Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining: An Exploration in Gothic Horror

Exploring the Gothic in all of her forms.

Note: This blog post was originally written in 2020 by request for a now-discontinued horror blog.

Of all the genres horror has to offer, Gothic fiction will always own my dark little heart. I couldn’t tell you the reason for my obsession; perhaps it’s my penchant for wandering in old cemeteries or my tendency to get lost in historical research. But I can tell you the exact moment of its inception—when I cracked open a dusty old textbook in our seventh-grade reading nook. I flipped a few yellowed pages and found Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado, subsequently falling head over heels in love. 

So what exactly is Gothic fiction, you ask?

I’m sure what comes to most people’s minds is the writing of Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Perhaps Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Maybe you were a lit geek like me and know about Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, Ann Radcliffe, or the works of Lord Byron. 

But Gothic horror isn’t all candelabras and corsets. In fact, Gothic themes exist in modern storytelling, including popular movies we enjoy today. Although it’s not a terribly modern example (but more recent than, say, 1892), Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a great example of this. 

Yes, The Shining. Here’s where King fans love to argue. It’s no secret King was not a fan of Kubrick’s adaptation of his novel, and I agree they are vastly different pieces of art. You could assert that the book itself is an example of Gothic horror, but I will focus on the movie. While I enjoyed the book and other books by King, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining still holds the title of my favorite horror movie of all time. ¹

Remember the living, breathing entity that is the Overlook Hotel? Say hello to Gothic Motif #1: Atmosphere. Often, this would be encompassed by a drafty old castle, a decrepit mansion, or a moldering graveyard. These specific images are not visually included in The Shining, but Kubrick nods to the graveyard motif when Mr. Ullman tells Jack Torrance that the hotel was built over a native burial ground.²

Ullman dropping this information to an unsuspecting Jack Torrence during his tour of the hotel also hints at another common theme in Gothic literature, Gothic Motif #2: Omens and Curses. A common storytelling technique in American horror movies is to call attention to the desecration of such burial places that occurred throughout the country’s sordid history. In this case, it serves as a perfect example of the ominous warnings and tragic consequences Gothic literature gives its protagonists. I should also note when talking about atmosphere, weather is a common technique used to create tension in Gothic stories. While King did not use the typical thunderstorm and dreary gray skies, he artfully utilized a harrowing snowstorm to build the setting. 

I won’t go too in depth with the most apparent themes, Motif #3:  Supernatural/Paranormal Activity (the quite memorable Overlook ghosts) and Motif #4: Madness. Who can forget that shot of Jack Torrance staring off into space, his spiraling descent into insanity depicted in his dull eyes and facial twitches? I’ve seen the movie over a hundred times, and this part still gets to me. 

But perhaps the most easily recognizable themes in the movie would be Motifs #5 & #6: the Villain and the Damsel. Gothic villains are generally autocratic, authoritative men in power positions such as marquis or king; in this instance, he is a father. Often in modern horror, the father is the protagonist and is depicted as warm, loving, and willing to do whatever it takes to save his family from whatever terrors may come. But a tyrannical father figure is as Gothic as it gets. This is where I see the greatest difference between Kubrick’s and King’s versions of the story. King painted Jack as deeply flawed but forgivable, a man preyed upon through his weaknesses (alcoholism/temper). King’s Jack shows glimmers of humanity toward the end of the book, but Kubrick keeps him a monster throughout. Kubrick also made Wendy a frail, weeping, unhinged waif on the brink of a nervous breakdown. There are interviews where King expressed his dislike over this interpretation of Wendy since she was, essentially, King’s heroine. But I would argue that Kubrick was following the typical Gothic dynamic of villain versus damsel, and I think it worked well for what he was trying to create. I will point out that Wendy did triumph over Jack in the end, and there are many versions of the damsel-becoming-the-hero theme played out, especially in modern horror (aka the last girl-standing trope). Personally, one of my favorite Gothic themes to deconstruct in my own writing is making my “damsels” into heroines. 

Speaking of damsels, here is a good time to point out that the only theme Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is missing is Motif #7: Romance. However, if you see how Jack and Wendy behave at the beginning of the movie (a relatively happy, loving couple), then watch as they devolve into bitter enemies, with one wanting to murder the other...well, that’s a tragic Gothic romance if I ever heard one. 

Please note, I’m skimming the surface here. There is a vast amount of research on Gothic literature that I urge you to read if you’re interested in the genre. There are also plenty of examples of modern Gothic literature besides The Shining, such as the extremely popular Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia that came out over the summer. Other non-Victorian era Gothic writers include Daphne du Maurier, Anne Rice, Shirley Jackson, Toni Morrison, Susanna Clark, Kate Morton, and Susan Hill (and this is a very small pool in a vast ocean of amazing Gothic authors!) Modern Gothic movies include Crimson Peak, The Phantom of the Opera, and pretty much everything Tim Burton creates. I’ve even see some argue that movies like Twilight fit the Gothic structure quite well.

Intrigued? Explore some Gothic horror today! Who knows, maybe you’ve loved the genre all along and never even realized it. You can either start with the classics or check out my press, Quill & Crow Publishing House—we love to print Gothic stories from different writers all over the world. And feel free to share some of your favorite Gothic authors/books/movies with me—-I’m always on the hunt for different takes on my favorite genre.

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1. I’ve decided to focus on only a few widely accepted Gothic themes and explore them through the lens of my favorite movie; there are more themes/tropes worthy of exploration.

2. Kubrick explores themes of racism/genocide in the movie, but for brevity’s sake, I’m sticking to topic here, with the note that some scholars cite racism as an attribute common in Gothic villains.