ATW - Which Is The Best Version of The Shining?
Welcome to Ask The Writers, where we gather insights from our writers, delving into shared opinions and perspectives, exploring a range of subjects that resonate with us all.
Rather than engaging in a competitive showdown like a tables, ladders, and chairs match to determine the author, we opt for a collaborative approach. Each contributor adds their unique perspective to the topic for a more diverse and comprehensive analysis.
In this particular case, we’re looking at the horror classic “The Shining”. It goes without saying that this beast is an absolute classic. Everyone and their mum’s has seen this movie. But has everyone read the book? Don’t know. But we have! And we all have opinions on the age-old-classic comparison between the book and the movie. So buckle up, stay clear of Room 237, and come play with us. Forever. And ever. And ever…
Which version of Jack Torrance do you prefer and why?
Ash: This is a tough one - they’re both essentially different characters. Book Jack is a man struggling with his own alcoholism, his feelings of inadequacy as a writer and his guilt and anxiety about losing control and doing lasting harm to his son. Movie Jack is an absolute psycho who needs only the barest ghostly nudge to start axing his family to death. One is definitely much scarier than the other. But actually, now that I think about it, I’d have to pick Book Jack. He has more nuance, more pathos, and he’s just altogether more interesting.
Ed: I might be biased, having seen the movie first, but I think I’d have to choose Movie Jack. The movie has to condense a lot of the subject matter down, and whilst they kept a great balance, I feel they leaned slightly more towards psychopathic dad than haunted hotel. Ultimately, it feels more like the hotel is serving Jack's true destiny in the movie, whereas in the book, Jack is more of a pawn in the hotel's grand plan.
Chris: I prefer the portrayal of Jack Torrance in the movie, largely due to Jack Nicholson's brilliant performance. While he deviates from the character in the book, Nicholson brings an unparalleled level of terror to the role. His unpredictable nature instils a constant sense of dread, keeping viewers on edge. Although the book meticulously details Jack's descent into madness, Nicholson's portrayal epitomises it with an unforgettable performance.
What was the scariest scene for you in the movie?
Ash: Honestly, every scene. Room 237. Jack staring out the window. All work and no play… Kubrick injects so much dread into every frame. But the sequence(s) that stick with me the most are the shots of Danny riding his trike around the halls. The camera’s so close to him that we’re practically in his head, and we only see what’s around each corner as he does. The whole time you’re just waiting for something awful to pop out. And eventually it does. Terrifying.
Ed: Mine’s a subtle one that gets under the skin - the nice father-son moment where Danny asks Jack if he’d ever hurt them. It starts with Danny finding Jack almost catatonic in the bedroom, who invites him in for a chat. Firstly, Jack gives us a hint that the hotel has got its claws in his mind, when he mirrors the words of the ghost girls, ‘I wish we could stay here forever… and ever… and ever’. Then comes the innocent question ‘you would never hurt mommy and me would you?’, and as the music swells and our palms sweat, Jack takes an all too long 40 seconds to provide a hauntingly hesitant answer.
Chris: The bear costume scene. As someone who has watched the movie several times over the years, I can attest that its terror deepend with each viewing. However, the moment that consistently sends shivers down my spine, despite its initial subtlety, occurs when Wendy traverses the Overlook at the climax. She encounters a man dressed in a bear costume engaged in a strange act with another (ghost) man inside one of the rooms. It’s profoundly unsettling and disturbing, and the crash zoom adds to the claustrophobic intensity. Their silent stares at Wendy are just super uncomfortable too, making us want to run, far, far away.
What was the scariest scene for you in the book?
Ash: The fire hose! It’s literally just a fire hose. All it does is fall off the hook and lay there, but the way King describes it, and Danny’s building fear of it, comparing it to a snake, with all of a snake’s deadly potential, suggesting that it might move at any moment... It’s a masterclass in ratcheting tension and one of the most impressive pieces of writing I’ve ever come across.
Ed: Probably Danny’s expedition into room 217. It’s built up a great deal in the book, firstly by Hallorann’s account of the maid's experience, then with Danny lingering outside it, toying with the idea of entering, so when he finally heads in a couple of chapters later, the tension is already high. The mixture of a lumbering ghoul that’s equal parts terrifying and disgusting, and a helpless kid without the ability to save himself is the recipe for a perfect scare.
Chris: The hedge animals scene with Danny. The book has some incredibly scary scenes in it and one of those scenes, omitted by Kubrick, most likely for budget or visual effects reasons, was when Danny decides to play in the snow covered playground. This, of course, was the area he was told strictly not to visit by Dick Hallorann because of his ‘Shine’. When he decides to leave the playground, every head-turn back, we see the minor movements of the hedge animals, taunting and stalking Danny, before finally attacking him. Or did they…?
