Stephen King introduced readers to "the shining" in his 1977 book of the same name. Since then, a number of his characters have possessed supernatural abilities, many of which can be argued show that they "shine" in some way. From mind-reading to telekinesis, here is every character that has the shine.
The Shining is Stephen King's third book and is still, to this day, considered one of his scarier ones. In it, a young Danny Torrance has a psychic ability that enables him to read minds. He is also clairvoyant and frequently experiences premonitions. His abilities are explained to him by the cook from the Overlook Hotel, Dick Hallorann, who can speak with Danny telepathically. Hallorann calls it "shining"—a term King got from a John Lennon song—and says that a lot of people have a little bit of shine, but that he's never seen anyone who shines as much as Danny. This, of course, causes the malevolent spirits in the Overlook Hotel to manifest and all sorts of problems for the poor Torrances, but Danny is not the only character in the Stephen King universe who shines.
Stephen King often features characters who have psychic abilities. Even before The Shining, his first novel, Carrie, is about a teenage girl with the ability to move objects with her mind. In the Stephen King universe, that means Carrie White has the shining. It doesn't stop there, however. From 1978's The Stand to 2019's The Institute, many characters can shine. Not all of them can shine at the same level as Danny Torrance, but still, for a lot of them, it becomes a powerful and dangerous ability.
Every Stephen King Character That Shines
As previously mentioned, Carrie White can shine, as well as several characters from The Shining, not just Danny Torrance but also Dick Hallorann, Dick's grandmother, as well as Jack and Wendy, who have a little bit of shine. Next up, is Mother Abigail in The Stand and her grandmother who called it "the shining light of God, sometimes just the shine". She has dreams that come true and is able to send telepathic messages. Then, Johnny Smith in The Dead Zone, who suffers brain damage after a car accident that awakens clairvoyant and precognitive abilities. Next up is the McGee family, who, after participating in an experiment involving a hallucinogenic drug, become telepaths, while their daughter Charlie develops a pyrokinetic ability.
From the above examples, it appears that the shining is often brought out in people, or at least enhanced, by trauma. Nevertheless, it also appears as "the touch" in The Dark Tower books, particularly with Jake Chambers, but also Alain, Sheemie, Ted Brautigan (who also appears in Hearts in Atlantis), and everyone in the ka-tet of Roland Deschain while they are in a group. Similarly, the Loser's Club in It has a little shine, particularly Bill and Beverly who communicate telepathically during the Ritual of Chüd.
Other notable characters that shine include Louis Creed from Pet Sematary, who sees and speaks with the ghost of one of his students, John Coffey from The Green Mile, with healing and intuitive powers, and Mike Noonan from Bag of Bones, who has dreams and visions. Also, Abra Stone from Doctor Sleep, the 2013 sequel to The Shining, who shines even brighter than Dan Torrance, as well as several minor characters from that book and every member of the True Knot, who all shine in some way or another. There are also characters from some of King's more recent novels that can shine. For example, Holly Gibney from The Outsider has a heightened sense of intuition that could be attributed to the shine, and the kids from The Institute all have telepathic and telekinetic powers. Overall, the Stephen King universe is filled with characters that shine—may they all shine on.