Scariest book ever !

[gem collins]

"The Shining" is the scariest book i ever read. I was only 13 and my dad was reading it, i sneaked a look, got to the bit where the beautiful young woman in the bath turned into a decomposing zombie - and couldn't read anymore - impressionable age ! Even wondered about whether all that telekinetic stuff might be real ! Plucked up the courage to finish it about a year later, still remember the opening paragraph after not having read it for 26 years - main character being interviewed for job and he was thinking what a prick the interviewer was. And that "REDRUM" thing in the mirror, scared me half to death. Fantastic, shocking imagery throughout the book, and the creepiest setting ever. For once, the film maintained the terror depicted in th book. Brilliant! Might read it again to see if it has the same effect ...

[sgmonje]

Its a classic, and the best intro to ever book ever written..."Jack Torrence thought:Officious Little Prick.." hahahahahaha However when I first saw the movie, I had to stop halfway through because my older sister had a panic attack and had to be brought to the hospital, so now I'm careful who I watch it around

[Micke]

I'm reading it right now, scary book and very well written.

[aptpupil]

I don't know about the "scariest" book ever, but I once bought Stevie Wonder a cheese grater as a Christmas present.

When I asked him whether he'd liked it, he said it was the most violent book he'd ever read!

[DancingCorpse]

I actually think this novel is very frightening. Not only for the obvious reasons, but like, just the things which we aren't told about by King, what else is going on in the hotel when the Torrance's are sleeping? What other ghoulish inhabitants does the Overlook hold? There's so much to pick up on with more re-reads too, i found it the most frightening on my third read. The lift part towards the end, with the party remains inside, that actually disturbed me, because i like to immerse myself in the novel and i was wondering what the heck I would do in such a situation. Fantastic story.

[Wanderer From Ys]

"The Shining" is the scariest book i ever read. I was only 13 and my dad was reading it, i sneaked a look, got to the bit where the beautiful young woman in the bath turned into a decomposing zombie - and couldn't read anymore - impressionable age .

I read this part as an adult while home alone at night, and it's still pretty scary. I think our minds tend to play tricks on us at night, and sometimes even out eyes play tricks with the darkness. I slept with the bathroom door closed that night, but I felt really stupid about it in the morning.

[DancingCorpse]

One of frightening parts of the novel, is when Jack heads back out of Room 217 and SK describes it as if whatever (if anything) was in there, it was disappointed that he had left without greeting them, that imagery is fantastic and a little disturbing, it gives more life to the creation than if we actually 'saw' what was waiting.

[Jay P Lang]

I really liked this book. I am suprised King wrote this while drinking so much without wanting to stop drinking himself. I am very glad he was able to quit drinking and I am sure he looks back on it with wonder at how he took it as far as he did. The plus side for all of us is that he will be around for ages to come. I didn't like the movie compared. The ending was just nothing compared to the books, but then again the brioler blowing up was a bit cliche . I loved the hedge animals. The whole thing was awesome and had me kicking myself when I realized what red rum was. I thought for sure the dad would find a ledger for some rum and realize it was in the attic.

The only slow part were the chapters on the history of the motel, but they added depth.

[RichardX]

After nearly 30 years as a King fan, I have finally gotten around to reading the Shining. Hard to believe that this is one I just never read probably because I saw the movie - which was great. I'm not sure it is the scariest book ever, but the chapter in which Jack visits room 217 may be one of King's scariest. There are a lot of great subplots in the book. One of King's most complete works in my opinion. It is hard to read the book, though, without flashing back to Jack Nicholson and Kubrick movie. Given the controversy about the movie, I was a bit surprised at how closely the movie followed much of the book.

[knittinjen]

I'm reading this at age 38 for the first time since my early 20's, and I had to stop reading at night when I got to the part about Danny going outside in his snowshoes to play in the playground. He climbed into the cement rings, and somehow I just got so scared with the simple, plain language, like "la la la, danny playing in the snow" and just KNEW something awful was coming, even though I ALREADY knew something awful was coming...had to pick it back up in the morning and read it and it was STILL scary! And the way the hedge animals only moved when you were NOT looking at them....brrr, shiver....scary!!