History WMG / TheShining

** Dick's shining ability isn't as large as Danny's clearly is. That's like comparing a match to a lighthouse. Even Dick acknowledges that his shining wasn't as powerful as Danny's, which is why his description of "pictures in a book" with his experiences at the Overlook is drastically different from the assault that Danny and his family encountered. Not to mention, Danny and his family stayed mostly inside the hotel for months during the off-season, with them occasionally stepping outside to visit the maze (for example). Dick, being the chef of the Overlook, probably spent a minimum of 8 hours/12 at most, at the hotel preparing the meals for guests. There's no indication that the all of the workers of the hotel stay, and it was a short drive into town when the roads weren't iced over like they were in the winter months. And considering that Dick knew at least one person in town to be able to get a Snow Cat to drive up to the hotel, it indicates that he may have a residence in town that he stays in when he's in Colorado due to being able to know who to call to get a Snow cat and is a Snow Bird during the winter months (which explains why he has a place in Florida). In the months that Danny and his family was at the hotel, Danny was mostly inside the hotel for 24 hours a day (during his waking hours and when he was asleep). Factor in Danny's Shine, the Hotel had more than enough power to do the things it did to Danny and his family, whereas during the on season, Dick's Shine wasn't as powerful and his time inside the hotel was limited to just during the shift he worked, thus not allowing the Overlook enough of a chance to charge up the hotel to make the hauntings as noticeable as it was for Danny and his family.

** Dick's shining ability isn't as large as Danny's clearly is. That's like comparing a match to a lighthouse. Even Dick acknowledges that his shining wasn't as powerful as Danny's, which is why his description of "pictures in a book" with his experiences at the Overlook is drastically different from the assault that Danny and his family encountered. Not to mention, Danny and his family stayed mostly inside the hotel for months during the off-season, with them occasionally stepping outside to visit the maze (for example). Dick, being the chef of the Overlook, probably spent a minimum of 8 hours/12 at most, at the hotel preparing the meals for guests. There's no indication that the all of the workers of the hotel stay, and it was a short drive into town when the roads weren't iced over like they were in the winter months. And considering that Dick knew at least one person in town to be able to get a Snow Cat to drive up to the hotel, it indicates that he may have a residence in town that he stays in when he's in Colorado due to being able to know who to call to get a Snow cat and is a Snow Bird during the winter months (which explains why he has a place in Florida). In the months that Danny and his family was at the hotel, Danny was mostly inside the hotel for 24 hours a day (during his waking hours and when he was asleep). Factor in Danny's Shine, the Hotel had more than enough power to do the things it did to Danny and his family, whereas during the on season, Dick's Shine wasn't as powerful and his time inside the hotel was limited to just during the shift he worked.

** Dick's shining ability isn't as large as Danny's clearly is. That's like comparing a match to a lighthouse. Even Dick acknowledges that his shining wasn't as powerful as Danny's, which is why his description of "pictures in a book" with his experiences at the Overlook is drastically different from the assault that Danny and his family encountered. Not to mention, Danny and his family stayed mostly inside the hotel for months during the off-season, with them occasionally stepping outside to visit the maze (for example). Dick, being the chef of the Overlook, probably spent a minimum of 8 hours/12 at most, at the hotel preparing the meals for guests. There's no indication that the all of the workers of the hotel stay, and it was a short drive into town when the roads weren't iced over like they were in the winter months. And considering that Dick knew at least one person in town to be able to get a SnowCat to drive up to the hotel, it indicates that he may have a residence in town that he stays in when he's in Colorado and is a Snow Birth during the winter months (which explains why he has a place in Florida). In the months that Danny and his family was at the hotel, Danny was mostly inside the hotel for 24 hours a day (during his waking hours and when he was asleep). Factor in Danny's Shine, the Hotel had more than enough power to do the things it did to Danny and his family, whereas during the on season, Dick's Shine wasn't as powerful and his time inside the hotel was limited to just during the shift he worked.

* Dick talks about his grandmother having the shine and teaching him of it. This alone may imply that it is a somewhat hereditary trait.

* Also, any on-season guest with enough Shine to start seeing the ghosts and so on might well have just decided to [=GTFO=] when they realized they were staying in an EldritchAbomination.

* Also, Doctor Sleep, which is a direct sequel to Kubrick's film, explicitly confirms that all the ghosts that haunted Danny, Wendy, and Jack in the Overlook were real spirits, which thoroughly disproves this popular fan theory.

[[WMG: The Overlook was built by the [[DoctorSleep True Knot]] ]]

This is only for the film adaptation. But when it comes to the end, we see a photo that shows it was taken in 1921 and it shows someone who appears to be Jack. However, it might not actually be Jack, but his father. We don't know anything about Jack's father in the film, but the book states he himself was an alcoholic and abused his son Jack, which lead to Jack becoming an alcoholic. Maybe when Grady says, "You've always been the caretaker", he means that the Torrence bloodline has always been the caretaker. Maybe Jack's father spent time as a caretaker up at the Overlook, but eventually retired from it, having passed away outside of the confines of the hotel, thus not showing up as a ghost in the hotel itself.

