Stephen King pens sequel to ‘The Shining’ titled 'Doctor Sleep'

After 36 years, Stephen King returns to the Torrance family in his new book Doctor Sleep, his long-awaited sequel to The Shining.

The novel follows Danny Torrance, the boy with psychic abilities who survived his father’s murderous rampage at the Overlook Hotel. Now an adult, Dan is haunted by memories from the Overlook and is plagued with horrifying visions as a result of his “shining” power. According to The Washington Post, Doctor Sleep explores the corrosiveness of alcoholism as Dan turns to alcohol to deal with his frayed mental state.

With more than 50 novel to his name, this is King’s first sequel. The acclaimed author wrote Doctor Sleep, because The Shining was the only story that interested him enough to be worthing of a sequel, USA Today reports.

In the author’s note to Doctor Sleep, King stresses that this novel follows his version of The Shining not Stanley Kubrick’s classic horror film. At first, King worried readers would think of Doctor Sleep as a sequel to Kubrick’s telling of the story. He eventually abandoned these fears. “I decided, ‘Screw it.’ My book is the true history of the Torrance family” King said in an interview with USA Today.

Doctor Sleep is set to be released Tuesday Sept. 24.