The shining

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🩸 The Shining – Full Horror Story Summary (Novel by Stephen King)

PART ONE: The Job

Jack Torrance, a struggling writer and recovering alcoholic, accepts a job as the winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, a secluded resort in the Colorado Rockies. His wife, Wendy, and his five-year-old son, Danny, will accompany him.

The hotel has a dark history: suicides, murders, and mob connections. The manager warns Jack about a previous caretaker, Delbert Grady, who went insane and murdered his family with an axe. Jack brushes it off, thinking the isolation might help him focus on writing and rebuilding his life.

Danny is no ordinary child. He possesses a supernatural ability called "the shining"—a psychic power that allows him to see past events (called "the residue"), read minds, and sense danger. Danny has terrifying visions of the hotel before they even arrive: blood-filled hallways, screaming voices, and something evil lurking inside.

PART TWO: The Overlook Hotel

The family moves into the hotel in late fall. As winter storms roll in, they become completely isolated. Only one staff member, the kind-hearted cook Dick Hallorann, seems to understand Danny’s powers. He also "shines" and warns Danny to stay out of Room 217 and to be careful of the things he might see. Hallorann leaves for Florida, promising Danny he can call for help "in his mind" if he ever needs to.

As the weeks pass, Jack begins to change. He becomes withdrawn, irritable, and obsessive. The hotel begins influencing him—subtly at first. He starts seeing ghosts, especially a mysterious bartender named Lloyd, who offers him drinks even though Jack is sober.

Danny, meanwhile, begins experiencing horrifying visions. He explores the forbidden Room 217 and encounters the rotting corpse of a dead woman in the bathtub. He’s attacked but survives. His injuries make Wendy think Jack has started abusing Danny again.

PART THREE: Descent into Madness

Jack discovers a scrapbook detailing the hotel’s dark past—mob executions, suicides, orgies. He becomes obsessed with writing about it. But it’s not his own thoughts anymore—it’s the hotel whispering to him, feeding his anger and resentment.

Danny continues to see more ghosts: masked partygoers, dead children, and the twins of the previous caretaker. The hotel wants Danny’s power—his "shine" is like a battery it can feed on.

Jack spirals deeper into madness. The ghost of Grady tells him that he must "correct" his wife and child. The Overlook takes full control, and Jack becomes its puppet.

PART FOUR: Violence Unleashed

Jack sabotages the hotel’s CB radio and snowmobile, cutting off all contact with the outside world. He finds a roque mallet (a heavy club used in a lawn game) and begins stalking his family.

Danny psychically calls out to Hallorann, who feels the boy's terror all the way in Florida. He immediately returns, battling a fierce snowstorm to get to the hotel.

Meanwhile, Jack attacks Wendy, but she fights him off, stabbing him and locking him in the pantry. But the hotel unlocks the door for him. Jack, now fully possessed and raving, goes after Danny with the mallet.

Danny, cornered, does something unexpected—he talks to Jack, calling him “Daddy” and confronting the last bit of humanity inside him. Jack resists for a brief moment, telling Danny to run… and then he’s gone, replaced again by the Overlook.

But Jack forgot something: the boiler. Earlier, it had to be released manually every day or it would explode. Caught up in his madness, he ignored it. The pressure builds.

As Hallorann arrives and finds Wendy and Danny, the hotel explodes in a fiery blast, killing Jack and destroying the Overlook.

EPILOGUE: Aftermath

Months later, Wendy, Danny, and Hallorann are recovering in Maine. Danny is quiet but safe. Hallorann tells him that his powers will fade with age, and reassures him that, no matter what, he is not alone.


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🕯️ Key Themes in The Shining

Addiction and abuse: Jack’s alcoholism and rage are real-world horrors that are amplified by the hotel’s influence.

Isolation: The physical and emotional isolation drives Jack toward madness.

Psychic trauma: Danny’s "shining" exposes him to things no child should witness.

Evil as a place: The Overlook itself is the villain—a malevolent, conscious force feeding on suffering.