Probably not one of his King’s best books, Under The Dome is nevertheless a nice idea for a story.

A small community in Maine is going about its everyday life when, immediately and out of apparently nowhere, a colossal dome appears, surrounding them all and cutting them off from the rest of the world! As time goes by, the predicable consequences arise; the water starts running out, the air quality falls dramatically and, of course, a degree of anarchy starts bubbling up, fueled by the leadership of a morally dubious character, but in the name of safety and security. Of course, the religious extremists all pop out of the woodwork as well and go a little more nuts – Mist-style, though less frustratingly.

No prizes for spotting the satirical take on Bush’s America so far. Of course, however, it’s Stephen King – so it’s less political and far more horrifying that my short summary makes out. It’s also very cleverly written and filled with smart references for the more well-read Stephen King fans out there. What it also it, however, is very…very…long. Too long, one could say. So it’s definitely not something for the novel-a-day types; you could easily spend so long reading Under The Dome that you’d find somebody had actually built a dome around you as well – but by hand…using tissue boxes…having first blown their nose on each and every tissue. It’s long.

As Halloween draws closer, I feel a few horror-reviews are definitely in order!   So today I present to you one of the scariest books ever written; The Shining, by Stephen King.

If ever there was a book that demonstrates the power of the author over the reader, it is The Shining.  A staggering display of psychological horror fiction, this book grips you by the nerve-endings from the very start, refusing to release as it drags you through one of the most terrifying haunted-house tales ever written.  Making use of the well-known situation of a family holiday, King invites the reader to join the Torrance family on a retreat designed to help father and recovering alcoholic Jack find some peace and quiet, to repair relations with his family and finish a play he has be writing for some time.  What Jack doesn’t realise is that the job he has taken, as winter custodian of the Overlook, has placed him at the mercy of an murderous hotel and its population of malicious spirits– a combination that start taking over his mind and using him to do their murderous bidding.

The key plot element to the novel is Jack’s son, Danny, who has a powerful gift called The Shine; allowing him to see and know things he couldn’t possibly know.  Although too young to fully understand much of what he sees, Danny is used as a supernatural medium through which the reader is given access to the Overlook Hotel’s grisly past, in a series of disturbing scenes placed throughout the novel to maintain the steadily overwhelming terror.

King’s incredible characterisation of very few subjects allows the reader to come to know the characters intimately and quickly, making their horrific situation and fear spring to life from the very outset.  If you’re looking for an appropriately petrifying present for Halloween this year,  The Shining is a perfect bet.