A sequel to The Shining. With Danny Torrance versus vampires. I shit you not.
Either another van hit Stephen King in the night and he’s lost his goddamn mind or he’s got some sort of a hook that justifies revisiting one of his early classics. The Shining is special stuff. Even considering the really weak miniseries attempt and the fact that despite being a classic, Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation really isn’t all that faithful.
Now AICN and Stephen King’s official site have told us that Mr. Sleep is coming.
What is Mr. Sleep?
A sequel to The Shining that pits a now-grown Danny Torrance (who survived the events of the first story thanks partially to his “shine” and the little boy named Tony who lives in his mouth) against a roving band of vampires. Bizarre. Is it another case of King tightening his universe and Torrance is just another convenient piece of connective tissue or is there simply more stories left to tell that tie directly to the original?
Whatever it is, I’ll take it. King has been a shadow of his former self for some time now and this could be a nice sweet spot for the author.
Here’s hoping we get to hear about what happened after the Overlook. What remnants of his father still haunt Danny. And if King can match the vampire action of Salem’s Lot, another classic.
Cautiously optimistic. And weirded out. Stay tuned…
12 comments
Interesting, I think The Shining is a great story; told at a nice pace, yet ultimately pretty poorly written. I feel like King has a strange habit of only hitting two of those three at random. Admittedly, I have only read about a half a dozen of his books, so that might be an unfair observation. I also haven’t read The Shining in about a decade. Perhaps I should see if my opinion of the writing quality is any different. Either way, this book sounds awesome and horrible, and therefore, it must happen. This dude is out of his mind.
Agree completely that he’s been a shadow of his former self for a while now (following up It with The Tommyknockers may have been the start of that), but he still busts out moments of greatness, without putting it all together into a satisfying whole. My hope here comes in two layers: First, that his on-the-record dislike of Twilight means he’s bringing some nasty, vile vampire action with maybe a ‘Salem’s Lot connection as well. Second, that by deliberately mucking about with a character from one of his undisputed classics inspires him to raise his game. I just hope this isn’t a Crystal Skull of horror fiction.
trams ton…trams ton…trams ton…
Seriously, what does it matter if King sequelises the Shining and why is it a shock or even bizarre? It’s a pulp-genre horror book based around paranormal happenings made infamous by it’s adaptation, which is a different beast anyway.
If I could write Cell and Under the Dome and Duma Key while being a shadow of my former self, I’ll consider it a life well lived.
Make that TWO undisputed classics: The Shining and Salem’s Lot. King portrayed vampires in “Lot” in a very traditional, Bram Stoker way. This sounds like a trainwreck on the face of it, but I’ll probably give it a shot.
I love you.
Here here.
It’s called *Dr* Sleep and the vampires are not bloodsuckers. Apparently, they go after children with special gifts, like the kid in the original novel.
King discussing the idea: http://bit.ly/r9K5ve
King reading from the novel: http://bit.ly/onwsQa
This has gotta be the creepiest kid on a book cover ever…
I wish Stephen King and George Lucas would keep their filthy fingers out of my childhood’s anus…
cellular is a bad ass book you should check it out
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