Although both are studies in horror and suspense, The Shining takes readers on a journey through the darkness of addiction, while Doctor Sleep brings them back to the light through recovery, self-sacrifice and redemption.We speak to the director Mike Flanagan and protagonist Ewan McGregor to find out what it was like to remake a novel, working with each other, and more. Thirty-six years later, King published his follow-up novel, Doctor Sleep, the continuation of the story of Dan Torrance.

Inspired by the author’s personal struggles, along with a fateful night King spent in room 217 of the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, the story of Jack, Wendy and Danny Torrance is one of King’s most personal works - terrifying not because of the monsters that live alongside us, but for the real-life demons that dwell within all of us. Originally published in 1977, the book went on to sell more than a million copies. Rarely has a tale of family dysfunction entered the modern consciousness as shockingly or as completely as that of the Torrances, the father, mother and son at the center of Stephen King’s third novel, The Shining. Doctor Sleep, starring Ewan McGregor ( Star Wars: Episodes I, II & III, T2 Trainspotting) as Dan Torrance, the film continues the story of Danny Torrance, 40 years after his terrifying stay at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. Now, the ace director is back with his second adaptation of a Stephen King novel - Doctor Sleep - a sequel to the hit Stanley Kubrick film, The Shining. It became an exercise in character,” recalls the 41-year-old Flanagan who has not only helmed hits like The Haunting of Hill House, Occulus and Ouija: Origin of Evil, but also adapted King’s novel Gerald’s Game into a film in 2017. That started this experience that I’ve had with so much of King’s writing - as a very scared kid, reading his work taught me how to be brave in short bursts.

“Those books frightened me like I’ve never been scared before and completely changed the way that I look at the world. Director Mike Flanagan was in the fifth grade when he first read a Stephen King novel.

Sequel to the shining book