"The Shining" by Stephen King

Genre: Horror
Format: Audio
Narrator: Campbell Scott
Publication: Anchor in 1977
Cover Rating: 5/5 Stars

From Goodreads: Danny was only five years old but in the words of old Mr Halloran he was a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father became caretaker of the Overlook Hotel his visions grew frighteningly out of control. 

As winter closed in and blizzards cut them off, the hotel seemed to develop a life of its own. It was meant to be empty, but who was the lady in Room 217, and who were the masked guests going up and down in the elevator? And why did the hedges shaped like animals seem so alive? 

Somewhere, somehow there was an evil force in the hotel - and that too had begun to shine...

My Thoughts: Oh, Stephen King, you creepy, creepy man! I'm going to keep this review short and sweet. Basically, if you enjoyed the movie, you're going to love the book. If you love horror, you're going to love this book. If you love Stephen King, you will love this book. So with that said, here are some things that I particularly enjoyed while listening to the novel:

• The narrator. Campbell Scott does an *excellent* job of making each character distinct. When you're listening to an audio-book, it's important that each character has their own "voice". Mr. Scott does a wonderful job at this.
• The Creep Factor. Obviously, Stephen King is, well, the King of Horror, so of course this book was going to be terrifying. I just didn't realize how terrifying. There were so many times that I actually had to cut off my phone to stop listening because I got so creeped out.
• Danny and Jack. While I just wanted to punch Wendy Torrence in the face for being an idiot, I did love Jack and Danny's characters. Jack was just this insane ball of intelligence and violence. He was constantly trying to do the "right" thing, and always failing. Danny was just as interesting with his interactions with Tony and his psychic talent. I was so thrilled to know that King picked up Danny's character again in his novel Doctor Sleep. He's definitely one character I'm not ready to leave behind yet.
• The Comedy. I was pleasantly surprised to find that while, yes, this novel could be considered absolutely completely horror, it also had some laugh-out-loud moments (although very few and in between). There were times while I was cleaning my kitchen that I would snicker out loud while my husband looked at me like I was crazy.

Bottom Line: While Pet Sematary will always be my favorite King book (at least until I read It anyway), I would definitely recommend The Shining to any horror fan.

My Rating: 4/5 Stars