King of the Dark Episode 14: Doctor Sleep

Welcome back to King of the Dark, our special series on the B&N Podcast, a journey through the gloriously shadowy fiction of Stephen King. On today's episode, we're not quite caught up to the author's brand new release The Institute — we'll be talking about that one next week. This week, we're looking at 2013's Doctor Sleep — a marvelous novel that is both a sequel to his classic The Shining and a bewitching tale all on its own. Danny Torrance, the psychically gifted little boy of The Shining, is now an adult, tormented by some of the same addictions that plagued his father, but working to fight his demons in every sense of the word. Dan uses his abilities — his Shining, you might recall — is to help the dying find peace, but when he meets a young girl named Abra with talents like his, he also discovers the plot of a terrifying secret society called The True Knot — and they have plans for Abra and all children like her. If you didn't think that The Shining would lead us to a page-turning thriller about psychic vampires, alcoholism and recovery, and one of the most compelling villains ever to put on a top hat, well, when did Stephen King ever fail to surprise?