History YMMV / TheShining

* DesignatedVillain: Nobody likes Mr. Ullman, Jack repeatedly calls him an "officious little prick", but he never does anything to anyone. At most he openly worries about Jack's past before hiring him anyway. That Jack is blatantly being hired because he's friends with one of the owners can't help. That said, numerous characters mention that he undercuts basic safety regulations to save money, hence [[spoiler: the Hotel exploding due to a faulty boiler.]]

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Music/WendyCarlos's iconic synth version of a classical piece for the main theme is most certainly this as is the film's use of "Midnight with the star and you" at the end.

** It was ''impossible'' for the miniseries to try to stand above the grounds of a highly respected classic like Kubrick's take on the book. While most agree that the miniseries follows very well with the original book, it's peppered with heavy SpecialEffectsFailure, and the resulting {{Narm}} therein, from it being a '90s product with nowhere near the craftsmanship of Kubrick and some usage of {{Padding}}.

** Ullman and Al being horrified at the idea of Jack writing a book detailing the hotel's bloody history. This is partially because it's much harder to keep the dark past of such places a secret in the age of the internet, and partially because a bloody history is seen as far more of a draw to guests, and thus unlikely to harm their bottom line. (Although the Overlook's primary market seems to be rich socialites and retirees, who probably wouldn't find a history of violence and corruption very alluring.)
*** When the book came out, true crime was still seen as a niche market that only catered to the depraved (this is even a minor plot point in King's own Salem's Lot). It wasn't until much later that true crime became such a broadly accessible, popular interest with its own thriving economy.

* IAmNotShazam: Thanks to the "Here's Johnny!" scene, the uninitiated would often believe Jack's name is "Johnny." Whenever the scene gets parodied, more often than not, the stand-in for Jack would refer to themselves in third person. Ironically enough, the book (where this scene isn't included) clarifies that Jack's full name is John Daniel Torrance (And Danny's is Daniel Anthony Torrance), so if it is in the film, too, then he could be referring to himself that way. Interestingly, Jack ''can'' be a nickname for men named John (although it's virtually unheard of these days), so this isn't as strange as it might seem, and based on the fact that King wrote that Jack's birth name is John, it shows he's definitely using Jack as a nickname.

** The miniseries is also BetterOnDVD , with a few viewings, particularly the characterization of Wendy and the fact that we get to spend some time with a nice family. This is one thing that's missing from the Kubrick version: the good part of the Jack and Wendy relationship, and an understanding of why she stays with him, especially in regards to Jack's regret and sadness over what he did to Wendy and Danny.

* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/StephenKing certainly felt this way about both Creator/JackNicholson and Creator/ShelleyDuvall, although most audiences wouldn't necessarily agree. Nicholson was often typecast in insane and/or villainous roles at the time, which King felt would destroy the sympathy audiences would feel about him going insane and turning evil, as well as ruining the surprise. Sure enough, he's menacing from nearly the beginning and, beyond his horrified and tearfully emotional breakdown upon having a nightmare about killing his family, almost never shows resistance against what the hotel is doing to him like the book character does. This has partially contributed to the AdaptationalVillainy described above. Duvall was more for her appearance being homely compared to the version described in the book (to the point where the miniseries went for the more conventionally attractive Creator/RebeccaDeMornay).

* NeverLiveItDown: For the game of roque, this is a lot of people's only experience with the sport.[[note]]To be fair, the game is essentially moribund, and this novel is likely the only thing keeping the term in regular circulation[[/note]] [[https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=755&bih=738&q=roque+mallet&oq=roque+mallet&gs_l=img.3..0l2j0i24k1.52.4231.0.4458.12.10.0.0.0.0.328.1338.0j2j3j1.6.0....0...1.1.64.img..6.6.1330...0i19k1j0i30i19k1j0i8i30i19k1j0i8i30k1.0.EarEM2jvu7w This]] is what you get if you Google Image what a roque mallet looks like.

** An interesting case is the hedge maze, which plays a pivotal role in the movie. In the book, it is not even a labyrinth but a topiary garden [[spoiler:which comes to life, sort of. The topiary animals behave like that of [[Characters/DoctorWhoWeepingAngels the weeping angels]]. Kubrick was certain he couldn't do this with the special effects of the time... and their [[SpecialEffectsFailure depiction in the miniseries]], made ''seventeen years later'', proves he was right.]]

** An interesting case is the hedge maze, which plays a pivotal role in the movie. In the book, it is not even a labyrinth but a topiary garden [[spoiler:which comes to life, sort of. The topiary animals behave like that of [[Characters/DoctorWhoWeepingAngels the weeping angels]]. Kubrick was certain he couldn't do this with the special effects of the time... and their [[SpecialEffectsFailure depiction in the miniseries]], made ''twenty years later'', proves he was right.]]

** An interesting case is the hedge maze, which plays a pivotal role in the movie. In the book, it is not even a labyrinth but a topiary garden [[spoiler:which comes to life, sort of. The topiary animals behave like that of [[Characters/DoctorWhoWeepingAngels the weeping angels]]]].

* CommonKnowledge: Despite being commonly referred to as twins, even becoming the most famous example of CreepyTwins, Delbert Grady's daughters are not actually twins and are even mentioned early on as being two years apart in age. The confusion is not helped by the fact that the actresses who play them actually are identical twins in real life.

* RealismInducedHorror: Defenders of the Kubrick version of ''The Shining'' often feel that the more ambiguous nature of the Overlook Hotel's supernatural qualities combined with the flatter and less sympathetic take on Jack's character make the film scarier in this way, in that it adds to a believability that Jack's actions could happen with or ''without'' any DemonicPossession.

* MoralEventHorizon: Jack crosses it when he kills Dick. At that point, there's no turning back.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Especially considering Stephen King himself worked on the miniseries. In regards to the 80s film, some do like how the Jack and Wendy in this version are showed to be an ''actual loving'' but still flawed couple compared to the ''obviously'' tense relationship of the 80s Jack and Wendy. Depending on whether this works or not, depends on your state of the BrokenBase.