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Book: "Doctor Sleep"

Author.

Rating (1 to 6): 5

With the onset of autumn, I feel more and more the feeling of wanting to hug a book by one of my favourite authors and feel my spine tingle, a feeling I only get when I read Stephen King and is much stronger when it's autumn.

I now bring to your attention "Doctor Sleep". This book is a delight on every level. . The perfect sequel to "The Shining", which still remains a favorite of mine. I recommend you read them in this exact order, as different as they are in my opinion they complement each other and complement each other a lot, and "The Shining" is about a child, while in "Doctor Sleep" we see the now grown up child and the man he has become after all he has been through. We see how traumas take up space in our minds and shape us as individuals later on. It all makes sense doesn't it? The book is quite fast paced at times, terrifying. For me, The Shining was claustrodobic and Doctor Sleep is expansive. We meet Danny Torrance (Danny Torrance was born with a physical ability known as "The Shining". About 35 years ago, in the late 1970s, his abusive, alcoholic father died in the tragic events that occurred at the Overlook Hotel. After the burning of the hotel and the death of his mother, Danny drifted across America trying to rid himself of the ghosts of the past) again and apparently he has succumbed, like his father to alcoholism. Seeing ghosts may have affected him after all, he was left mentally traumatised by what happened. The angry ghosts of the Overlook Hotel - the woman from room 217 and the hotel's former owner Horace Derwent - still want to find Danny and devour his glow. Dick Halloran, the hotel's chef, teaches Danny to create boxes in his mind to keep the ghosts at bay. Dan spends years schlepping across the country, but ends up in New Hampshire and decides to quit drinking. He settles in the small town of Frazier. First working at a tourist attraction, then at a hospice. He attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. His glow, suppressed by his drinking, reappears and allows him to provide comfort to dying hospice patients. He is helped by a cat who senses when someone is going to die. This is how Dan acquired the nickname "Doctor Sleep." At the same time, he receives telepathic messages from Abra, a girl whose illumination is even stronger than his. Abra is targeted by the "Faithful of the Knot" - evil supernatural beings, hungry devils who feed on the emanation of their victims. From a very young age, she unconsciously seeks contact with Dan, as if she intuitively realizes that only he will help her survive when the time comes to confront the hungry devils. A deep, emotionally harrowing and rather creepy sequel to a classic horror story, Doctor Sleep explores familiar characters and themes with an eye toward trauma, redemption and hope. King does an excellent job of setting up supernatural battles in small-town America, and in "Doctor Sleep" he packs as much meaning into a teenager's baseball glove and post-meeting AA coffee rituals as he does the epic battles between good and evil. Direct links can be found to "The Shining" , but with the introduction of Abra and the True Knot, King provides more questions than answers. More than a sequel, this feels like a prequel to a whole new series.

As a true fan of the master of horror's work, I wasn't sure if I'd like a sequel to something that happened 35 years ago, but Doctor Sleep is definitely a chilling tale of good and evil, but only as Stephen King can so skillfully convey it. What will King do next? Maybe Abra will grow up and become a writer and use his "brilliant" talent to unravel the minds and souls of others. Because of course this is yet another interpretation of King's creepy, luminescent metaphor. Well, you can find that out by following our blog, because I'm going to keep writing about the master of horror, the man who can give me the creeps, and believe me, that's not always so easy.