# The Shining by Stephen King

4 Hacker News commenters recommended The Shining by Stephen King and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as one of Stephen King's favorites, with readers saying the novel is as strong as Kubrick's film. One reader found it typical of horror.

## Why people recommend it

- Source novel as good as film (1 comments): "It's one of my favorites of his, and I can see why he's miffed that Kubrick's adaptation gets all the praise when the source material is just as good." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46398915))

## What people warn about

- Feels typical of horror films (1 comments): "I said it was good, but seemed pretty typical of horror films" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49649183))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski](https://hackerapproved.com/p/house-of-leaves.md): 19 recommend
- [The Terror by Dan Simmons](https://hackerapproved.com/p/terror.md): 12 recommend
- [Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons](https://hackerapproved.com/p/carrion-comfort.md): 9 recommend
- [World War Z by Max Brooks](https://hackerapproved.com/p/world-war-z.md): 3 recommend
- [Summer of Night by Dan Simmons](https://hackerapproved.com/p/summer-of-night.md): 3 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345806786?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780345806789) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Shining by Stephen King", https://hackerapproved.com/p/shining/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).