Doctor Sleep operates as both a welcome sequel to Stephen King's novel The Shining, as well as a continuation of Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film by the same name. Fans of both the film and the novel have anxiously anticipated the film's release, which explores the life of an adult Dan Torrance trying to cope with the horrific atrocities he experienced as a child. Haunted by the ghosts of the Overlook Hotel, he tries to dull his abilities to sense the supernatural with self-destructive tendencies.
When a young girl with similar gifts is in danger, he is forced to make a decision that will take him back to the one place he vowed never to return. There are all sorts of references and callbacks to the original film as he finds himself inextricably pulled to the Overlook Hotel throughout the story. Here are 10 hidden connections to The Shining that you didn't notice.
OFFICE SPACE
Upon careful inspection of the office of John Dalton, the leader of Dan and Billy’s AA group, fans will notice something eerily familiar about the layout and objects inside. It’s a near mirror image of the office Stuart Ullman, the manager at the Overlook Hotel, who interviewed Jack Torrance to take over as caretaker for the Overlook Hotel.
Every detail has been faithfully recreated, from the salmon walls to the desk with a stein holding an American flag, as well as the same coffee cups. Even the window behind him is framed by the same curtains that existed in Ullman’s office. It just goes to show you that Danny will never be free of his past as long as his present keeps reminding him of the Overlook Hotel.
ROOM 217
When Dan gets a job as a hospice caretaker, he spends his time using his “shine” to help dying patients pass over comfortably. At the facility, there’s Room 217, which was the name of the room rented by the woman in the bathtub at the Overlook Hotel, according to Stephen King’s novel The Shining.
In the film, Kubrick had to change the number to Room 237 because the hotel that provided the exteriors for the Overlook Hotel, the Timberline Lodge, felt no guests would rent that room if they thought it was really haunted. Dan goes into room 217 at the hospice facility to comfort a patient, and then gets pulled back in again after the patient dies to meet the spirit of Dick Halloran, who prompts him to use his shine to help Abra.
UNCLE DANNY
In Doctor Sleep, Dan feels uncomfortable being seen around Abra, thinking that a grown man around a teenage girl would spark suspicion and jeopardize his job. Abra comes up with the idea to called him her “Uncle Danny” if anyone asks, as a cover story while they work together to track the True Knot.
In the novel Doctor Sleep, Dan really is Abra’s uncle, but the semantics were too convoluted to be included in an already long run time. So the cover story was created as a nod to the book without having to stick to its structure completely. In the novel, it's explained that Jack Torrance had an affair with one of his students and had a child, who grew up to have her own daughter: Abra.
WAKING UP THE OVERLOOK
When Dan and Abra arrived at the Overlook Hotel, he informs her that he needs to “wake it up.” It’s been abandoned since the last time he was there, when his father Jack went crazy and tried to murder him and his mother. Even though it’s dated, it hasn’t lost any of its former glory. As Dan wanders the halls, he does so in the same way that Jack Nicholson did when he played Jack Torrance in 1980, shot for shot.
The use of Steadicam is used to track the shots in the same manner as in The Shining, and the sets have been meticulously recreated. By the time Dan gets to the Gold Room, the hotel seems to have absorbed much of his “shine” and used it to recreate its former splendor by feeding on some of his energy.
THE FATEFUL MEETING
When Dan reaches the Gold Room, he sits down in the same chair his father Jack sat in after a long day of trying to write and finding his inspiration vacant. Dan finds a glass in front of him just like his father did, and the voice of Lloyd the bartender drifts to his ears with the offer of a drink. When the camera pans up, we see that the bartender is actually Jack Torrance.
What’s not as important, is if this specter looks exactly like Jack Torrance. What’s important is that the Overlook has used someone close to Dan to make him comfortable and break him down psychologically. The bartender even tells Dan to “take his medicine,” a reference to when Jack sat with Lloyd to dull the pain of his mediocre life.
HERE'S DANNY!
After the hotel guests take over Danny's body, he becomes possessed by the Overlook Hotel itself, much like his father, Jack Torrance. He stalks Abra through he hallways, wielding the same ax that his father did, and featuring the same limp (courtesy of a leg wound sustained by Rose the Hat).
Not only does Danny move and contort himself like Jack Torrance, but he also wears similar clothing as his late father. His clothes are an inversion of the color combination worn by Jack in the ending sequence of The Shining when he goes on his homicidal spree, only this time Dan is wearing a blue jacket and red flannel, instead of a red jacket and blue flannel.
MINIATURES, MAZES, AND CAMEOS, OH MY!
The Shining featured an elaborate hedge maze at the Overlook Hotel, that could also be seen in miniature in the hotel lobby. Jack Torrance liked to study it while he was the caretaker, never knowing that eventually, he'd lose his battle with his sanity inside the maze.
In Doctor Sleep, Dan stumbles across a similar miniature in a small town he goes to for work. Local children have faithfully recreated the town square, and Dan eventually ends up operating the train in "Tiny Town." The miniature becomes a fixture of his daily life, much like the maze became for his father. Also, catch a cameo by Danny Lloyd (the actor who played Danny Torrance in The Shining) during a scene at the local baseball game!
THE LABYRINTH OF YOUR MIND
One of the most spellbinding images in The Shining is watching Jack Torrance trudge through the hedge maze after his wife Wendy and their son Danny. This scene is recreated with Rose the Hat and Abra, with Abra using her shine to trick Rose into getting lost and leaving herself open to attack.
This homage to The Shining isn't the real maze, however, but the labyrinth of Dan's mind. He's built it, like all people that possess the shine, to trap certain memories. He has mental boxes that he keeps there to ensnare things he'd rather no relive. Unfortunately, Rose is too clever to be trapped in his maze, and she finds a way out.
THE CONFRONTATION
Before their climactic fight in the Colorado Room, Rose approaches an ax-wielding Dan on the staircase. Rose mimics the same movements that Jack did, attempting to placate Dan into lowering the ax.
Prior to this, Rose had stopped at the same Eagle typewriter that Jack used when he was trying to write in between his caretaker duties. It was meant to be used as bait to trap her in one of Dan's mental prisons, but it failed. Rose gets her comeuppance later when Dan releases all the mental boxes and the old ghosts of the Overlook come out to feast on her shine.
SCENIC SHOTS
Dan and Abra's drive to the Overlook mimics the exact route taken by his father. It's filmed with birds-eye view shots from overhead, with his car winding along the curved road as it snakes in and out of the snow-covered trees. Instead of blinding sunlight, it's now dark and snowy.
Stanley Kubrick's beautiful shots of Glacier National Park are recaptured, this time in the dead of night. These shots, though nearly identical to the 1980 film, help to convey the sense of desolation and loneliness that surrounds the Overlook, long since forgotten and abandoned.