The Shining
by Stephen King
A struggling writer takes a winter job at an isolated hotel, and the place begins to take hold of him and his family. Slow-burning, dread-filled horror. Read the full description
Best for: Horror fans who want a classic
The Shining is #55 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 63 out of 100.
The Shining: reading interest over the past 12 months
Sources: Open Library’s public reading-log and ratings data (dump of 2026-08-31), Wikipedia page views and Wikidata. Monthly counts are exact; they show relative interest among readers of these public sources, not total readership.
Ranked against the other books on this list, The Shining’s reading interest has run from #35 to #88 over these 12 months. Interest rank blends shelf adds, Wikipedia page views and rating activity, each compared with the other 99 books that month.
Shelf adds by month
The Shining was added to Open Library readers’ shelves 597 times in the past 12 months, peaking in November 2025 with 77 (55% above its monthly average of 50). Over the latest three months (Jun 2026 to Aug 2026) shelf adds were down 15% on the three months before. 83% of the adds were “want to read”, 6% “currently reading” and 12% “already read”.
Want to read Currently reading Already read
Wikipedia page views
Its Wikipedia article was viewed 397,357 times in the past 12 months, peaking in December 2025 with 71,348 views. The latest three months were down 3% on the three before.
Source: Wikimedia monthly page views for the article The Shining (novel).
What the data says about The Shining
- Moderate swings. Monthly shelf adds averaged 50 with some ups and downs.
- Busiest and quietest months. November 2025 was its busiest month (77 adds), about 2.8 times its quietest, June 2026 (28).
- Attention and shelf adds move together. Months with more Wikipedia views for The Shining were also months with more shelf adds (correlation 0.59), which suggests the same events, such as new editions, adaptations or social media, drive both.
- Share of the list. It accounts for 0.6% of all shelf adds recorded for the Top 100 over these 12 months, #60 of 100.
- Its age. First published in 1977 (49 years ago), it is older than 76% of the books on the list.
Each finding is computed from the public data above and shown only when the numbers support it.
The Shining on the Top 100: rank history
First charted in September 2026. The chart gains a point with every monthly update, so its peak, climbs and falls will show here as they happen.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | #55 | 63 |
Is The Shining rising or falling?
Cooling It ranks lower this week than over the past year, so interest is softening from its recent level.
On Open Library, The Shining ranks #133 this week, #84 this month, and #78 over the past year. A longer bar means a higher position. Comparing the three windows shows whether readers are arriving faster than the book's long-term pace. Readings as of 2026-09-30.
Why The Shining made the Top 100
The Shining made the list mainly on momentum (+20.8 points) and being read right now (+16.6 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0). The BookWard Score blends five public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 and weighted as shown.
The reading-now, rating and rank signals come from Open Library’s public data, not from BookWard’s own readers. The score measures reading interest, not quality or sales. How the score works.
Open Library reader stats for The Shining
Source: Open Library public reading logs, as of 2026-09-30. BookWard’s own monthly snapshots are added to the picture, and anonymous BookWard reader data will be layered in as the community grows.
More readers have The Shining open right now than 38% of the other books on this list. These counts come from one public source, so they show relative interest rather than total readership.
Where it sits among Horror books
It is #2 of the 2 Horror books on this month’s list.
About The Shining
A struggling writer takes a winter job at an isolated hotel, and the place begins to take hold of him and his family. Slow-burning, dread-filled horror.
Why it’s here: It is horror as atmosphere, and readers keep coming back before cold nights.
Best for: Horror fans who want a classic
At a glance
- First published
- 1977-01-28
- Genre
- Horror
- Also described as
- psychological horror fiction, Gothic fiction, thriller
- Length
- about 506 pages (the median across its editions)
- Original language
- English
- Languages
- editions in 10 languages listed on Open Library
- Editions
- 97 on Open Library
- Setting
- Overlook Hotel
- Characters listed
- Jack Torrance, Danny Torrance, Casey, Chug-Chug, Dick
From Open Library and Wikidata public records. Missing rows mean the records do not list that fact.
Themes
- Isolation
- Addiction
- A family under threat
What reading it is like
Slow-burn, claustrophobic horror.
At about 506 pages it is a long read: roughly 10 hours at an average reading pace (about 250 words a minute, 300 words a page). Audiobook and edition lengths vary.
Good to know
Differs noticeably from the famous film. A sequel, Doctor Sleep, exists.
The premise
Jack Torrance takes a winter job as caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel, bringing his wife and young son, who has a psychic gift. The hotel slowly turns Jack against them.
What you’ll get
- Slow-building dread
- A haunted-house feel
- A gripping family drama
You might skip it if you dislike horror.
More by Stephen King on the Top 100: It
Pairs well with: It
Keep exploring the chart
Also on the chart at #54 and #56
More Horror on the Top 100
Questions about The Shining
What rank is The Shining on the Top 100 books?
The Shining is #55 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 63 out of 100.
Is The Shining rising or falling?
Cooling. It ranks lower this week than over the past year, so interest is softening from its recent level. On Open Library, The Shining ranks #133 this week, #84 this month, and #78 over the past year.
Why is The Shining on the Top 100?
The Shining made the list mainly on momentum (+20.8 points) and being read right now (+16.6 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0).
How many people are reading The Shining right now?
Open Library's reading logs show 222 readers currently reading The Shining, 3,065 who want to read it and 463 who have logged it as read (as of 2026-09-30). These are counts from one public source, not all readers.
How much interest has The Shining had over the past year?
597 Open Library shelf adds in the past 12 months (peak November 2025, 77); latest three months down 15% on the prior three; 397,357 Wikipedia views in the past 12 months (down 3% over the latest three months). Figures come from Open Library and Wikipedia public data.
Who is The Shining best for?
Horror fans who want a classic.
Ask a question about The Shining
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How we know
This page is built from public data: Open Library’s dated reading-log and ratings dumps, Wikipedia page views, Wikidata, and BookWard’s own monthly Top 100 snapshots. The interest rank blends shelf adds (45%), Wikipedia page views (30%), rating activity (10%) and, for months where a snapshot exists, BookWard’s own score (15%), each as a percentile among the Top 100 books. Every month shown is real data; nothing is estimated. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Last updated September 2026. Read the full methodology.
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