“Monsters are real. Ghosts are too. They live inside of us, and sometimes, they win.”

Yet another one of my top 10 Stephen King novels I would rate this a 5/5. I will never be able to explain how amazed I am with this novel I actually had night terrors when reading it. I actually read the book before the movie and I know I'll get a lot of backlash from this but the movie was absolutely terrible. I was not impressed with the movie whatsoever I would rate the movie a 1/5 they didn't match the novel at all, they changed almost everything except for the characters and left out some pretty important, terrifying parts.

Many many spoilers ahead

I won't go to in depth with this book because I think if you get the chance you should check this one out. It is seriously terrifying, I actually had some nightmares from reading this one and one of the characters still pops up in my mind occasionally because the description was so vivid. The only thing the movie got correct was that Danny and his family were going up to the Colorado Rockies to take care of the overlook hotel. Let's get some of the characters out of the way so you know who I am talking about throughout this review; The Torrance's Jack, Wendy and their son Danny(has the shine the shine is basically being psychic), Dick Hollorann (Mr. Hollorann) the cook for the overlook hotel (fun fact this character is also in IT), Stuart Ullman who isn't really that important but he is Jack's boss.

Now that the characters are out of the way let's talk about this frightmare. Let's get one thing straight Danny was having visions of the hotel before he even knew they were going to it, he would have nightmares of different things every night up until they went to the hotel. He also has a friend that he calls tony that helps him with these visions warning him to stay away from the hotel as well as helps him through his tough times(we find out in Doctor Sleep that tony wasn't an imaginary friend but his older self warning him about all the bad things). When the Torrance's first arrive at the Overlook Danny can feel that something just was not right with the hotel, as well as it was the place from his visions. Mr. Hollorann gives the family a tour of the hotel; where they will be staying, the kitchen, the boiler room which he only takes Jack to, all the different hallways and the eating area that they are welcome to . He explains to the family that all of the alcohol will not be in the hotel since they all had a huge holiday party Jack explains how that will not be a problem for them since he doesn't drink anymore (he's a recovering alcoholic, but obsesses about drinking all the time). Mr. Holloran begins talking to Danny with his mind because he knows he has the shine Danny is very surprised by this and he even begins calling him DOC as his family does. Before Hollorann Leaves he asks Danny if he wouldn't mind helping him with his bags and to have a little talk in the car (this doesn't happen in the movie). While in the car Hollorann explains to danny what the SHINE is and how to use it, he also tells Danny which rooms to stay away from and that he is very very strong and the hotel will want to keep him it is very evil. He tells Danny if he ever needs him to just use his SHINE to call for him and he will do whatever he can to come and help.

As the story continues on Danny explores the hotel everyday riding his tricycle through the halls he runs into the hallway where the sisters (age 8 and 10) were murdered (yes you read that right, Sisters not twins) there was blood on all the walls and the carpet, he runs away fast so that nothing can catch him. He also saw them the first day he came to visit the hotel in the game room briefly, as well as they came to him in his visions while he was still at home. He also experiences many ghosts and monsters throughout the book there he has frightening visions of a fire hose attacking him near room 217, the outside hedge animals attack him while he plays in the snow, he has an uneasy feeling about the playground while he is out there playing in the snow tunnels he feels like something is chasing him, 217 he has his first run in with the bloated lady who was murdered in the bathtub (she chokes him and Wendy thinks that it was Jack), the elevator turns on by itself at night, he runs into dead party people from the 1920's a man dressed as a dog who speak profanities at him and than the evil monster the house turns his father into at the end of the book a deformed smashed in face and is morphing into all of the ghosts that occupy the overlook hotel.

While Jack checks on the boiler in the boiler room he finds a room in the back with history of the hotel and becomes obsessed with the idea of writing a story about the hotel instead of the play that he is currently working on. As he gets more into the hotels history the more the hotel realizes that it can just possess his body and hopefully that will be the way to get Danny's powers. He begins drinking again with the bartender downstairs in the bar (mind you this is a ghost and there is no alcohol in the hotel it's a total mind game). Jack slowly becomes more and more possessed by the hotel, it tricks him into thinking he needs to kill his wife and son. He ends up attacking Wendy on the stairs with a croquet mallet breaking 3 ribs, a leg and some vertebrae in her back she tells Danny to run, as he's running away he comes to a dead end and tells his dad that it's not his dad because he realizes the hotel has completely taken over. Jack manages to break away for a minute just to tell Danny that he loves him and to run away quick. (as all of this is happening Hollorann is helping get Wendy out of the hotel Danny tells the monster that the hotel is going to blow up because they forgot about the boiler they all manage to get out just as the hotel is exploding. Hollorann takes them away on the snowmobile and they end up in florida with him (mind you this was all taken out of the movie which I was very upset about).

Obviously I have left out quite a bit of things from the book I gave you all the gist if you get the chance read this book because the movie was absolute trash, it did not do this book any good. There was no Maze, they didn't blow up the hotel like they were suppose to, they were missing a lot of ghosts and monsters, there was no blood from the elevator or even the twins they were sisters not twins, Wendy and Danny didn't get out alone and Jack didn't become one with the hotel... well he did but he wasn't put into a painting. I really think they did an awful job with this movie and that's what upsets me the most because this book had so much to offer for Hollywood. I know it's not a popular opinion but between us book lovers it is.

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this book if you've read it or adding it to your TBR, even if you watched the movie. Let's start a conversation!

Thank you so much for reading my blog review and I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!! Until next week stay reading, Selena Torres.