Stephen King to publish The Shining sequel next year

STEPHEN KING has finally announced that his sequel to The Shining will be released in 12 months' time, 36 years after the original book was first published.
 
The new novel, called Doctor Sleep, will be come out on 24 September 2013 and will follow the story of Danny Torrance, the young boy who survived the horrific events of The Shining.
 
In the original, Danny's father Jack becomes possessed by evil spirits and turns violent after the family move to a hotel in the Colorado mountains. But Danny, who has psychic abilities, eventually manages to escape with his mother Wendy.
 
According to a synopsis released by King's UK publisher, Hodder & Stoughton, Dan Torrance appears in Doctor Sleep as a middle-aged man who has been "drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father's legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence".
 
Dan is using his psychic powers to provide final comfort to the dying but has to fight a terrifying tribe of quasi-immortal beings who feed on people's energy, says The Guardian.
 
Fans and bloggers have complained that they must wait for another year but have nonetheless expressed delight at the long-anticipated sequel. "Only thing keeping me from reading this one is the date it comes out!" wrote one person on King's official website.
 
One tweeter described it as "massive news", while a blogger on movie website Joblo.com said the wait was “understandable” given King's books are “typically longer than the Bible”.

Many are reasonably predicting that Doctor Sleep will end up on the big screen. The Shining was famously made into a film by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson, in 1980. Other movies that began life as Stephen King oeuvres include The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and Carrie.

"In light of his prolific story-telling career, it's more a question of when King's /Doctor Sleep/ will hit the big screen than if it will,” says the Examiner blog. ·