However, as much as the story is a sequel to The Shining and the film takes elements from Kubrick’s version, it’s going to be very different from it, and it might not be the sequel some are expecting.Īs previously mentioned, Doctor Sleep is the adaptation of the novel of the same name, which is a sequel to one of King’s most successful novels, The Shining.

Danny is contacted by a young girl, Abra, who has the same psychic abilities and who is the new target of a group of quasi-immortals that feed on the “steam” released by people with “shining” abilities when tortured to death. The now adult Danny uses his “shining” abilities at a hospice, where he provides comfort to dying patients, earning the nickname of “Doctor Sleep”. Related: The Shining: The Movie's Biggest Changes From The Bookĭoctor Sleep, on the other hand, follows Jack’s son, Danny Torrance, years after the events in The Shining.

The novel was famously adapted into a film in 1980 thanks to Stanley Kubrick, and while it’s regarded by many as one of the greatest films ever made, Stephen King didn’t like the final product.

After a snowstorm leaves them trapped in the hotel, and with Danny’s psychic abilities (“the shining”) at their peak, the supernatural forces inhabiting the hotel are released and start affecting Jack’s sanity. Jack accepts a job as off-season caretaker of the Overlook Hotel and takes his family – wife Wendy and son Danny – with him. The Shining centers on Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic.

Doctor sleep and the shining