The Science of Monsters

This hard work ultimately paid off, as The Shining became a critical darling. While its legacy continues as one of the most recognizable and well-loved horror films of modern cinema, it is well-known that Stephen King was less than impressed by Stanley Kubrick’s take on his 1977 novel. Kubrick took creative license, altering quite a few aspects of the source material. This includes smaller tweaks, like changing the weapon from a croquet mallet to an ax, and larger overhauls, like focusing less on Jack’s alcoholism and more on his inherent creepiness. While comparing and contrasting the film and the novel could fill an entire a book, we agree that both King and Kubrick created epic stories of ghosts, isolation, and madness. Or, perhaps, The Shining is simply about a man with writer’s block? We can relate, because all work and no play make Kelly and Meg dull girls, too.

Ghosts haunt the Overlook Hotel in The Shining but what about the actual hotel the novel was based on? The Stanley Hotel, where Stephen King initially got inspired to write The Shining, is reportedly haunted. It’s in Estes Park, Colorado, and was built in 1909. When King and his wife arrived at the hotel, it was closing down for the season and they were the only overnight guests staying there. They ate dinner in an empty dining room while prerecorded orchestra music played. They stayed on the spacious, and eerily empty, second floor. King woke up that night from a terrifying dream about his three-year-old son being chased through the corridors of the hotel. The combination of the real-life setting and the nightmare inspired him to write the now famous book. Room 217 is thought to be haunted by Elizabeth Wilson, the hotel’s head housekeeper. During a storm in 1911, she was injured during an explosion as she was lighting the lanterns in the room. She survived, though she broke both of her ankles. Guests report seeing the original owner and his wife on the staircase, a piano playing itself, and lights flickering on and off.

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.

The character of Danny Torrance (Danny Lloyd) is able to communicate with Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) through his mind, but does telepathy, the supposed communication of thoughts or ideas by means other than the known senses, exist? The term was coined in 1882 by Frederic W. H. Myers who founded the Society for Psychical Research. Its purpose was “to approach these varied problems without prejudice or prepossession of any kind, and in the same spirit of exact and unimpassioned enquiry which has enabled science to solve so many problems, once not less obscure nor less hotly debated.” Although scientific studies have been conducted since the organization’s inception, no definitive proof exists of telepathic powers.

Wendy discovers the pages Jack has been typing and they are filled with variations of “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Is it possible to write something without your own knowledge? Alien hand syndrome is a condition in which someone’s hand may appear to have a mind of its own. Explored in another Stanley Kubrick film, Dr. Strangelove (1964), alien hand syndrome can affect other limbs with the affected person having no control over their actions. The medical explanation for this phenomenon is when a disconnection occurs between different parts of the brain that are engaged in different aspects of the control of bodily movement. There is no cure for this condition but studies show that by keeping the alien hand busy with a task it can be less distracting for the person afflicted. Alien hand syndrome, or something similar, has been used in several horror movies including Idle Hands (1999) and Lights Out (2016) to illustrate when a character is not aware of what their hand or hands are doing.