I agree! The shining IS scary, but not in the usual "boo!"-scare that jumps out at you in 15 horror movies out of 10. Just as you say, the decline, the hotel slowly, sinister(...-ly?) crushing, ever tighter, around his mind, much more so than the body. That sort of scare and tension you get when reading IT; something dark is coming. Something... utterly evil. Something old. Slowly sneaking up on you. Dissolving your resistance, bit ny bit. I absolutely loved it as I read it at age 13-14, but much more as a grown man. It is even better now, because of your/my own experience. And continuing with dr Sleep is the way! I had forgotten a lot of the story from the Shining, that I actually just stopped reading Dr S about a third into the book, to reread Shining a second time. It made a LOT of difference! If I hadn't read the Shining, I still would have liked dr Sleep, but not nearly as much as the love I have for it now. A perfect end to a story that I didn't know was in need of a second phase!