The latest trailer for season 4 of The Shining, but what can the quick visual nod tell viewers about the outing? As a nostalgia-soaked series set in the ‘80s, Stranger Things has never been shy about acknowledging its creative debt to Stephen King. Throughout its three seasons, the Netflix series has referenced King’s work numerous times and even borrowed a few plot points from the iconic horror author’s novels.
However, as the plot of Stranger Things largely centers around a group of teens, the King works that the show typically references — Stranger Things has also referenced Christine, the killer car story of King’s, but even that horror had a protagonist in his teens. What is a little rarer — and therefore a little more telling — is when Stranger Things includes a nod to King’s more adult-oriented works.
The show’s most recent trailer, a season 4 teaser entitled “Creel House,” offered a glimpse into the history of Hawkins and referenced one of King’s best-known adaptations in the process. As a seemingly idyllic family’s life takes a turn for the terrifying, one shot of the mysterious father standing in the doorway with both of his children lying on the floor beside him is a perfect match for how the Grady twins are gruesomely presented in Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining, albeit with less blood (meaning these kids might not be dead). It’s a striking image in both the trailer and the original movie, prompting many fans to wonder why season 4 of Stranger Things is taking inspiration from The Shining.
This could be good or bad news for the show, depending on which direction the Stranger Things writers take the reference. On the one hand, the fact that the scenes in Creel House take place in an idealized version of the ‘50s implies viewers might get a glimpse into the town’s history and find out how the Upside Down came to exist in Hawkins. Much like how the canceled Overlook television series was going to illustrate the history of the titular haunted hotel, season 4 of Stranger Things may be gearing up to go back into the past and unearth some ancient, chilling history as the plot of The Shining does.
However, the nod could also be proof that season 4 will be a bit too ambitious for its own good. So far, the four teasers for Stranger Things season 4 have promised Hopper’s return from Siberia, a haunted house exploration in Hawkins, a mass breakout from Hawkins lab, and a flashback to Eleven’s time there that could expand on the mystery of her pre-series past. Even with Stranger Things season 4 boasting an epic scope, this may be too many threads for the series to connect — particularly when the storylines are spread across Hawkins, Russia, and Eleven’s new home. It is refreshingly ambitious to see Stranger Things season 4 referencing the horror classic, but borrowing from The Shining means promising the audience some serious scares rather than a slew of subplots that overlap and fail to interconnect.