Stephen King Has Compared ‘Doctor Sleep’ To Two Of His Best-Known Works

This year has seen multiple adaptations of author Stephen King’s novels and short stories, including Castle Rock and Mr. Mercedes on TV and Pet Sematary, It Chapter Two, and In the Tall Grass in theaters (or straight to Netflix). But King seems particularly fond of another project, one that isn’t out yet but will be soon. On Wednesday, the master of horror tweeted his thoughts on Doctor Sleep, a sequel to his 1977 novel The Shining starring Ewan McGregor as Dan Torrance, a.k.a. Here’s Johnny!’s son.

“DOCTOR SLEEP: Mike Flanagan is a talented director, but he’s also an excellent storyteller,” King tweeted. “The movie is a good thing. You’ll like this if you liked THE SHINING, but you’ll also like it if you liked SHAWSHANK. It’s immersive.” That’s high praise. The Shining and The Shawshank Redemption are generally regarded as two of the best movies based on King’s works; King could also be referring to his original texts, including Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption from 1982’s novella collection Different Seasons, but either way, he already likes Doctor Sleep more than The Shining.

Here’s more on Doctor Sleep:

Still irrevocably scarred by the trauma he endured as a child at the Overlook, Dan Torrance has fought to find some semblance of peace. But that peace is shattered when he encounters Abra, a courageous teenager with her own powerful extrasensory gift, known as the “shine.” Instinctively recognizing that Dan shares her power, Abra has sought him out, desperate for his help against the merciless Rose the Hat and her followers, The True Knot, who feed off the shine of innocents in their quest for immortality. Forming an unlikely alliance, Dan and Abra engage in a brutal life-or-death battle with Rose. Abra’s innocence and fearless embrace of her shine compel Dan to call upon his own powers as never before—at once facing his fears and reawakening the ghosts of the past.

Doctor Sleep comes out November 8.

(Via Twitter)