English teacher Brandon Kendall loved reading “The Shining” by Stephen King.

“I liked the book because it has some creepy atmosphere,” Kendall said. “And that is one of my favorite subgenres of horror.”

“The Shining” follows the Torrence family and the supernatural forces they experience as they take over care for the Overlook Hotel. These forces use Jack Torrence and his alcoholism against him to drive him to try to murder his wife, Wendy, and his psychic son, Danny. Danny’s abilities allow him to see the dark history of the hotel and the violence to come, leading to a confrontation with his murderous father.

“I originally saw the movie version, the 1980 Stanley Kubrick version, and I absolutely loved it,” Kendall said. “I figured I would go back to the source material, and it was one of the few occasions when I definitely do think that the movie version is actually better than the book version.”

Stephen King is a critically-acclaimed American author, widely known to be one of the best horror writers of all time. King has many recognizable books, such as “Carrie,” “It,” and “The Green Mile.” He has also worked on numerous films based on his books such as “Shawshank Redemption” and “Stand by Me.” 

“I would recommend this to anybody who likes horror, Stephen King, or [anyone] who wants to see the source material from the movie because the movie is so famous,” Kendall said.

“The Shining” presents overall themes of cabin fever, an insanity induced by isolation in one place for an extended period of time. It also includes alcoholism and family dysfunction in order to create, quite possibly, the most famous horror of all time.