The supernatural elements in The Shining are inspired by a real haunting in Colorado, adding a sense of authenticity to the story. The Overlook Hotel in The Shining was inspired by the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, which has a haunted history and provided Stephen King with inspiration for the novel.
As for the elevator blood, first appearing to Danny in a vision before happening for real toward the end of the film, this is thought to reflect the long-standing theory that the film is a criticism of Native American genocide, with the hotel itself having been built on an ancient burial ground.
Delbert Grady, better known as the Hotel Caretaker, is the overarching antagonist of Stephen King's 1977 novel The Shining, as well as its 1980 film adaptation and its 1997 miniseries adaptation. He was once a caretaker of the Overlook Hotel who went insane, murdered his family and committed suicide.
It was built by Freelan Oscar Stanley, co-founder of the Stanley Motor Carriage Company, and opened on July 4, 1909, as a resort for upper-class Easterners and a health retreat for sufferers of pulmonary tuberculosis. The hotel and its surrounding structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
But the greatest mystery of all is that final shot of Jack at the Overlook Hotel in the year 1921. One of the more popular theories is that the Overlook absorbed Jack's soul after he died, claiming him as it did with the guests whose spirits are trapped in the hotel.
The Shining - The Meaning of the Photograph Explained
Why is Jack in the 1921 picture?
The ending of The Shining, particularly the photo of Jack in the 1921 ballroom, suggests that Jack is a reincarnation of a former hotel employee, although this explanation is not explicitly stated in the film. The Shining explores themes of cyclical violence and abuse, and Kubrick's film is full...
The family has to care for the hotel for the winter, but they cannot leave the mountainous area. In this isolation every day becomes the same for Jack as his writer's block becomes quotidian. The combination of isolation, monotony, creative frustration, and supernatural forces extract Jack's insanity.
Unfortunately for them, Room 237 doesn't exist at their property, and the Stanley says 217 has become its most requested accommodation, with reservations currently on the books for the next several Halloweens. We sought out the room, but it was disappointingly normal, at least from the outside.
Amazingly, no one was killed, not even Mrs. Wilson, who sustained little more than two broken ankles and a story she would tell until her dying day. Still, the damage was done, and the legend was starting to unfold.
The Shining is partially based on a true story, as the supernatural elements of Jack Torrance's stay at the Overlook Hotel are inspired by a real haunting in Colorado and the Stanley Hotel where King stayed.
This argument would also seem to support Grady's claim to Jack that he has "always" been the caretaker; if Jack is the reincarnation of the caretaker from the 1920s, it would suggest that the hotel continuously "reanimates" its 1921 guests, bringing them back in different guises; hence, just as Delbert was brought back ...
Moments later, he would improvise the “Here's Johnny!” line, which was a reference to the intro of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Interestingly, Kubrick originally shot the scene with a fake door, but Nicholson – who once trained as a fire marshal – chopped it down too quickly.
What does the woman in the bathtub mean in The Shining?
After reading an article about the design of Room 217/237 in the Kubrick film, I noted an explanation of the woman in the bathtub, Lorraine Massey, as being someone who lusted after bellboys and killed herself out of disgusted shame by wrist-slitting.
On a psychological level, Danny, who has already faced abuse at the hands of his father, sees the murdered twins as a haunting manifestation of what can happen to the children of a violent man.
If only you could visit the Overlook Hotel and feel the bone-chilling energy of the movie for yourself . . . oh wait, you can. While the Overlook Hotel from the movie doesn't actually exist, it is based on The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO: a 142-room colonial revival hotel nestled in the Rocky Mountains.
The Stanley Hotel at Estes Park, CO is the inspiration for the book. However, the 1980 movie was not filmed here. Instead, Stanley Kubrick built the interior sets at EMI Elstree Studios in the UK. The exterior shots are of Timberline Lodge in Oregon, USA.
Think of it as the hotel's classy version of a haunted house experience. The promotion includes “special accommodations” in Room 237, for $237 a night. If you'll recall, Room 237 is where all manner of terror occurs at the story's Overlook Hotel.
Back in their hotel room, Danny says "redrum" repeatedly and writes the word in lipstick on the bathroom door. Wendy sees the word in the mirror and realizes that it is actually "murder" spelled backward. Jack is freed by Grady and goes after Wendy and Danny with an axe.
This scene has been interpreted in many ways, and one of the most popular explanations is that it represents the hotel “absorbing” Jack's soul. Although this makes sense, Kubrick himself has said the photo actually suggests Jack being a reincarnation of an earlier official at the hotel.
In the novel, Jack gets redemption and burns the Overlook Hotel down; in the 1980 film, Jack doesn't get redemption, he simply freezes to death in the hedge maze while attempting to kill his son Danny, dying as a monster.
Danny is then pursued by his father in the outdoor hedge maze, but manages to escape while Jack is lost wandering inside. Wendy and Danny escape in Dick's snowcat, while Jack freezes to death. The film's final shot zooms into an old picture hanging in the hotel's hallway, of guests attending a ball on July 4, 1921.
