10 Stephen King Fan Theories That Make Appalling Sense

10. The Shining Is Stanley Kubrick’s Apology For Faking The Moon Landings

Of the many conspiracy theories circulating Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of King’s 1977 novel The Shining the most persistent is that the movie isn’t merely a terrifying exercise in psychological horror but the director’s confession of his part in faking the 1969 NASA moon landings.

The story goes that Kubrick’s epic sci-fi 2001: A Space Odyssey was really a cover-up for a research and development project spearheaded by NASA so the director could practice creating convincingly real space scenes for the faked landing footage so the US could win the Space Race with those damn Russians without actually having to go all the way to the moon.

Kubrick obviously felt guilty for deceiving people and left several clues in The Shining that point to his involvement like stockpiles of Tang (the astronaut’s beverage of choice) in the Overlook Hotel’s pantry, young Danny Torrance’s Apollo 11 jumper and the hexagonal print carpet that decorates the hotel’s corridors and are suspiciously similar in shape to NASA launch pads.

And of course there’s Room 237, apparently deliberately changed from the Room 217 featured in King’s novel to reference the 237,000 miles that separate the Earth and Moon. Technically, it’s 238,555 miles but what’s a few space miles when you’re this far down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole?

Like we said, there are plenty more crazy theories about The Shining so if this one doesn’t sit right feel free to take your pick – an indictment of the Native American genocide, a Holocaust allegory or a metaphor for CIA mind control perhaps?