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Existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre once said, “Hell is other people”. One wonders if Sartre ever spent an entire winter looking after a hotel of Gothic-proportions in complete isolation in snow-drenched mountains, with only two family members for company. This is what ‘The Shining’ depicts, and for its protagonists, this kind of isolation certainly seems like some kind of hell. ‘The Shining’ was originally a novel written by Stephen King in 1977, telling the story of a recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy and their psychically gifted son Danny, and their struggles with demons and ghouls both external and internal in a winter in the Colorado Rockies. In the film, Jack Torrance gets a job as the out-of-season winter caretaker for the Overlook, a grand resort hotel nestled deep in the Colorado Mountains so he can begin his writing career. Far from the nearest town, and accessible only by a long drive along a narrow mountain road that’s virtually inaccessible during the snowy months, the Overlook completely shuts down between October and May – the caretaker alone lives out there with his family to take care of the building and property. Peace and isolation sound like just what Jack needs, and he seems to