Book Review

The Shining
by Stephen King

This year I decided to join my sister in her habit of reading horror novels every October. Having seen the film version a couple of times, I went with The Shining, which turned out to be an excellent choice. It's significantly different than the movie, and, I think both scarier and better in general. I especially liked the way King portrays Wendy Torrance - she's got much more agency and much more complexity than in the film.
Stephen King is very good at what he does. I knew how this story goes when I started the book, and I was still experienced all the suspense and terror. It didn't help that King uses a wasp metaphor/motif throughout the book.* The build up of and to what is going on at the Overlook Hotel is extremely well executed and left me both scared and unsettled. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Shining, even if it was not the path to a restful night's sleep.

*I have always had a mild phobia of wasps. They seriously creep me out.