All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. At its heart, The Shining is a gothic story. Gothic stories, generally, involve things, long repressed, that violently break free. Whatever has been repressed, be they historical crimes, personal or family demons, or secret desires, will usually deviate from societal norms, and physically manifest themselves as the genre’s abundant ghosts and monsters. The story is usually set in a significant historical place, is possessed of much melodrama, and its main protagonist is often a woman, confined by society, patriarchy and/or capitalism. It’s also a genre of contrasting dualities: a blend