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The “Shining Series” #1: The Wasps

Discussing Stanley Kubrick ignoring the wasps from Stephen King’s “The Shining.”

Hey everyone! I’m still around and I’m ready to start posting regularly again. Long overdue, if you ask me. So, now that I’m back, I want to discuss some things I’ve been thinking about a lot. If you follow my Instagram, you have already seen some variation of what I am about to say. I am starting a new section of posts called my “Shining Series,” where I discuss the differences between Stephen King’s novel and Stanley Kubrick’s film.

I read “The Shining” for the first time in February 2014 while recovering from surgery (that’s a story for a different time). It was my second King novel ever and I of course loved it. It was incredible to be transported to Colorado and lose myself in the halls of The Overlook with the Torrances. I had already seen Kubrick’s iconic movie and I enjoyed it, but after reading the book, I gave the film a second viewing… I was not thrilled. Kubrick’s “Shining,” while being a great horror film, is an awful adaptation of King’s novel.

I reread “The Shining” in July 2019 and I was blown away. I don’t know if it was the 5-year separation, or maybe I was just looking at it more closely, but it was like reading a completely different book. I noticed things I didn’t even know were part of the story before and it really opened my eyes to just how big the gap between King’s novel and Kubrick’s movie really is. Kubrick’s movie is a classic and shouldn’t be ignored, but it isn’t the story King wrote and that’s what frustrates me.

For the first post in my “Shining Series,” I will discuss how Kubrick completely ignored and eliminated the wasps. The nest, the wasps themselves, and the scene where Jack Torrance discovers them were all extremely important to the story arc and Kubrick didn’t include them. King wouldn’t mention the word “wasp,” or variations of it, 70+ times (this isn’t an exaggeration) throughout the novel if they weren’t important.

Jack is re-shingling the roof of The Overlook when he discovers the wasp nest. One stings him, sending Jack into a flurry of curses (expectedly). The sting, while physically uncomfortable, spurs Jack to reflect on himself, his current situation, and his future. He realizes the wasps are very much like him:

“looking down into the nest, it seemed to him that it could serve as both a workable symbol for what he had been through (and what he had dragged his hostages to fortune through) and an omen for a better future.”

The wasp sting jolted him out of a focused and peaceful afternoon where he was working and thinking about the play he was writing. In this sense, the sting is like his alcoholism; distracting and a deterrent. The sting also represents a “punishment” for being creative. This “punishment” was doled out by the hotel itself. It was just beginning to seep into his mind and any thoughts of leaving the hotel, being successful with anything not related to the hotel, was impeding on the Overlook’s ability to influence Jack. On the other hand, the wasp’s temperament matches Jack’s almost identically. Quick to anger, quick to an attack.

As the quote shows, Jack knows the wasps symbolize himself and he believes them to be a good omen. For a little bit, they are. He successfully (or so he believes) kills them with a bug bomb he found in the Overlook equipment shed. With the wasps dead, Jack delivers the nest to Danny as a gift. When he bug-bombs them and finishes his work on the roof, his thoughts turn to his recovery:

“I’m getting better.”

The wasp sting, and their nest, incite Jack to think about his past, which is vital to the readers in understanding his nature (Something we don’t see in the film). Jack grew up in a household with an abusive alcoholic father. He sees himself turning into his dad and wants to change. The nest reminds him of this. He sees it as the turning point for the better, but the wasps represent the opposite.

The discovery of the nest is the point where everything starts to go downhill. Jack’s quick anger is soon on display with his reaction to one of Danny’s “episodes” and escalates when the wasps sting the young Torrance boy. This causes immediate shame and anger within Jack, but also resentment toward his wife, Wendy, who had expressed her worry about the nest before the wasps awoke.

I have a couple more things to say, on a general scale about the book, and then I’ll let you go. Thank you if you’ve stuck around this long:

One of the biggest themes within The Shining is repetition and the relationship between father and son. The repetitive nature of the novel is very much represented by the wasps’ ability to repeatedly sting, which is symbolic of The Overlook’s ability to “sting” its influence into Jack over and over until he finally breaks.

When Jack was a boy, he received a wasp nest from his father, much like he did with Danny. This only adds to the father-son theme and ideas of duality present throughout the novel. Kubrick never once mentions Jack’s or anyone’s past… which is shameful. We are who we are because of our past, so why ignore it?

Anyway, Sorry for the extremely long post, it was just something I noticed a lot during my reread and it really irks me that Kubrick totally ignored it. Am I overthinking it? Maybe. But, I believe the wasps held some significance to King and they definitely play their part in the story.

