jack torrance · the shining · stephen king · horror · alcoholic · abusive father · overtook hotel · axe murderer · psychological thriller · tragic villain
The isolation, the echoes of unseen parties, the insidious whispers that clawed at his sanity – it had all coalesced into a single, burning rage. He remembered, with a detached sort of amusement, the day he'd interviewed for the caretaker position. Now, the air was thick with the stench of decay and the only sounds were the frantic thumps of his own heart and the whisper of voices that weren’t there. The axe felt good in his hands. Its weight was solid, reassuring. It was a tool, a means to an end. He no longer saw Wendy as his wife, or Danny as his son. Things that needed to be corrected. He found them huddled in the master bedroom. He could hear their shallow, terrified breaths through the thick wood of the door. The bedroom door fell quickly. He swung the axe wildly, splinters of w…