What did you find most intriguing from the book?
Ash: Stephen King has this concept that he absolutely loves, and seems to come back to again and again in his work: the idea that some places are like deep wells of evil, where darkness congregates. And the Overlook might be the best example of that. I love the idea that the malign presence that lives there isn’t just a bunch of random ghosts - it’s an evil force, a sort of psychic vampire that feeds on Danny’s ‘shine’, getting stronger and stronger over the course of the novel. So good.
Ed: I think the book did Jack's experience with the Overlook residents particularly well. He seemed to fit right in with the masked ball - he’s accepted by them when his wife doesn’t, and that adds so much to his motivations. The partygoers seemed equal parts charming and terrifying, we can see the bad side but he can only see the good. It also gave much more insight into the Overlooks past, allowing us a peek at what it was like, what it always has been, and what Jack could become a part of.
Chris: Stephen King packs so much into the book that the movie just couldn’t possibly include. One of my absolute favourite scenes is when Jack is in the basement where he discovers archives of documents and journals documenting the Overlook hotel’s history, inhabitants and owners. It’s fascinating to hear about it’s past and the mystery that surrounds the evil that grows there. I’m going to say this now, but Mike Flanagan should follow through and turn this into a limited series.
What did you find most intriguing from the movie?
Ash: Has to be the photograph at the end. What does it mean?! Has Jack always been part of the Overlook? Is he a descendant of a previous guest? Has he been absorbed by the hotel to the extent that he’s now a part of its history? Is Kubrick just fucking with us? I guess we’ll never truly know.
Ed: I think the ambiguity of the movie is what’s pushed my rewatch count to double digits. Having now read the source material, it’s really interesting to see what Kubrick used, what he held back, and what he changed. It’s clear that he didn’t want it to be quite as cut and dry as the book. Jack’s clearly influenced by the hotel, but has he lost complete control of his actions? If he’s always been the caretaker, did he come here on his own volition? Are all these open questions really proof that Kubrick actually landed on the moon?
Chris: It’s definitely the spacial design of the Overlook hotel. Its patterns, decor and use of symmetry that Kubrick uses gives an uncomfortable feeling that the hotel is a character in itself, trapping its inhabitants inside. There are anomalies within its architecture that don’t make sense either - corridors that go nowhere, offices with windows to the outside that shouldn’t be there because it’s an interior location, rooms with doors that don’t exist, and a whole bundle more.
Overall, which version was your favourite and why?
Ash: Now this is almost impossible! Like the characters of Jack Torrance, both versions offer something completely different. The movie is peak Kubrick: a study in mood and atmosphere. It’s cold and bleak and scary, and easily one of the greatest horror movies ever made. But the book is peak King: it’s an (often) uncomfortably frank exploration of the author’s own alcoholism and parental anxieties, and one of the all-time greatest American ghost stories. It even manages to make topiary scary! They’re both masterpieces. But, if I had a gun to my head I’d have to say… the book? It’s got more heart, more humanity and it feels like it's trying to be more than just scary.
Ed: I was really excited to read the book, due to my long lasting love of the movie. It was a thrilling read, it explored so much more about the hotel's past, Jacks’ own personal battles with alcoholism and his troubled childhood, and every chapter was filled with a slow-burning dread. What surprised me, however, was how many iconic moments from the movie weren’t taken from the book - the blood elevator, the ghostly twins, ‘all work and no play’, the hedge maze - but the book gave us the tunnel dweller, Roger the human dog, the hedge animals, and more. I think they were level pegging throughout, but towards the end, Jack becoming completely enveloped by the Overlooks power took away the power of his own terrible intentions, whereas the movie felt more like there was a sinister, symbiotic relationship between Jack and the hotel. For this reason, I’d have to give it to the movie, but only just!
Chris: The toughest question of all. Both versions are quite different from each other, but the horror remains absolute in both. Stephen King delves into so much more about the characters and the history of the hotel which I love. The supporting character of Dick Hallorann is much more fleshed out, even describing in great detail his journey from Florida, all the way back to the Overlook, which takes some interesting twists and turns in itself. With the film, I love the mystery that surrounds it. The techniques and theories that Kubrick uses makes it all the more interesting. There’s a strange sense that the enchantment of the Overlook has somehow leaked out into the real world too. After weighing them both up, we can all agree they’re masterpieces, however, I think I would have to go with the book. It’s a fascinating story that provides more detail than a movie could ever wish to, with its own sense of horror and dread.
Well there you have it, a dive into the world of Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. For other stuff related to The King himself, Ash has written about Stephen King books that are begging for an adaptation, and Chris has written about his “A Kingathon - My Journey Reading Stephen King Part 1” here. But do you agree with what we’ve said? Let us know in the comments below.