Stay tuned for more posts! The next “Shining Series” post will dive deeper into Jack Torrance and how Kubrick totally ignored any arc for the character. I will post a review of my reread of Stephen King’s novel “Doctor Sleep,” the sequel to “The Shining.” I was also fortunate enough to see an early screening of Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of “Doctor Sleep,” and a review for the film will be posted as well.

Review Time: “The Road That Takes You There”

I got the pleasure to read Jason Sechrest’s newest story “The Road That Takes You There,” and it was creepily beautiful. Check out below for a full review!

“My God, her face… what happened to her face?”

From the opening lines, “The Road That Takes You There” immediately draws you in. Jason Sechrest, writer of Cemetery Dance Magazine’s column, “What I Learned From Stephen King,” definitely channeled his inner King with this story. You can find an excerpt to this wonderful story on Jason’s Patreon page!

After those ominous first lines, we are introduced to George Tinker as he is driving down an old farm road, a road he has known his entire life. Upon our meeting him, George notices something that was never there before: a church with an accompanying graveyard.

George drives past this new fixture twice a day. We never know where he is going or coming from, only that the church has become something he cannot look away from, something dwelling on him. George talks to his wife about his growing concerns, only his wife isn’t there.

Sechrest mixes in interludes like the opening lines to build the eerie air of the story and give readers insight to George’s life and sanity. This is a sad, creepy and seamlessly written tale. Sechrest delivers in just over 6 pages of work. It left me wanting more, in a good way.

“SALEM, that lone word which hung in the air over the tombstones, was the only commentary the place would offer… The word meant peace. He remembered that now from his Sunday school days as a kid. ‘Funny thing,’ he called up to it. ‘That’s just what I’m looking for.’”

Don’t read beyond here if you don’t want me to spoil the ending! Just know that Sechrest wrote a very fine story and I’m looking forward to seeing reactions from more readers.

One night, George finally decides to face this abnormality and he visits the church and graveyard. Once in the graveyard, George finds the grave of his wife and one next to it with his own name on it. Upon seeing his wife’s name, George is flooded with memories of the car crash that killed them.

After this memory dump, George sees his wife and finally can apologize and move on. They drive off together down the road, the road that will take them there.

Overall, Sechrest put together a great little tale and I’m excited to read more from him.

4.5 out of 5

Review Time: “Swan Song”

I kicked off 2019 with Robert McCammon’s epic nuclear apocalypse novel: “Swan Song.” After reading and discussing this wild ride of a novel with a group on Instagram, #swanalong, and putting my review off for too long, here it is… I have a lot to say, fair warning.

I’m going to get this point out front and attempt to leave it here for the rest of the review: Robert McCammon’s “Swan Song” draws a lot of comparisons to Stephen King’s “The Stand,” and readers are right in doing so. These parallels shouldn’t make readers shun this novel or judge it based off “The Stand” though. “Swan Song” is a very different tale with similar, almost mirrored ideas and themes, but I mean come on… it’s a post-apocalyptic story… they all share something. I also think it is criminally underappreciated. I had never heard of it until around November.

“Swan Song” is a 900-plus page thrill-ride about the survivors of a nuclear holocaust brought on when the conflict between the United States and Russia finally hit a tipping point. McCammon introduces us to many characters before the nukes start falling.

We meet Sister Creep, a homeless woman; Josh aka Black Frankenstein, a former professional football player turned wrestler; Swan, a little girl with the very special ability to grow plants; Roland Croninger, a deranged 13-year old boy; Colonel James Macklin, a former Vietnam War vet; The Man With The Scarlet Eye, a supernatural being and very Flagg-esque character; and many other characters along the way, but these are the center pieces.

“One step. One step and then the next gets you where you’re going.”

Sister and Josh ended up taking home the trophy for best characters. Roland and Macklin were great too, but it felt like McCammon stopped developing Roland like he could of halfway through the book. Macklin’s reliance on the Shadow Soldier was evident of his weak mental status throughout. The Man With The Scarlet Eye was pretty stupid in my opinion. He brought in an overly supernatural element the story didn’t really need. Eliminating him completely wouldn’t have hurt my feelings at all. Swan was a great character too, and her little ability ended up being massively important.

I will insert the spoiler blocker here. If you are worried about ruining events, then scroll to the “End Spoilers” heading to see my rating. Then go to the store, find this book, and read it!

In the first half of the novel, McCammon develops all these main characters and adds in important minor characters like the psychopath Alvin, psychic Leona, and mountain man Paul. We see the characters struggle to survive and seek other survivors.

