History Literature / DoctorSleep

* YourVampiresSuck: The Knot are ''nothing'' like the ones in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''.

* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Unlike the rest of the True Knot, Rose singlehandedly puts up one heck of a fight against Dan and Abra and ultimately the spirit of Jack Torrance has to get involved to help them take her out.
* SawStarWarsTwentySevenTimes: briefly mentioned in passing; Pence Effersham, a boy Abra apparently knows, loves to brag about how many times he has seen ''Film/TheAvengers2012''

->“FEAR stands for Fuck Everything and Run.”

* CallBack: Danny's job interview with Kingsley is directly compared to his fathers interview with Ullman 20 years earlier. Danny even thinks of Kingsley as an "officious little prick" when he is momentarily frustrated at Kingsley telling him to not show up late, drunk or high, but quickly pushes it aside.

* AsYouKnow: The prologue functions as a summary of the events of The Shining for people who haven't read the original, first with a newspaper story of the hotels destruction, which is believed by everyone to have been an accident and Jack's death was caused by a "heroic attempt at averting the disaster", and by Danny's monologues and conversations with Halloran.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Unlike the rest of the True Knot, Rose singlehandedly puts up one heck of a fight against Dan and Abra and ultimately the spirit of Jack Torrance has to get involved to help them take her out.

''Doctor Sleep'' is a 2013 novel written by Creator/StephenKing and a sequel to one of his most famous novels, ''Literature/TheShining''. Danny Torrance is now an adult struggling with alcoholism. He works at a hospice where, aided by a prescient cat, he is able to use his "shining" to give aid and comfort to the dying. He meets Abra Stone, a young girl with a "shining" of her own, who is being stalked by the True Knot, a group of psychic vampires who [[LifeDrinker sustain themselves]] on children like Abra.

A [[Film/DoctorSleep film adaptation]] directed by Creator/MikeFlanagan of ''Film/{{Oculus}}'' and ''Film/{{Hush}}'' fame and starring Creator/EwanMcGregor was released in November 2019. In an interesting case of AlternateContinuity, while King went out of his way to make clear the book is a sequel to his own work and not the Stanley Kubrick film adaptation which he famously found a lacking adaptation of his book, the film is in turn very much a sequel to that film.

* EvilOldFolks: Dick Halloran's paternal grandfather was a sadistic paedophile who was almost certainly mixed up in black magic. He regularly sexually abused his grandson and knew [[Literature/NOS4A2 Charlie Manx]]. He lorded over his relatives, knowing they'd put up with anything if it meant they had a shot at inheriting his money-- which he ended up leaving to [[FridgeHorror an orphanage]]. Even his death didn't stop him from terrorizing his grandson. Luckily, Dick's maternal grandmother Shined, and taught him how to beat his grandfather once and for all. The True Knot qualify as well, as many of them appear to be middle-aged [=RV=]ers.

* MaleGaze: Lots of attention is paid to Rose's appearance, [[ShesGotLegs usually her legs]].

* BigDamnVillains: [[spoiler:During the climax, one of the last True Knot members is killed by the ghost of Horace Derwent, whom Dan had locked away in his mind previously]].

* VillainousBreakdown: Rose goes through several over the course of the book, most notably when Danny kills Crow Daddy.

''Doctor Sleep'' is a 2013 novel written by Creator/StephenKing and a sequel to one of his most famous novels, ''Literature/TheShining''. Danny Torrance is now an adult struggling with alcoholism. He works at a hospice where, aided by a prescient cat, he is able to use his "shining" to give aid and comfort to the dying. He meets Abra Stone, a young girl with a "shining" of her own, who is being stalked by the True Knot, a group of psychic vampires who sustain themselves on children like Abra.

A [[Film/DoctorSleep film adaptation]] directed by Creator/MikeFlanagan of ''Film/{{Oculus}}'' and ''Film/{{Hush}}'' fame and starring Creator/EwanMcGregor was released in November 2019. In an interesting case of AlternateContinuity, while King went out of his way to make clear the book is a sequel to his own work and not the Stanley Kubrick film adaptation which he famously dislikes, the film is in turn very much a sequel to that film.

