The Shining: 2014

Jack is stung by the wasps on the roof when he's being creative, sorting through the issues of his play in progress. We say similarly, because in both cases the wasp stings seem like punishment for being creative. In the equipment shed, Jack sees the black and yellow snowmobile as a wasp. He thinks of it as another stinging pest that will take him away from his imagination, his desire to create fictional worlds. As always, the Overlook perverts reality. The snowmobile, wasp-like as it is, could have helped Jack live to practice his craft.

FIRE EXTINGUISHER
Although both Jack and Danny see the fire extinguishers move, and Danny is particularly frightened of them, they don't prove menacing. In fact, they are what they seem, rather puny creatures, unfit for their raison d'être, putting out fires. They are certainly no match for the boiler explosion that proves fatal for the hotel. They are a further symbol of the hotel's perversity, where things which are supposed to protect (like fathers, for example) are twisted to do the opposite.

MASKS

When the truth of the Overlook is revealed to the Torrances, it's a kind of unmasking. The Torrances, themselves, are also unmasked. Ironically, Jack is completely masked by the Overlook, after destroying his face with the roque mallet only to have it taken over by the faces of the hotel's spirits, he thinks that his mask is finally off. Sadly, Jack never takes off the mask he gained in childhood, the mask that says he must follow in his father's footsteps. Danny on the other hand, presents a hopeful version of unmasking. His experience at the Overlook is an unmasking of sorts, a rather brutal unmasking of life, but also an unmasking of the truth of who Danny is. In addition to learning he has great courage as well as human frailty, Danny's identity is validated by Halloran when he acknowledges his ability to shine. Halloran helps Danny see that his abilities are real and that he's not alone.

ROQUE MALLET

The roque mallet lends the story an unrelenting and murderous rhythm, creates suspense, and works as a rather unique symbol. We hear about the roque mallet from the first Tony incident and then we never stop hearing about it. Danny has frequent visions of some creature (which, of course, is Jack) using the mallet as a horrifically destructive weapon.

SCRAPBOOK
The scrapbook is a confusing symbol.it contains some of the crucial details of the Overlook's history from 1945 to 1967. For Jack, the scrapbook is a symbol of the novel he hopes to write. The hope of eventually writing this novel is part of the bait that keeps Jack wanting to stay at the Overlook. He desperately want to find out its secrets. The ghost of Delbert Grady, the murderous, suicidal 1970 caretaker, tells Jack that the mysterious "manager" left the scrapbook especially for Jack to find.

If the Overlook is like a criminal who wants to get caught in order to be famous, it would make sense that the Overlook would leave it for Jack to find. He's a writer who can immortalize it in print in a way the moldering news clippings and boxes of files cannot. For one thing, they're never read, except by Jack. The hotel also uses the scrapbook to toy with his aspirations, and then cruelly snatch them out of reach.

For Jack, the scrapbook also triggers his own mental scrapbook, particularly the pages featuring his father. This puts Jack in a trancelike state that sends him upstairs to destroy the radio, which is broadcasting murderous instructions from said father. The scrapbook symbolizes an extreme human powerlessness against bad memories and the potential in such memories for self destruction.

HEDGE ANIMALS

The topiary, the collection of hedge animals, are the guardians of the entrance and exit to the Overlook. They can't go on the porch, so they can't actually go into the hotel and run amuck. These spine-tingling beasts also call attention to the novel's supernatural naturalism. The literary tradition of naturalism often features a human-against-nature theme. Here the conflict is between humans, nature, and supernature!

Nadat zijn vorige twee romans, Carrie en Bezeten stad, zich allebei afspeelden in kleine plaatsjes in King's eigen staat, Maine, wilde Stephen King voor zijn derde roman graag een andere omgeving. Zijn keuze viel uiteindelijk op Boulder, Colorado. Op 30 oktober 1974 bezochten Stephen King en zijn vrouw het hotel Stanley om meer van de omgeving aldaar te zien. Omdat het al tegen het einde van het vakantieseizoen was, waren de twee die nacht de enige gasten. Ze brachten de nacht door in kamer 217, waar het volgens verhalen zou spoken. Deze elementen werden door King later in zijn verhaal gebruikt. Volgens eigen zeggen had King die nacht in het hotel een nachtmerrie waarin zijn destijds drie jaar oude zoontje in de gangen van het hotel werd achtervolgd door een brandslang. Ook dit element is in het boek terug te vinden.

