Book Review: The Shining

After I read Under the Dome and 11-22-63 last year I got hooked on Stephen King books. Earlier this year I dived into The Stand and Joyland which I also loved so I decided to give another King classic a try, The Shining. The Shining is one of the only horror books I've ever read and now I remember why. Although The Shining is terrifying it is luckily a bit more complex then that. 

On one hand The Shining has the typical great King character development. Each of the characters are flawed in their own ways and that to me was far more interesting then the horror pieces. I also really enjoyed the science fiction pieces, the ability to read others thoughts and emotions is fascinating and in another setting would have been far more interesting. However the last quarter of the book is typical haunted house sort of horror that just doesn't appeal to me. Maybe its because the book is thirty years old and I've seen a lot of these tropes in horror movies but it didn't appeal to me. I just found the conclusion to be underwhelming. 

To me The Shining was an entertaining book but the horror elements just got in the way of what really made this novel fascinating to begin with.