Why does the Overlook Hotel want Danny?
Sarah Smith
Published Jan 10, 2026
In the book The Shining it's made clear to the readers that the Overlook Hotel wants to possess Danny Torrance so it can use his powerful telepathic power (his 'shine'). It does this by possessing his vulnerable father, Jack Torrance and using him as a puppet to hopefully kill Danny.
Why is the Overlook Hotel evil?
In The Shining, many things are overlooked: past murders at the hotel, leaving the hotel in the possession of an abusive alcoholic, and checking the boilers, among many other things. Because of this, the Overlook Hotel is an extremely haunted and evil place.
Why does Jack want to kill his family in The Shining?
Apparently, the Hotel believes if it can harness the boy's "shining", then it can gather enough power to "break free" of the building in which it has somehow become trapped. Jack has encounters with ghosts of previous staff of the hotel, who insist he has always been working there and he must kill his family.
What is the evil in Overlook?
In the novel, it is clearly stated that Jack has been corrupted by the evil power of the Hotel, the narration making a clear distinction between the things he has become, which is referred to as the "Monster", and the loving husband and father who resurfaces a short while before the hotel's destruction.
Why did the overlook make Jack crazy?
The evil spirits that inhabited the Overlook Hotel would eventually drive Jack insane by way of drowning him in his alcoholism, past trauma, and fears of becoming as abusive as his father.
39 related questions foundWas Danny abused in The Shining?
Danny has been sexually abused by Jack. Here is a piece of evidence which on its own acts as virtual confirmation of this theme. When Ullman and Bill Watson approach Jack in the lobby on Closing Day, Jack is reading a January 1978 issue of Playgirl Magazine. INCEST: Why parents sleep with their children.
Why did Jack say here's Johnny?
According to IMDb, Nicholson borrowed the line from somewhere else. “Nicholson ad-libbed the line 'Here's Johnny! ' in imitation of announcer Ed McMahon's famous introduction of Johnny Carson on U.S. network NBC-TV's long-running late-night television program The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
What does 1921 mean in The Shining?
Stanley Kubrick said, “The ballroom photograph at the very end suggests the reincarnation of Jack.” That means that Jack Torrance is the reincarnation of a guest or someone on staff at the Overlook in 1921.
Does the Overlook Hotel really exist?
While the Overlook itself is fantasy, it's based on a real-life hotel in Colorado, represented in the film by a ski resort in Oregon, and modeled inside after a lodge in Yosemite National Park, all of which you can still stay at.
How did the Overlook Hotel become haunted?
Legend has it that during King's stay in room 217, he had a lucid nightmare about his young son being chased around the hotel. Guides say the author jerked out of bed, went outside to smoke a cigarette and that's when he started to lay the groundwork for “The Shining.”
Was Jack abusive in The Shining?
While it is not highlighted as much in the sequel, The Shining does not shy away from establishing the fact that Jack Torrance abused his wife and child. Due to the abusive nature of the character and Kubrick's own abuse of his cast, the film has not aged well in the modern day.
Who hurt Danny in The Shining?
AND IT WAS THREE GODDAMN YEARS AGO!!!” This huge mismatch of time is very difficult to pass off as a script error. Combine this with the revelation that it was Jack who strangled Danny in the Overlook and a simple truth is revealed … Jack Torrance was and still is a violently abusive father.
What mental illness does Jack Torrance have?
Following the success of Halloween, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining was released in 1980. The Shining follows Jack Torrance, a man recovering from alcohol use disorder, who has delusions and develops psychosis over the course of the film.
Did Jack Torrance have the shine?
Jack and Danny Torrance Both Have the Shining in Kubrick's Film.
What's in Room 237 Shining?
Jack Torrance then entered 237, in search of what his son claimed to have confronted. He instead encountered a young naked woman in the bathroom, having a bath who came out and kissed him. That woman then became a rather ugly, rotting old woman who chased Jack out, cackling at his infidelity.
What was wrong with the Overlook Hotel?
In the novel, The Shining, the Overlook was destroyed when the hotel's winter caretaker, Jack Torrance, allowed the outmoded boiler to go untended until it exploded, burning the Overlook to the ground. Jack's wife Wendy, his son Danny and Dick Hallorann were the only three survivors.
Why did Abra go into the bathroom at the end of Doctor Sleep?
In the film's last scene, Abra finally tells her mother the truth—that she's been conversing with a ghost—before heading into her bathroom to dispose of another one of the Overlook's insidious ghouls, just as Danny did all those years earlier.
Is The Shining a true story?
The Shining was a fictional tale but the setting was inspired by the true hauntings within Colorado's Stanley Hotel. Stephen King's The Shining book was the basis for Stanley Kubrick's 1980 masterpiece film.
Was it based off a true story?
No, Stephen King's It is not based on a true story. King had the idea for It when looking at an old wooden walking bridge in 1978 near his home in... See full answer below.
How does Jack know Lloyd in The Shining?
Jack found Lloyd in the lounge after he had already begun to succumb to the effects of the malevolent forces governing the hotel. He had forgotten that the building was empty but for he and his family. A recovering alcoholic, Jack ordered up a bit of the "hair o' the dog that bit me", which Lloyd gladly accommodated.
Who is the woman in Room 237 in The Shining?
Lia Beldam is best known for playing the super sexy babe in the bathtub in room 237 -- whose flesh rots off while in Jack's arms -- in the Stanley Kubrick's 1980 masterpiece "The Shining." Guess what ...
How do you do the Kubrick stare?
Give the Kubrick stare a shot. Have your actor tilt their head down slightly and stare forward. This style of shot composition derives its name from director Stanley Kubrick who used the technique in a number of films, including 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and The Shining (1980).
What happened to the child actor in The Shining?
Lloyd was interviewed in Making The Shining (1980), filmed by Kubrick's daughter, Vivian Kubrick. Despite his well-received performance in The Shining, Lloyd retired from acting at the age of ten after his appearance as young G. Gordon Liddy in the television film Will: G. Gordon Liddy (1982).
Why is he called Tony in The Shining?
Tony (his name taken from Danny's middle name, Anthony), is at first to Danny an imaginary playmate, then a source of fear, and finally a source of strength. Towards the end of the novel Tony reveals himself to Danny: "'Danny ... you're in a place deep down in your own mind.
Are there any inappropriate scenes in The Shining?
There's occasional profanity, including a scene in which the cook of the hotel is called the "N" word and a use of "f--k." Frequent horror imagery. Full-frontal nudity -- an attractive young woman turns into an elderly woman with rotting skin. Implied oral sex in a sequence of nightmarish imagery.