THE STANLEY HOTEL --> inspiratie voor 'The Overlook Hotel'
The Stanley Hotel also hosted the horror novelist Stephen King, inspiring him to write The Shining. Parts of the television mini-series version of The Shining were filmed there, whereas Stanley Kubrick's cinematic adaptation The Shining was filmed in sets built at Elstree Studios in England (some of the exteriors showed the Timberline Lodge in Oregon, and others showed a set based on a truncated version of that hotel).

Hauntings

Many believe the Stanley Hotel is haunted, having reported a number of cases of ghostly activity, primarily in the ballroom. Kitchen staff have reported to have heard a party going on in the ballroom, only to find it empty. People in the lobby have allegedly heard someone playing the ballroom's piano; employees investigating the music purportedly found nobody sitting at the piano. Employees believe that particular ghost is of Freelan O. Stanley's wife, Flora, who used to be a piano player. In one guest room, people claim to have seen a man standing over the bed before running into the closet. This same apparition is allegedly responsible for stealing guests' jewelry, watches, and luggage. Others reported to have seen ghosts in their rooms in the middle of the night, simply standing in their room before disappearing.
The Syfy television show Ghost Hunters was invited to investigate the hotel. The manager showed them the various places where these alleged ghost activities occurred. Ghost Hunters discovered some rational reasons for the various phenomena, such as wind and pipes. However, they could not decipher incidents in the ballroom. Ghost Hunters also claimed to experience other paranormal occurrences, such as seeing people in hallways then hiding and hearing children running and playing on the floor above them. The biggest alleged occurrence was that during changing of the tape in the camera, a table jumped two feet in the air. Ghost Hunter Jason Hawes stayed the night in the room with the "ghost thief"; he stated that the bed moved, the closet doors unlocked and opened and his thick glass by the bed cracked open on the inside.^[5]^[6] The Stanley Hotel was also the lockdown site for the TV show Ghost Adventures on October 15, 2010.
After hearing claims that paranormal activity at the hotel are due to the geological makeup of the property, Rocky Mountain Paranormal contacted the US Geological Survey for information on the site. The scientists' conclusion, based on a satellite survey of Colorado, showed "nothing unusual about the aeromagnetic data in the area of Estes Park as compared to that general area of the Rockies". After this request for geological information, the government sent soil scientists to do a thorough soil survey on the property. The results showed the soil is mainly crumbled schist containing nothing radioactive. No large deposits of quartz, limestone or magnetite were evident.^[7]
In Skeptical Inquirer's Naked Skeptic column by Karen Stollznow she discusses RMPRS's investigation of The Stanley Hotel, "During the investigation, The Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society researched popular beliefs and claims; they solved some mysteries, they performed valuable outreach, and they maintained the historical integrity of the Stanley Hotel. However, they didn’t discover any anomalous phenomena. They found a leak in the ceiling but no ghosts."^[8]
Stephen King got the idea for his novel The Shining in 1973 after staying in room 217 in the almost empty hotel on the night before it closed for an extended period.^[9]

When precisely the strange events began happening at the Stanley Hotel has never been documented, but interesting occurrences are a part of the history of this beautiful hotel.
Ms. Elizabeth Wilson was the chief housekeeper at The Stanley Hotel in its very early days. On the evening of June 25, 1911, during a storm, she was involved in an explosion that took place as she was lighting the acetylene lanterns that were the back-up system for the hotel’s electricity. Ms. Wilson was shot down in the explosion from what is now Room 217 to the floor of the MacGregor Room one story below. She was not killed, but her ankles were broken. Since the 1950’s, it has been reported that she might take special care of people that stay in 217. Sometimes guests staying that room encounter extra housekeeping services, including having their things put away or unpacked.
All of the rooms in the hotel have had out-of-the-ordinary experiences reported, including having items moved from place to place, as well as lights turning on and off. If you stay on the fourth floor, you just might get to hear the children of long ago running up and down the halls, laughing and giggling. Sometimes guest will be tucked-in at night, as that was the duty for the nannies to perform for the young children.
F.O. and Flora Stanley are said to still spend time at the hotel. It is not unusual for guests and staff to catch a glimpse of F.O. walking the lobby, or hear Flora still playing her beloved piano in the Music Room. Remember, they loved and took pleasure from the hotel, and maybe they still do!
While enjoying the elegant hotel, keep in mind that you may possibly have an "extra" experience here. However, there are never any reports of sinister or evil events happening here, because there are only happy ghosts at the Stanley Hotel!
- See more at: http://www.stanleyhotel.com/about/haunted-history#sthash.DYXFzy4t.dpuf