King would go on to explore the concept in far greater depth in {{Literature/It}}; the hotel isn't just an EldritchLocation, it was built above a full-blown EldritchAbomination, one that (like It) feeds on fear and savagery, It slowly drives ordinary people insane and for those unlucky enough to "Shine" (have psychic abilities), it can open direct conduits to them. Hallorann could put up mental shields against it through long exposure, but a ''little kid?'' That he doesn't GoMadFromTheRevelation speaks to both iron willpower and a major miracle. "REDRUM" is him channeling the Eldritch horror that infests the hotel. And those that go mad within its walls are like the victims of It and Its Deadlights; they are ''consumed'' by the hotel, to live within its walls forever more.

* Combine that with the theory above about the entire Torrence family having certain levels of Shine, it'd make sense that the combined abilities slowly woke the hotel's supernatural center up.

Now, how does this apply to the Overlook? W we only hear of one tragic event similar to what happens to the Torrence family: the Grady family. Other than the deaths of patrons at the hotel over the years, there are no indications of any other off-season murders as we see with the Grady family and the Torrences, let alone any on-season hauntings of the magnitude that we see towards the end of the film. That may be because, much like the on-season, there's barely many people who have a high enough Shine that would charge up the ghost activity during that was hired previously. During the on-season, we know Dick Hallorann worked at the Overlook for years, but we don't know for certain if his Shine ability is as strong as Danny's. And anyone else who comes to the hotel who might have a strong enough Shine may not stay long enough for the supernatural activity to get strong enough to make itself noticeable and may have been rather limited to one area (something like a single hotel room with the number 237 on the door). However, for the Gradys, they may have had a pair of strong Shine users and not realize it: their twin daughters. Before that, the Overlook's hauntings may have been limited to one room. But when the Grady twins are staying inside the hotel for months during the off-season, it inadvertently charged up the hotel's supernatural abilities enough for ghosts to start appearing, first as simple visions until they got to th point they could physically manipulate things if they so choose, and eventually exceeding the limitations of Room 237. After Grady murdered his family and himself, the charge stayed for a little bit until it eventually died back down again to where it was limited to one room.

So, that means they after Danny and Wendy escape in the snowcat, the strong charge the Overlook had slowly died out again. As for if management knew that strong Shine users could cause their hotel to become a massive Spook Central by staying in the hotel for months is hard to say. But it explains why there's no noted hauntings are the hotel in the film that occur during the on-season, other than what is limited to Room 237.

Now, how does this apply to the Overlook? W we only hear of one tragic event similar to what happens to the Torrence family: the Grady family. Other than the deaths of patrons at the hotel over the years, there are no indications of any other off-season murders as we see with the Grady family and the Torrences, let alone any on-season hauntings of the magnitude that we see towards the end of the film. That may be because, much like the on-season, there's barely many people who have a high enough Shine that would charge up the ghost activity during that was hired previously. During the on-season, we know Dick Hallorann worked at the Overlook for years, but we don't know for certain if his Shine ability is as strong as Danny's. And anyone else who comes to the hotel who might have a strong enough Shine may not stay long enough for the supernatural activity to get strong enough to make itself noticeable and may have been rather limited to one area (something like a single hotel room with the number 237 on the door). However, for the Gradys, they may have had a pair of strong Shine users and not realize it: their twin daughters. Before that, the Overlook's hauntings may have been limited to one room. But when the Grady twins are staying inside the hotel for months during the off-season, it inadvertently charged up the hotel's supernatural abilities enough for ghosts to start appearing, first as simple visions until they got to th point they could physically manipulate things if they so choose. After Grady murdered his family and himself, the charge stayed for a little bit until it eventually died back down again to where it was limited to one room.

Now, how does this apply to the Overlook? Simple: we only hear of one tragic event similar to what happens to the Torrence family: the Grady family. Other than the deaths of patrons at the hotel over the years, there's no indications of any other off-season murders as we see with the Grady family and the Torrences. That may be because, much like the on-season, there's barely many people who have a high enough Shine that would charge up the ghost activity during that was hired previously. During the on-season, we know Dick Hallorann worked at the Overlook for years, but we don't know for certain if his Shine ability is as strong as Danny's. And anyone else who comes to the hotel who might have a strong enough Shine may not stay long enough for the supernatural activity to get strong enough to make itself noticeable and may have been rather limited to one area (something like a single hotel room with the number 237 on the door). However, for the Gradys, they may have had a pair of strong Shine users and not realize it: their twin daughters. Before that, the Overlook's hauntings may have been limited to one room. But when the Grady twins are staying inside the hotel for months during the off-season, it inadvertently charged up the hotel's supernatural abilities enough for ghosts to start appearing, first as simple visions until they got to th point they could physically manipulate things if they so choose. After Grady murdered his family and himself, the charge stayed for a little bit until it eventually died back down again to where it was limited to one room.

So, that means they after Danny and Wendy escape in the snowcat, the strong charge the Overlook had slowly died out again. As for if management knew that strong Shine users could cause their hotel to become a massive Spook Central by staying in the hotel for months is hard to say. But it explains why there's no noted hauntings are the hotel in the film that occur during the on-season, other than what is limited to Room 237.

** Likewise, it's entirely possible Jack didn't actually [[spoiler: die from frostbite/hypothermia - he merely SHIFTed to a timeline where he had access to a Pod, then sent a copy of himself back to 1921]].

In the movie, Jack's lack of warmth toward Danny, rare displays of awkward affection, and seeming contempt are due to his jealousy that Danny - a child from Wendy's previous marriage - gets over him from Wendy.

* The book states that most mothers usually have some small amount of shine to them.