"The Shining" by Stephen King

What makes a book scary? Is it a story of demons, or ghosts, or a few murders? Or is it the inexplicable madness that could taunt the mind of a reader long after the story is over and the book is closed and returned to the book shelf? The Shining is one such story. It's the account of a family, their battles with their own demons in a hotel that somehow feeds on their fears and emotions.

Often, the case is made that a book is scary because it unexpectedly freaked a reader with a sudden twist, a ghostly encounter, or a creepy voice. In `The Shining' there is something different. There is suspense, ever so slowly building, until the trickle becomes a river that pulls one toward a vortex of twisting horrors, of something evil that has been molded and cooked and stored until the one to be fed stumbles on it unexpectedly and then its so horrifying that he is left stunned, numbed, petrified.

King is a king in the world of literary terror. He is a king of his own domain, of the masterful horror story, of a universe where hedge animals stalk, hotels share emotions and people communicate via their minds. Oh, and `The Shining' can not be told via a word of mouth, or seen as an interpretation by Kubric or any other director for that matter. `The Shining' must be experienced only through the words, because only words can make alive that which is too dreadful to share, or show. For all fans of the horror genre believe me when I say:`The Shining' makes one heck of a memorable experience.

-by Simon Cleveland