* RealityEnsues:
** Because of all the trauma he went through in the Overlook Hotel and complicated feelings towards his father who tried to kill him, Dan didn’t grow up to be the most stable of adults.
** Despite devoting himself to remaining sober and regularly attending Alcoholics Anonymous, Dan does feel the temptation to return to the booze several times. Remaining sober is a battle all former alcoholics have to endure for the rest of their lives and it isn’t instantly cured no matter how many years have passed.
** The True Knot's strategy of wandering around America and kidnapping children while posing as a group of middle-aged/retired travelers is much more difficult in the post-9/11 world. If they stay in one place too long, they'll just attract attention due to people being more suspicious now. Their anonymity and ability to blend in is what makes them so successful, so public transport is out of the question. Even if they didn't suffer from severe altitude sickness from flying, they'd still need to go through security checkpoints, have their faces on camera, show ID, have registered seats, etc. That means they're stuck in the United States, which results in their potential food supply being limited. They even took a risk to visit Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, but going south of the border would look even ''more'' suspicious now than when the book was written.
** Additionally they manage to catch measles from Bradley Trevor, one of their victims; while they believe that they can't catch 'rube' diseases, likely few to none of them have been vaccinated, plus they were absorbing the disease ''directly from'' someone suffering from it.
** Concetta's gradual decline [[spoiler: and bone-shattering fall at home and agonizing final weeks]] will be all too realistic to any reader who's helped care for elderly family members.
** As Rose the Hat notes, "long-lived does not mean immortal". The members of the True Knot still have to be careful about what they do and stay under the radar, and it also means that having medical knowledge will come in handy. [[spoiler:Several of the Knot members get measles when they kill one of their victims as a result of not being properly vaccinated against it. Grampa Flick even dies from measles as a result.]]
** Even if you have psychic vampire powers and are part of a well-connected, centuries-old band of killers, abducting and murdering someone is ''much'' more difficult if your targets know you're coming and have their own plan. [[spoiler:The True Knot finds this out the hard way when Abra tricks them into coming after her. Once the deception is revealed, Billy and Dan promptly blast the hell out of the Knot with high-powered guns. And once again, "long-lived does not mean immortal", as all of the Knot members who are shot die as a result of the injuries.]]

* PayEvilUntoEvil: Abra is a supporter of this after receiving the psychic backlash of the horrendous torture and murder of the "baseball boy" the True Knot fed on. Even Danny is slightly disturbed at how excited she is at seeing the vampires' horrible deaths in the finale. [[spoiler: He also released Harvey Derwent against the True Knot in the finale, who killed Silent Sarey.]]

** Even if you have psychic vampire powers and are part of a well-connected, centuries-old band of killers, abducting and murdering someone is ''much'' more difficult if [[spoiler: your targets know you're coming, are well-armed, and have their own plan.]]

* TotallyRadical: Downplayed, but it can be a bit jarring to see a 13-year-old girl in 2013 describing how she chats with her friends as "IMing" instead of "texting." The use of "compu-chatting" in one instance when Danny uses text and e-mail to communicate with Abra, is even worse.

* AdultFear: The True Knot in general, particularly their attacks on children.
** The first little girl shown onscreen wanders off to play, is lured into lowering her guard by a harmless-looking woman, and is promptly surrounded and murdered.
** When Bradley refuses to take a ride from the True Knot, he is physically overpowered and forced into their van anyway. It's noted that he has a family who were probably scared out of their wits for him until Danny is able to provide closure as to his whereabouts.

* NeverBeAHero: When Abra tried to ask Dan for his help in stopping the True Knot's killings, Dan tells her to just let it go or they'll come for her.

* BullyingADragon: after learning how strong Abra really is, Rose becomes ''more'' enthused about hunting the motherload of steam.

* ComfortTheDying: After finally overcomming his alcoholism, Dan Torrance finds work in a hospice, where he uses his psychic powers to provide comfort to dying patients. This is what acquires the nickname "Doctor Sleep."

** Additionally they manage to catch measeles from Bradley Trevor, one of their victims; while they believe that they can't catch 'rube' diseases, likely few to none of them have been vaccinated, plus they were absorbing the disease ''directly from'' someone suffering from it.

* WholePlotReference: To Literature/{{Dracula}}. Rose The Hat is Dracula, Abra is Mina, Danny is Van Helsing, The Baseball Boy is Lucy, The Rest of the Boys are Lucy's Suitors, The True Knot is Dracula's Brides. [[spoiler:Danny even got Van Helsing's scene where he went away from Mina and murdered Dracula's Brides just before the big finale.]]

* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:Danny and Abra completely outclass the True Knot and Rose in the final showdown.]]

A [[Film/DoctorSleep film adaption]] directed by Creator/MikeFlanagan of ''Film/{{Oculus}}'' and ''Film/{{Hush}}'' fame and starring Creator/EwanMcGregor was released in November 2019. In an interesting case of AlternateContinuity, while King went out of his way to make clear the book is a sequel to his own work and not the Stanley Kubrick film adaptation which he famously dislikes, the film is in turn very much a sequel to that film.