Friday Flashback: The Shining (1980)By: The Nightly Storyteller

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Monologue – The Flash of Madness

The air was sharp with cold, every breath dragging frost into my lungs ❄️. Nyra walked ahead, her coat fluttering like a shadow given life. Seraphine’s eyes darted from one ruin to the next, scanning for signs of the Threxil. The Clatchi trailed behind, muttering in its strange, wet language, every syllable sounding like it was being spoken through an echoing cave.

We had been walking for hours. The world was quiet — too quiet — until it wasn’t.

⚡ FLASH!

A searing burst of light tore through my vision. My knees buckled. I thought it was only one burst — a trick of the eyes — but when my vision steadied, Nyra’s voice cut through the cold:

> “It wasn’t one… it was three.”



⚡FLASH! ⚡FLASH! ⚡FLASH!

Each strike rattled the ground beneath me, clawing at my mind. And then… it stepped out.

The Threxil — pale, shifting, its body made of smoke and shapes I couldn’t name — hovered inches from my face. It didn’t move. It didn’t need to. Its eyes (or what I think were eyes) bored into my skull like cold nails.

I wanted to scream. Instead, I laughed. And I don’t know why.


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Movie Review – The Shining

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is more than a haunted hotel movie — it’s a slow, spiraling descent into madness 🪞. Adapted loosely from Stephen King’s 1977 novel, the film follows Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a struggling writer who takes a winter caretaker job at the isolated Overlook Hotel. He brings along his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and psychic son Danny (Danny Lloyd).

The setup is simple: winter storms trap them inside ❄️, cabin fever brews, and supernatural forces lurking in the Overlook begin to feed on the family’s vulnerabilities. Jack’s mind unravels, Danny’s visions intensify, and the hotel’s ghostly residents start to blur the line between reality and hallucination.

What makes The Shining terrifying is not jump scares — it’s the atmosphere. Every hallway feels endless, every sound echoes too long, and Kubrick’s infamous tracking shots give you a creeping sense that something is always following you 🚪.


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Did You Know? 🩸

The “Here’s Johnny!” scene wasn’t scripted — Nicholson improvised the line, referencing The Tonight Show. Kubrick liked it so much, he kept it in.

The Overlook Hotel is a combination of multiple real-life locations, including Oregon’s Timberline Lodge for the exterior shots.

Shelley Duvall’s performance was pushed to emotional extremes — Kubrick reportedly made her do 127 takes of one scene, which contributed to her visibly fragile state on screen.

Danny Lloyd, who played Danny, didn’t realize he was in a horror movie until years later. He thought they were filming a family drama.

The carpet pattern in the Overlook became one of horror’s most iconic images — it’s been referenced in Toy Story, Ready Player One, and even in fan tattoos.



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Why It Still Works Today

Even 45 years later, The Shining is a masterclass in psychological horror. It’s not about blood and gore — it’s about losing your grip on reality 🕰️. The silence between scenes is deafening, and the ghosts are often more unsettling when they don’t move.

Like the Overlook, the Threxil isn’t just a creature — it’s a presence. It waits. It watches. And when it moves, you’ll know.


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We’re just getting started — and things are about to get dark.

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