10 Fascinating Stories Behind Stephen King's Most Famous Books

4. The Shining Was Inspired By King's Stay In A Creepy Old Hotel (And A Nightmare About His Son)

The Shining is probably Stephen King's most famous novel - the one that everybody thinks about whenever the author's name is mentioned, presumably because it is one of his most outstanding literary achievements and as a result of the wildly popular film adaptation courtesy of the legendary Stanley Kubrick (a film that King himself admits to hating).

The Shining essentially tells the story of a writer named Jack Torrance, who accepts a job as the caretaker of a remote, mountain-based hotel for the winter (the ominous Overlook) so that he can concentrate on his next book. He brings his wife, Wendy, and his son, Danny, but soon enough strange things start to happen. The hotel - haunted by evil spirits - tries to take hold of Jack and sends him mad; as a result, he tries to murder his family.

How did King think up the plot of The Shining, then? Well, sometimes it's just a matter of staying in a creepy old hotel, which is exactly what happened to the author.

In 1974, King and his wife Tabby spent a night at a "grand old hotel" in Estes Park called The Stanley, and given that the winter was approaching they were the only guests there. The strange emptiness of the place - and the barren corridors - led King to believe that the hotel was the perfect location for a horror story. That night, he had a nightmare that his son was being attacked by a fire-hose and awoke in a cold sweat, almost falling out of bed.

In his own words: "I lit a cigarette, sat in the chair looking out the window at the Rockies, and by the time the cigarette was done, I had the bones of the book firmly set in my mind."