Welcome to Derry Is Finally Fixing Stanley Kubrick’s Biggest The Shining Problem

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2025 has been a great year for Stephen King fans, with well-received adaptations of The Monkey and The Long Walk. There’s also a lot of anticipation for the movie version of The Running Man, which comes out in theaters on November 14th. Even before its release on October 26th, the prequel series coming to HBO was generating significant buzz.

Stephen King’s It is arguably his most famous work, and Pennywise the Dancing Clown has become a hugely influential figure in horror. That’s why fans have been so excited for the new TV series, Welcome to Derry, and Bill Skarsgard’s return to the role. But beyond the familiar characters and story, the show will also reintroduce a lesser-known King character who could resolve a long-standing issue with Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation of The Shining.

Stanley Kubrick Killed Off an Iconic Stephen King Character

Stephen King’s The Shining centers around the Torrance family – Jack, Wendy, and their son, Danny – and the hotel’s chef, Dick Hallorann. The story follows Jack as the eerie Overlook Hotel begins to negatively affect him and his family. Danny is particularly vulnerable because of his psychic ability, referred to as “the shine,” which allows him to read minds and see visions. He discovers that Dick Hallorann also possesses this “shine,” enabling them to communicate telepathically.

In Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Jack Torrance is depicted as much more aggressively violent than in the novel, where he’s a flawed man haunted by his past and battling alcoholism. The film, like the book, shows a psychic connection – called ‘the shine’ – between Dick Hallorann and Danny, allowing Danny to reach out for help using his mind.

In the film adaptation directed by Kubrick, the character Hallorann arrives at the hotel intending to assist Wendy and Danny, but Jack violently kills him with an axe. This differs significantly from Stephen King’s original novel, where Hallorann successfully helps the mother and son and provides ongoing support after Jack’s unexpected and tragic death.

The changes made to this famous story were highly debated among fans, and even Stephen King disliked the adaptation so much he wrote his own version. King and dedicated fans felt Kubrick’s biggest error was shifting the focus to Jack’s mental state and ignoring the hotel’s influence on him. Additionally, viewers were disappointed by the way Dick Hallorann was killed off, feeling it was done purely for shock value and diminished his importance to Wendy and Danny’s story.

I have to say, the previous film really tried to address a problem by bringing back Dick Hallorann as a ghost, allowing him to still guide young Danny. The book actually set up a really interesting backstory – Danny remembered Hallorann’s presence from his childhood and instinctively reached out for help with Abra Stone, only to discover the tragic news that he’d already passed away. It felt like a nice tribute, but ultimately a bit of a missed opportunity. Now, after forty-five years, this new adaptation has a chance to not only bring Hallorann back to life, but to really give his character the depth and development he deserves. It’s exciting to think about!

It: Welcome to Derry Gives Dick Hallorann Another Chance to Shine

Before the release of the new series Welcome to Derry, a prequel to It, audiences can expect a deeper look into the history of Pennywise and his terrifying presence in Derry, Maine. Derry is a significant setting in many of Stephen King’s stories, connecting the journeys of various characters, including Dick Hallorann. Although Hallorann’s story in The Shining took place in the 1970s, Welcome to Derry is set in the 1960s, showing him working as a cook at The Black Spot, an army nightclub in Derry.

In Stephen King’s novel It, a flashback reveals how Dick Hallorann used his psychic ability, called “the shine,” to rescue people from a fire at The Black Spot, which was set ablaze by a white supremacist group. Among those he saved was Will Hanlon, the father of Mike Hanlon, who later becomes part of the Losers’ Club. While the book’s events take place in the 1950s and ’60s, recent movie and television adaptations are set in the 1980s to 2010s. Despite these changes in time period and social context, the show can still logically include this story about Dick Hallorann’s past.

The story of Welcome to Derry follows Leroy Hanlon, a former soldier, who moves to the town with his family hoping for a peaceful life. But when a young boy goes missing, some residents start to worry about a pattern of disappearances in Derry’s past. While the characters try to figure out what’s happening in their seemingly quiet town, the audience knows the culprit is It – a powerful, ancient being often appearing as Pennywise the Dancing Clown – who has been terrorizing children for centuries, resurfacing every 27 years to cause destruction.

Many fans remember Dick Hallorann as a quietly heroic figure who actually helped more people than Wendy and Danny Torrance in the original story. The new prequel series seems to be giving him a much bigger role, showing his friendship with Leroy Hanlon and making him a key part of the Pennywise saga. The show will also deepen the world of The Shining by introducing another character with psychic abilities – the “shine” – which will add another layer to the supernatural elements of It and allow for a more detailed exploration of what it means to have this power.

The Easter Eggs in the Stephen King Series Are Exciting

Stephen King has greatly influenced horror in popular culture. However, the recent It movies – particularly the 2017 and 2019 adaptations – are what most people think of today. Because of this, Welcome to Derry could be the biggest and most important horror series of 2025, both growing the world of Stephen King on screen and raising the bar for other horror TV shows.

The new series has already gained a following, particularly after its recent episode which included nods to other popular Stephen King tales like The Shawshank Redemption and The Mist. Given what we’ve seen in the first season, this show focusing on Pennywise has the potential to become the defining horror series of the next ten years.

There’s a lot of excitement building for It: Welcome to Derry, and many people are already planning to watch just to see the return of familiar faces. However, longtime Stephen King fans will be paying close attention to how the story unfolds, wanting to make sure it stays true to the book and original movie. The addition of Dick Hallorann from The Shining is a particularly promising sign, suggesting this new installment could be something special.

New episodes of It: Welcome to Derry will air every Sunday on HBO.

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2025-11-02 00:37