Doctor Sleep

Doctor Sleep
by Stephen King
New York: Audioworks
2013
Performed by Will Patton
15 sound discs (18 hours)

I imagine that everyone who likes horror fiction has read The Shining by Stephen King. It is a horror classic, the ultimate "haunted house" book. The story of Danny, his parents, Mr. Hallorann, and the ghouls of the Overlook has given many people nightmares for years, and the movies haven't helped. I have heard that one of the iconic and scariest movie moments is Shelley Duvall's portrayal of Wendy behind the bathroom door, screaming for dear life while her husband, Jack, chops down the door with an ax.

 For me, the scariest horror book moment is the vision of the dead woman in the bathtub in Room 217. This is the book I listen to every winter on my long drive home from my job at the library, the snow swirling around me. The story makes my drive seem like a walk in the park compared to what the Torrances are going through.

Needless to say, we have all been wondering and waiting and hoping for a sequel to tell us how Danny turned out after his experiences in the Hotel of Horror. Would Danny ever have the chance of a normal life after seeing the Woman in Room 217, the ghost of Mr. Derwent, and those hedge animals, all at the age of 5? I don't know if anyone of any age would be left unscathed.

What excitement I felt when I heard that Stephen King was writing a sequel to his most famous story! I was one of the first on the library list for the audio book and waited several months for it to be ready. And now that I have finished, the wait was worth it!

Danny is much older. He still has "the shining" but he has been trying to drown it in the bottle, becoming an alcoholic like his father. I was really sadly disappointed that Dan gave in to alcohol, especially having seen what drinking did to his father and mother. But, thinking about it, the problems that he faced then and after were so overwhelming that perhaps it isn't surprising that he would turn to anything that would help him forget. But what sadness for me that he hasn't turned out okay after all!

Danny finds AA meetings and a job as an orderly at a hospice in a small town in New Hampshire. We see that he is lucky in his choice of new homes, since his support system is very strong, and Dan changes his life dramatically. Through his work at the hospital, he becomes known as "Doctor Sleep," invoking the childhood nickname and his use of the shining to help the dying pass on.

Then we meet Abra Stone, a young girl born with a phenomenal shine. She lives nearby and has somehow connected with her mind from a very young age with Dan, even before the two met. Abra becomes the key to Dan's further adventures with horror.

Enter the True Knot, a group of "steam" sucking vampire-like near-immortals. Steam is their term for "the shining" and they travel the country in motor homes, posing as ordinary retired people, seeking children rich in "steam". Once they find these children, they hypnotize them, take them to secluded places, torture them to increase the potency of the steam, and suck it out, killing the child in the end. The children are usually never found again.

This works very well for a long time for the True Knot, until one day when Abra and her incredible "steam" witnesses what they are doing to one of the children, the "baseball boy". To make a long story short and not give away too much, the True Knot discover that she is on to them and also that her steam would be an absolute feast. Abra must outwit characters who have been outwitting humans for centuries, and Dan is called upon to help her.

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado--
the inspiration for the Overlook Hotel

Of course, the Overlook Hotel is present in this new book, too. We return through Danny's flashbacks, but coincidentally (or not), the True Knot own a campground and lodge on the site of the Overlook. This is the location of the final showdown between their leader, Rose the Hat, and Danny and Abra. The place has not lost its horrifying ambience for readers, and the spirits that haunt it are still there, but this time Dan is in control.

The reader of the audiobook was excellent and made the 18-hour listen was worth it.

Monsters

Monsters
Book 3 in the Ashes Trilogy
by Ilsa J. Bick
New York: Egmont USA
2013
688 pages


I feel like I have climbed Mount Everest or gotten an A on a very difficult final exam. What have I really done? I have finally finished the monster-sized book in the Ashes Trilogy, Monsters.

This book is less about the zombie-like Changed eating habits and more about the other monsters of the story, the humans who attempt to control them and those that fight against them. Topping the list is Finn, an old veteran who seems to have a way with the "Chuckies" and has been performing experiments on them and conditioning them to do his bidding. He has captured Peter, one of the Spared from the town of Rule, and has managed to nearly brainwash him into acting like the Changed. I think Finn uses a form of mind control, rather like what Alex has with the monster in her head, the brain tumor.

Alex can can communicate with dogs and the Changed, leaping into their brains to see through their eyes. This has come in handy sometimes, and she has been Spared in many ways besides surviving the initial electromagnetic zap, but it is also rather disturbing and scary to her to let her tumor take control of her actions.

It was rather a relief to have the many story lines--the Rule people, the Finn camp, the Amish camp in Oren, Tom and the kids, and Alex with Wolf/Simon--all merge together better. It was rather difficult keeping up with all of the action of each group, and when they begin to interact, I felt like the story was less confusing and moved along faster. I was especially glad when the initial threesome--Tom, Alex, and Ellie--found out that they are all still alive, despite all of the terrible things that have happened to them.