Sister Creep’s escape from the fiery inferno of destruction in the New York Sewers and then trek through the Holland Tunnel were so intense and absolutely terrifying. Before leaving New York, Sister finds a glowing glass crown that shows her visions of happiness. During Sister’s time in New York we get some of her heartbreaking back story… yeah, I cried.

“Even the most worthless thing in the world can be beautiful, it just takes the right touch.”

Josh and Swan’s time in a Kansas fallout shelter and then travel together is heartwarming but sad as well. The duo meet Leona and check out a shopping center in Matheson where they are introduced to Lord Alvin. Josh is put through a gauntlet. This shopping center scene is easily one of my favorites of the entire novel. Its so wild. They then meet former clown, Rusty.

Macklin and Roland met in a government-built fallout shelter called Earth House underneath Blue Dome Mountain in Idaho. The shelter collapses when the nukes fall. Roland helped Macklin free himself from a rock that had crushed his hand (think about that for a second). The duo escape Earth House. This is another highlight of the entire novel. Holding my breath, cringing, heart racing… it was intense to say the least.

We only have a couple run-ins with The Man With The Scarlet Eye in the first half of the novel, and honestly he was totally forgettable. His best scene was a mini-showdown with Sister where he was impersonating a priest. Other than that, he was pretty pointless and non-existent.

McCammon’s pace in this first half was pedal-to-the-metal. I loved it and cruised through it. The second half, however, takes place after a seven-year time jump, and it is much slower in parts. Overall McCammon kept a very quick and easy pace, but the second half had a lot more stand still with the characters and much less development.

“Sometimes the imagination could be a useful place to hide when the going got rough.”

In the seven-year jump, nuclear winter has set in and Sister, Josh, Swan, Roland, and Macklin have all developed growths on their faces that survivors refer to as Job’s Masks. Roland and Macklin hide theirs and mobilize an army, the Army of Excellence, to purge the land of all people with these imperfections and eventually combat the Russians.

I love the image McCammon wrote out for Roland’s attempt to cover the Job’s Mask; it was very reminiscent of HG Wells’ “Invisible Man.” The scenes with this duo and their army are very similar to something out of “Mad Max.” Lord Alvin, the psychopath from Matheson, returns to the novel and joins their army.

Sister and Paul continue to travel, using the visions from the crown to guide them, and eventually meet a young man named Robin. The trio travel to Mary’s Rest where they meet Josh and Swan. Robin and Swan develop a love interest, creating some cute and embarrassing “teenage love” scenes.

Before Sister, Robin and Paul get there though, Josh, Rusty and Swan have a run-in with The Man With The Scarlet Eye. He kills Rusty who sacrificed himself to save Swan and runs away before he can be caught. When Sister and Paul get to Mary’s rest, the people are starting to discover Swan’s ability. She has instilled hope in the towns people, and everyone bands together to rebuild the town.

“A man had a certain look in his eyes when he was pushed against the wall and stripped of his humanity; his entire face changed, as if it was a mask cracking open to show the face of the real beast within.”

All these travel scenes just made me feel cold due to McCammons excellent descriptions of the Nuclear Winter. The claustrophobia associated with the Job’s Masks slowly working their way over the entirety of the characters faces really got to me at times. Once the Masks fall off, the characters “true face” is shown. Sister, Josh, and Swan are all beautiful and have lost any imperfections they had.

Meanwhile, Roland and Macklin’s faces have turned monstrous. Macklin’s reminds me of a cross between “Captain America’s” Red Skull and something from “Hellraiser.” Another minor fault of this novel is the weak description of Roland’s “true face.” I still feel like I can’t picture it well.

The Man With The Scarlet Eye attempts to harm Swan once more, but Swan, offering him an apple in an act of forgiveness, breaks his sanity. This scene is one huge metaphor and obviously symbolic, but I still didn’t love it. The only good that came from it, for me, was watching The Man With The Scarlet Eye lose his mind and leave town to find help.

“Forgiveness crippled evil, drew the poison from it like a lanced boil.”

He found help, in the form of the continually growing Army of Excellence where he convinced Roland and Macklin to attack Mary’s Rest. A massive battle ensues between the sparsely armed citizens of Mary’s Rest and the absurdly weaponized Army of Excellence. Another highlight of the novel for me.

Josh, Robin, Sister, and Swan are captured. The Army of Excellence take them to West Virginia where there is a rumor of “God on the mountain.” “God” turns out to be the President and he has initiated the launch of TALONS: a device that will release a barrage of nukes at the Earth’s poles, rotating the planet, melting the ice caps and destroying all life; ensuring a fresh start.

