Stephen King's The Shining

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) initially received quite a bit of negative criticism. The film irritated many Stephen King fans (and King himself) because it differed so greatly from the novel. The Shining also disappointed many filmgoers who expected a conventional slasher film. After all, Kubrick said it would be "the scariest horror movie of all time."1 Kubrick's films, however, never fully conform to their respective genres; they transcend generic expectations. In the same way that 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is not just another outer-space sci-fi flick, The Shining is not a typical horror movie. The monsters in The Shining originate not from dark wooded areas, but from the recesses of the mysterious human mind-in broad

Compare the ways Steven King in The Shining and William Friedkin in The Exorcist use techniques to create suspense.

King was born on September 21, 1947 into a horribly broken family. He lived in Portland, Maine in his early childhood with his older

“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” was a quote once said by one of the godfathers of horror novels Stephen King. Which is exactly what this essay will be about, the man himself. We’ll learn about his life, from his birth to childhood, even adulthood. Now you may be wondering, why this guy? Well I don’t know if you know it or not, but Stephen King has made quite a mark in pop culture history with his novels and such. So, buckle up and get ready as we get into the life of Stephen King.

“I became insane, with the long intervals of horrible sanity”, Edgar Allan Poe. Madness is characterized by “the state of being mentally ill”, otherwise known as insanity. Twisted Fate, written by Norah Olson, and the book/movie The Shining, written by Stephen King and directed by Stanley Kubrick, are both examples of how the main characters fall into madness.

In Stephen King’s classic 1977 horror novel, The Shining, the Torrance family’s limits are tested as they are sent to the Overlook Hotel and face the brink of isolation. Jack, Wendy and Danny all start to break down from the isolation in their own individual ways. Eventually, similar to other works of literature written by Stephen King, the Torrances reach a breaking point. Though the three of them all go through different horrors in the novel, all of their troubles trace back to the theme of isolation. This sense of being alone in the world, whether it be not having anyone around or mentally being detached from reality, can be one of the most horrifying things in one’s life. In The Shining, added to the detachment from society and humanity, the supernatural lurks as well. This supernatural presence only adds to the fear of being stranded for a few months. The mind tends to over think in times of isolation and despair, jumping to horrifying possible outcomes. This could surely be the reason Stephen King and other writers of horror novels use the theme of isolation. Using references from articles and literary criticisms such as “The American Culture of Horror: Folklore and Stephen King” by Stu Horvath, “Isolation and Horror” by Kevin Bufton, “Horror In American Literature” by Richard Matheson and “The Overlook was at Home with the Dead” can prove isolation is a commonly used theme in American horror

A number of strange incidents occur throughout the story. Jack finds a wasps' nest while maintaining the roof, uses an appropriate wasp bomb on it, and puts it in Danny's room. That night, although Jack had checked there were no wasps still in the nest, Danny is stung several times, and when Jack manages to put a bowl over the nest, there are many wasps trapped inside. Then in an almost hypnotic fit after spending too much time going through the hotel's papers in the boiler room, Jack smashes the radio, effectively cutting them off from the rest of the world as snow has fallen heavily, and reaching the nearest town has become impossible except by snowmobile.

Stephen king (known for a lot of people as the horror master), was born on September 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine. Son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King who got divorced when he was very young, therefore he and his brother started dividing their time between Connecticut and Indiana during their teenage years, but finally king decided to move with her brother and mother in Maine definitely, There he graduated from Lisbon Falls High School in 1966. After that king went to the University of Maine at Orono, staying close from home, while in college king he wrote for the school's newspaper and served in its student government. And also published his first short story, which appeared in Startling Mystery Stories, and finally after king graduated with a English degree in 1970, he tried looking for a job as teacher but he was rejected in several times, in the beginning, but eventually king went forced to took a job a laundry se he could make a living, but he continued writing stories in his free time, until late 1971 when got offered a job, as an English educator at Hampden Academy. It was that year that he also married fellow writer Tabitha Spruce. Who had met in the stacks of the of the Folger library at the university of Maine where they both worked as students, Stephen made his first professional short story sale

‘The Happening’ by M. Night Shyamalan, is an apocalyptic film about plants striking back against humanity by spreading neurotoxic chemicals which induce humans to commit suicide. According to the director, this film was created to raise awareness about what humans are doing to the environment. He elaborated saying that humans today think that they are above nature, when in fact, we are at nature’s mercy because natural disasters like tsunamis could easily kill many humans. ‘The Happening’ is also a modern film and, therefore, problems raised in the film would directly relate to issues society currently has. This film gives insight into the human condition, and audiences can see

At the time the initial release of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”, several people reviewed the film. In this essay, some online reviews are explained, analyzed and then compared. Reviews by John Bozelka’ argues that Kubrick did a great job of replicating Stephen King’s horror novel. Bozelka maintains that the film could leave one’s room creepy and unfamiliar because of the events and episodes contained. However, he feels that the film was quite empty in the beginning. Bozelka seems to have his own review of the film. He points out that the film changes from being empty to changing emotions engulfed by Nicholson’s character Jack. He feels that Jack’scharacter is presented as weird with a mysterious edge. According to Bozelka, each character in the film sees visions making it hard for the audience to identify the character at any given point.

Stephen King is a famous, horror, mystery author who lives a serene, secluded, and quiet life. Since Stephen King grew up mostly in Portland, Maine, this may possibly be the reason the majority of his books take place in Maine. Growing up fatherless, he spent parts of his childhood living in Indiana, and Connecticut. Born on September 21, 1947, he is part of a peaceful generation and felt the Vietnam War was unconstitutional. He supported the anti-war movement and served on the student senate. In 1971, he married his wife, Tabitha Spruce, and they had three children, Naomi, Owen and Joseph. While his life seems fairly normal, this is how one of the country`s most widely known, feared horror, mystery authors evolved into the author he is today.

How does Stanley Kubrick use narrative and stylistic features to manipulate the audience? The Shining was Stanley Kubrick’s 9th feature film and is renowned in the horror genre and is considered a masterpiece of cinema. Even though this film has such a striking difference to the rest of Kubrick’s work- it does have a common ground in style. Very much like 2001: a space odyssey, The Shining places the audience in the middle of a very unfamiliar territory and has a fixation on immersing the audience in a progressive mood rather than constructing a very convoluted narrative.

Perhaps The Shining is rated one of Rolling Stone’s Top 10 Scariest Films of All Time (Greene), not because it offers a bit of a thrill, or blood and gore, but because it acknowledges the intrinsically evil nature of humankind and the human condition from which we all suffer; not only on a psychological level, but a sociological, as well. There are many motifs, metaphors, and symbolism scattered throughout The Shining, many of them great examples of styles of editing, filmmaking, and

Stephen King was born in September 21, 1947 to Donald Edwin and Nellie Ruth. King is a big Boston Red Sox fan. “When Stephen was two years old, his father left the family under the pretense of “going to buy a pack of cigarettes” (Smith). King never forgave his father for leaving his mother and he tried to help mother when he can. Nellie had to raise Stephen and his older brother, David, by herself, it was not easy but they got by and helped each other with things. “Introduced to horror fiction in an ironic twist when he discovered an H.P. Lovecraft volume in a box of his father’s abandoned belongings, he then was hooked on scary books” (Smith). If his father had never of left the family, he would have never found the Lovecraft book and never

King was born in Portland, Maine, in September 21, 1947. He is an author of contemporary horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. King attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, where he finished his studies in 1966. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He supported the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, and fighting against