Ep. 4 - The Shining vs The Monkey: The Stephen King Battle

In this episode of The Ghost Movie Project, Courtney Pearl and Just Blane dive deep into two iconic horror stories: Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Stephen King’s The Monkey. From haunted hotels and psychic children to cursed toys and conspiracy theories, this episode explores the psychological, paranormal, and cinematic layers of horror storytelling.

• The Stanley Hotel and real-life hauntings that inspired The Shining
• Stanley Kubrick’s obsessive filmmaking and subliminal messaging
• The moon landing conspiracy and Room 237 theories
• Psychic children, mediumship, and validating kids’ spiritual experiences
• Feminist takes on Wendy and Lois as anchors in horror narratives
• The Monkey as a chaotic horror comedy with cursed object tropes
• Death as a theme: randomness, inevitability, and emotional complexity
• Cleansing haunted spaces and spiritual boundaries
• Behind-the-scenes trivia and horror movie Easter eggs

• The Shining (1980) – Directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Stephen King’s novel
• The Monkey (2024) – Directed by Osgood Perkins, based on Stephen King’s short story

“The Shining is a loop. A psychological, paranormal, infinite loop.”
“If you can mentally convince yourself you’re drunk, why not just be drunk on life?”
“The monkey isn’t just cursed—it’s a symbol of generational trauma.”