The Man With The Scarlett Eye is essentially in charge at this point and all he wants is death and chaos. There is a heart-pounding final showdown in the bunker under the mountain. The Man With The Scarlet Eye disappears in a flash of lightning (lame) and the humans are left fighting each other. In the throes of battle, Macklin dies and before Roland dies, he mortally wounds Sister. Swan, Josh, and Robin carry Sister out of the bunker after disarming TALONS.

“God A’Mighty, what’s the point of livin’ if you don’t fight for what you hold dear?”

In the closing events, we see the sky begin to clear, effectively ending the nuclear winter. Sister dies, but not in vain. Swan and Robin represent hope and the future of mankind. Like a lot of massive apocalyptic novels, “Swan Song” is no different in the “somewhat rushed and seemingly ineffective ending” category.

End of the spoilers

In the end, I really enjoyed this novel, it probably sits in my top 10 or 15 all-time. It’s a fast, fantastic read that immerses readers from page 1. I couldn’t put it down. I wish The Man With The Scarlet Eye would have been less of a force and McCammon had instead replaced him with a more prominent Roland.

I’m sorry this review was so long, but it’s a massive book with a lot going on. Overall, I absolutely loved it and I highly recommend everyone check it out, you’ll cruise through it and you’ll love it, I promise. This book makes me want to check out some more McCammon. “Swan Song” would get a perfect rating from me if not for a few things that I just can’t get past, so instead I give it a:

4.5 out of 5

Review Time: “Carrie”

I first read Stephen King’s “Carrie” in 2013 and decided, randomly, to pick this tragic tale up again. Well am I sure glad I did. Check out the review for my reread below!

It’s hard to describe how ballsy it was for King to start his career off with a novel like this. A 200-page story about a high school girl with telekinetic powers… in 1974!? “Carrie” was extremely ambitious at the time.

Legend has it, King’s wife, Tabitha, pulled the manuscript from the trashcan and told him to finish it. I think all constant readers can give her a huge Thank You. Not only for pushing this book into circulation, but sparking King’s career.

“On the subject of Carrie White, we’re all relatively uninformed.”

Readers are thrown right into the midst of action with Carrie White, the tragic heroine of this story, having her first period and the other girls in the gym locker room throwing tampons at her and screaming “plug it up.” This is an insane way to start a book and its even better when readers realize later just how cataclysmic this event truly is.

I said cataclysmic, and that really is the only way to describe the locker room scene. It was the moment Carrie realized she was truly different… and not just different like every high school student, but something special. Carrie began exercising her previously semi-dormant telekinetic abilities. She describes it as working out a muscle in her head.

King does an excellent job of flipping between narrative styles throughout the novel. We get snippets of Carrie’s childhood as well as clips from newspapers, letters, telekinetic textbooks, and others. The text clippings set up the impending destruction later in the novel and keeps readers on the edge of their seats the whole time. With these snippets King gives you a taste of what is to come without truly revealing everything. Its really an amazing experience to read.

The scenes from Carrie’s past are some of my favorites. The random bursts of power associated with high-stress and her insane and overly religious mother, trapping Carrie in the closet beneath the stairs… maybe J.K. Rowling was inspired by this for “Harry Potter?” Speaking of Carries mother… wow what a terrible person. She’s easily one of the most hated characters in the Kingverse, but she is still an amazingly written crazy woman and vitally important to Carrie’s actions.

“What happens if there are others like her? What happens to the world?”

I mentioned impending destruction earlier, well, after the locker room incident, Sue Snell, one of the tampon throwers attempts to absolve herself of her guilt by convincing her boyfriend Tommy Ross to take Carrie to their senior prom. Carrie obviously accepts and things start to look up for the poor girl.

Chris Hargensen, the “bully” in this story, was the leader of the tampon throwers and she’s a vile person, so put it lightly. After the locker room incident, she is banned from the prom and in an act of revenge, her and her greaser boyfriend Billy, put buckets of pig’s blood on the rafters above the Prom King and Queen thrones. Chris rigs the voting to make it so Tommy and Carrie win.

Once on stage, accepting their crowns, Chris, hiding behind the stage, drops the blood buckets on their heads. All hell breaks loose. Carrie’s slight growth in confidence and finally happy thoughts are shattered, and she allows her now extremely powerful ability to take over.

