Doctor Sleep (Stephen King)

Title: Doctor Sleep

Series: The Shining

Author: Stephen King

Released: 2013

Rating: 5/6

Basic Plot: On highways across America, a tribe of people called the True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, the True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the steam that children with the shining produce when they are slowly tortured to death.

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel, where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant shining power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.
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Dan is An Alcoholic, Of Course
I am a big fan of King and have read his collection of shorts called Hearts in Atlantis (the movie version was based off the first in the collection, the title story is about something totally different and linked by one character I believe). In the final (or close to) the hero from the first story has turned into something completely different. No longer is the hero a hero, but appears to be a washed up version of himself. So it didn't surprise me too much that Dan is an alcoholic in the sequel.

King and Kubrick
It is no secret that Stephen King doesn't like Stanley Kubrick's take on The Shining. Kubrick is all for atmosphere while King humanizes his characters. Both work, but King didn't like Kubrick's take so much that he made a tv mini-series correcting anything he saw as problems. I have not yet seen King's mini-series so I can't comment on it. With this back story in mind it's no wonder that King decided to have this be a sequel to his novel instead of Kubrick's movie adaptation.

The Enemies Are Unseen
The thing about the True Knot is that they are a group of people that aren't usually paid much mind. That if you said were 'empty devils', vampire like creatures, you would be laughed at for even considering. I think this makes them scary villains, even before looking at what they actually are, since you can easily imagine people that look like them have walked by you. I think a good horror villain is one you can't reason with and that you can imagine being killers. The True Knot fulfills both of these qualifications.

Final Thoughts
I can't really remember the original novel, but this book makes what I do remember enough. I would, of course, tell fans of the movie to check out the original book before reading this novel. One of the biggest things is that the Overlook burned down and the black guy survived in the original novel. This is a good continuation of Dan's story as you get to see how he battles his own inner demons to help the young girl Abra. Would recommend you read the novel first or, at least, have a good understanding of the original book.