to be tragic. Aided by his cat, he becomes Doctor Sleep. In a turn of events, Dan’s life changes when he meets Abra Stone, a tween girl who also possesses the “shining,” but more powerful than anyone else he has seen. He is amazed at her spectacular gifts, and it is she who reignites Dan’s own demons, encouraging him to save Abra’s life from The True Knot. This quasi-immortal traveling tribe lives off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death. When Dan is forced to save Abra’s soul, a war of good and evil ignites with a thrilling story that will excite the millions of devoted fans of “The Shining.”