Mild plot spoilers for “The Shining” ahead.

I recently finished reading Stephen King’s The Shining. It left a deep impression on me, not because of the intense “scary” moments, but rather the protagonist’s slow decline into madness.

The main character, Jack Torrance, is by most standards an ordinary guy. He’s trying to provide for his family, hoping to finish a creative project and has a bit of a drinking problem. Nothing too remarkable. He’s actually a pretty likeable character at the start of the book.

The most terrifying parts of The Shining aren’t the “scary scenes” – the woman in the tub or the Grady twins or the ending catastrophe, but rather the slow decline of our Jack Torrance into madness. Jack’s character is terrifying because he is completely relatable. Don’t we all want to provide for our loved ones? Don’t we all have a bit of a (drinking) problem? Don’t we all have a secret ambition? If Jack couuld slowly lose his mind, we most certainly could too. And although The Outlook Hotel – the setting of the book – doesn’t exist in reality, it exists metaphorically. We know there are environments that bring out our inner temptations and demons. It might be a certain group of people, or a drug, or a venue that brings out a side of you that you don’t like. We understand their destructive power and keep a careful distance from them.

We are all capable of immense, catastrophic harm. Our feet can kick, run and break ribs. Our hands can punch, shove and send terrible texts. And we’ve all experienced the potential for a few precise words to tear down another’s self esteem. With all that can go wrong, it’s a miracle that most of us generally behave quite civilly.

But deep down, I think we all recognise our inner demons. Although to others we smile and look innocent, we know that sometimes – most of the time – we are barely holding it together. We know that we are often just on the brink of insanity and that it takes enormous effort not to ruin our lives and to keep our demons locked up every day.

Stephen King understood this. And that is why The Shining, which describes a story where the demons win, where we lose control by just a little too much, is so terrifying.

“Monsters are real. Ghosts are too. They live inside of us, and sometimes, they win.” – Stephen King, The Shining.