The Shining
The Shining by Stephen Kingby Stephen King
Ranked 4 of 6 horror novels by recommenders
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.
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.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Source novel as good as film
“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.”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Feels typical of horror films
“I said it was good, but seemed pretty typical of horror films”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “Casablanca: How an unproduced play marched into movie history”
Other horror novels people recommend
The four most recommended other horror novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| House of Leavesby Mark Z. Danielewski | 19 | 4 | 83% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Terrorby Dan Simmons | 12 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Carrion Comfortby Dan Simmons | 9 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| The Shiningby Stephen KingThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| World War Zby Max Brooks | 3 | 2 | 60% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I said it was good, but seemed pretty typical of horror films”
“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.”
“I prefer the theatrical releases of Alien, The Shining, Fellowship of the Ring, Amadeus”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.