“If the TK (telekinetic) test shows positive, we have no treatment except a bullet in the head. And how is it possible to isolate a person who will eventually have the power to knock down walls?”

I won’t go into much detail because it’s much better if you read it yourself, but Carrie’s path of destruction to her mother and then to Chris and Billy are very intense and extremely disturbing. She single-handedly destroys almost the entire town and kills hundreds of people.

This all makes Carrie sound like a terrible person and probably makes you wonder how people sympathize, but honestly, she is pretty justified for a lot of the deaths. Did all those people need to die? God, no. Many deserved it though, for the way Carrie was treated.

“People don’t get better, they get smarter. When you get smarter you don’t stop pulling the wings off flies, you just think of better reasons for doing it.”

Before I let you go, “Carrie” has been adapted into two films and one made-for-TV movie. The only movie worth watching is the original 1976 movie starring the amazing Sissy Spacek. The 2002 TV-movie is atrocious, and the 2013 film is just not good.

“Carrie” truly is a very special novel. It is easily a top 20 novel of all time for me, and it’s top 15 King for sure. I could rank it that high for the style and impact alone. I am really glad I picked “Carrie” back up and it will probably turn into a yearly or every-other-year reread. I love King’s tragic debut novel and I highly recommend you check it out whether you’ve read it yet or not. It is more than worth it.

5 out of 5

Review Time: “NOS4A2”

I dedicated the first part of December to Joe Hill’s Christmas themed thriller “NOS4A2.” The title may conjure thoughts of the classic vampire, Nosferatu. In a way, this is a vampiric tale, but in a way it isn’t. Check out my review below!

Joe Hill, oldest son of the uber-famous Stephen King, released this 692-page novel in 2013. “NOS4A2” tells the tale of Victoria McQueen and her lifelong battle with reputed child kidnapper Charlie Manx.

Pause, side note: “NOS4A2” has been adapted into a TV series on AMC, starring Zachary Quinto as Manx. The series premiers later this year!

Play: Vic discovers she has a special ability, the ability to find things. She thinks about what is lost and rides her bike through a covered bridge that takes her where she needs to go. One day she goes looking for trouble and gets transported to Manx’s house.

Manx, we learn, has a similar ability. He doesn’t find things though, he takes them. He takes children to an amusement park world he created: Christmasland. He takes them to Christmasland in his Wraith, a car very much like Stephen King’s Christine. Christmasland is where children live forever, never age, and are always happy. It is a place where, shocker, it is always Christmas.

Why does he do this? Because during their journey to Christmasland, while trapped in the Wraith, Manx is taking the children’s souls and feeding himself, slowing his aging process.

“The road to Christmasland removes all sorrows, eases all pain, and erases all scars. It takes away the parts of you that weren’t doing you any good and what it leaves behind is made clean and pure.”

The concept may seem silly, but Hill executes it very well. He throws in a ton of nods to his father’s work which I am still torn about. They were cool, but also seemed lame at the same time. If we’re getting really picky, Hill’s descriptions and voice aren’t very strong. The story was great, the idea was there, but there wasn’t enough of the bad-guys and the plot seems a bit thrown together at times.

Hill introduces the readers to Bing Partridge. A psychopath, to put it simply. He’s a vile human being who aids Manx in his abductions. Bing was an excellent character and, in the end, the duo of him and Manx was not utilized nearly enough.

One thing Hill did do very well was highlight the struggle of those who have faced and dealt with past traumas. We get to see how Vic’s first, almost fatal confrontation with Manx affected her entire life. We get to see her at her lowest point, but we also get to see her rise from the ashes to save her son from the clutches of Bing, Manx, and Christmasland.

The first third of the book is very interesting and informative. The middle third is a tad boring and the novel seems to stall. The last third though… Hill seriously kicks it in gear. The finale of this one is something seriously crazy to read. It’s an experience.

I think this novel had a lot of potential and a lot of very awesome details that were not given the time or descriptions they deserved. Overall, I had a lot of fun with this one and I am very interested to read more from Mr. Hill, especially the prequel graphic novel, “Wraith.” “Wraith” gives the readers some much needed Manx back story. I’ll be reading and reviewing that one soon.

“After all: Christmas is just a state of mind, and as long as you keep a little holiday spirit in your heart, every day is Christmas Day.”

In the end, I really liked it, but there was a bit too much I found myself shaking my head about, and maybe that’s my fault for comparing Hill to his father too much? I definitely still recommend you check it out because I know a lot of people who swear by “NOS4A2.” If you do pick it up, be sure to read the last section “A note on the type” for a hidden epilogue!