The final confrontation with Finn and Alex, on which I won't elaborate, is somewhat unexpected and terrifying, maybe a little bit cheating because it involves an unexplained element. How can Alex do what she does? I guess Alex doesn't know herself.

Thinking about the series as a whole, I am rather disappointed that I still don't know anything about what caused the electromagnetic pulse or how it affected the outside world. We only encounter people in this small, very isolated portion of the country. Are people all over going through this, too? Who else has survived? Is it safe to venture farther away to find others? Our survivors haven't done that by the end of the book, making a home for themselves in a beautiful, isolated valley, but maybe they will once they recover.

And if you imagine that electromagnetic pulses are not possible, you can find out more here:

Rosemary's Baby

Rosemary's Baby

by Ira Levin

New York: Random House

1967

Rosemary's Baby

starring Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, and Ruth Gordon

Directed by Roman Polanski
1968
136 minutes
Rated R

Rarely has a movie so closely duplicated a book. I recently read the Ira Levin novel about Rosemary, her husband Guy, their unusual neighbors Minnie and Roman Castavet, and the baby we never see but are all waiting for with anticipation. I had seen the movie several times, and it is definitely one of the horror classics that everyone should see eventually.

Usually when we are comparing movies to the books on which they are based, we lament all of the details and, sometimes, total major story elements, that are lacking from the movie version. With Rosemary's Baby, there are many elements that were included that we readers don't always think about, from Rosemary's hair style, the colors in the nursery, the print of her dress, the decor of Minnie Castavet's living room. Roman Polanski was very conscientious about incorporating Ira Levin's details into the movie.

Reading the book after seeing the movie, then, was like reading the script.

Rosemary and Guy are married. Guy is an actor and has performed in off-Broadway plays and in television commercials. He isn't exactly unsuccessful, but he has ambitions. I think Rosemary, although not exactly mousey, definitely thinks life revolves around Guy. The pair find a new apartment in a large and very creepy apartment building. We are meant to think it's creepy, and their friend, Hutch, tries to convince the Woodhouses of the creepy factor with his dinner conversation, but they are convinced that it is a good address and a bargain.

"The Bramford" aka The Dakota, New York City

All seems to go well in the beginning of the movie. The couple moves in, they beautify the apartment, Rosemary makes curtains and cushions, and Guy, although he doesn't get one part he wants, gets some other minor parts. Then Rosemary meets the girl who is staying with the old couple next door while she is doing the laundry in the dismal basement. This event, too me, seems to be the catalyst that changes the Woodhouses lives, and not for the better.

Guy and Rosemary meet the Castavets at the death scene of Terri, the girl who lived with them but mysteriously jumped out of the window. We wonder, as does Rosemary, why this nice, lively girl who seemed to have everything going for her, would commit suicide like this, as if she was trying to get away from something horrible in her apartment. And what about the Castavets? The first view of Minnie and Roman Castavet is quite memorable. They stand out in their polyester, brightly colored clothes, and what's not to love about Minnie's turban? I suspect even in 1967/1968, they were unusual looking. I am reminded of descriptions of the dandies of 18th Century Bond Street.

This initial meeting leads immediately into dinner the next day. Little does Rosemary know, but her ambitious husband has been quickly appraised by the Castavets as weak and suitable for their purpose. He is easily swayed to give away his wife to their plan for the fame they can offer. Poor Rosemary. She deserves so much better than that.

Once we know about the baby on the way, we are struck with the disparity between Rosemary's hopes and plans for a normal pregnancy and healthy baby and the symptoms she is exhibiting that are unusual and shocking. We know something bad is going to happen and that the baby won't be the Andy or Jenny that Rosemary wants and envisions.

I think the book does a bit better at explaining Rosemary's past religious life, her feelings about the nuns at school, and her indecision about God and religion in general. I think she is so in love and insubordinate to Guy, who seems quite atheistic. Rosemary quietly echoes the irreverent statements of Guy and, to a lesser degree, the Castavets, at their dinner parties, but I think she is really uneasy about what she hears them say.

Another thing that struck me is the difference between the Mother of the Son of God and the mother of the son of Satan. Mary was asked if she would be the mother of the Savior of the World and, when asked, said "Yes." Rosemary, on the other hand, was NOT asked and never agreed to it. If asked, she would have said, "NO!" I rather think this is a story flaw, and I think it would have been a more interesting and complicated story to try to trick Rosemary into saying "Yes."

Here is the original trailer:

For those of you who are interested in what happens to Rosemary and her baby, there is a sequel written by Ira Levin in 1997. "Andy" is grown up now and Rosemary has been in a coma, thanks to Roman Castavet, to keep her out of the way in the rearing of the devil child. I am not going to tell you more, but the sequel is actually quite disappointing, especially since Rosemary's Baby is a horror classic. The ending is really just plain stupid, a complete "cop out".