The Shining

Of all the movies and TV shows which have featured on Supernatural, The Shining is one of the most oft mentioned and referenced.

The Shining is a 1980 feature film by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel of the same title by Stephen King.

The film stars Jack Nicholson as tormented writer Jack Torrance. Jack has taken his family to an isolated inn so he can finish his novel. His young son Danny, has creepy visions of past and future evil events at the hotel. Another character referred to this "gift" as the Shining, hence the title. Jack becomes influenced by a supernatural presence and descends into madness, eventually turning on his family in a murderous rage.

• The Shining on IMDb
• There was also a 1997 mini-series but we prefer to pretend that didn't happen.
• In 2012 a documentary called Room 237 looked at hidden meanings and conspiracy theories surrounding the movie.

Episodes

1.09 Home

Dean's comment when Sam first reveals he is having psychic visions.

Dean: I mean, first you tell me that you’ve got the Shining? And then you tell me that I’ve gotta go back home?

1.10 Asylum

Dean theorizes about what happens to people who spend time in the haunted Roosevelt Asylum.

Dean: Spirits driving them insane. Kind of like my man Jack in The Shining.

1.18 Something Wicked

The old woman in the hospital is in Room 237. In The Shining, Room 237 is the mystery-shrouded room, where Jack encounters the ghost of a young woman that turns into an old woman.

2.01 In My Time of Dying

Over the hospital P.A. Dean hears an announcement calling "Dr. Kripke to Room 237" for a code blue. He races to the room to see a reaper take the soul of a young girl.

2.07 The Usual Suspects

Dean references The Shining twice:

• When he was 'confessing' he talked about messages from spirits being jumbled as anagrams, and uses Redrum as an example. Redrum is murder spelled backwards and appears written in blood on the inn walls.
• When he and Sam were looking at a printout page of the word danashulps written over and over, Dean said "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," a reference to the famous phrase Jack Nicholson's character typed for hundreds of pages.

2.09 Croatoan

The doctor tells Dean that the nearest town, forty miles away, is Sidewinder. In The Shining the events occur in the Overlook Hotel which is 40 miles from Sidewinder.

Doctor: It's about forty miles down to Sidewinder.

The bar scene from The Shining, and the bar scene from "Playthings."

2.11 Playthings

There are multiple references to The Shining throughout the episode. Dean and Sam stay in room 237, the twin girls, the low tracking shots throughout the inn's halls are redolent of similar cinematography, and the scene in which Dean wanders into the inn bar to talk to Sherwin is reminiscent of a scene in the film. The room number 237 was also referenced in 1.18 Something Wicked

Maggie Thompson's dialogue is reminiscent of the twins' famously creepy line in The Shining "Come and play with us Danny. Forever and ever and ever."

Maggie: We can have lots of tea parties. Forever and ever and ever.

3.01 The Magnificent Seven

Famous Jack Nicholson quote from The Shining said as he chops thru a door with an axe, in a mocking interpretation of the introduction of late night show host Johnny Carson.

Pride: Here’s Johnny!

3.03 Bad Day at Black Rock

The hunter Kubrick is probably a shout-out to Stanley Kubrick director of The Shining.

3.11 Mystery Spot

Sam hacking away at the wall with the axe is somewhat similar to a famous scene in The Shining.

4.14 Sex and Violence

Dean and Sam discussing a murder:

Dean: Sounds like Ozzie and Harriet.

Sam: More like The Shining.

6.11 Appointment in Samarra

Bobby to Sam as he chops at the closet door to get to Bobby, again referencing the famous line from the movie.

Bobby: Don't say, "Here's Johnny."

7.20 The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo

Charlie's apartment is #237.

8.11 LARP and the Real Girl

While explaining away the uncharacteristically early arrival of the "FBI", Dean makes another reference to the phrase "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy":

Dean: Well, the FBI is all work... no play.

13.14 Good Intentions

After Donatello Redfield has been corrupted by the demon tablet, and locked in the Bunker's dungeon, Dean questions:

Dean: All right. What else do we know besides all work and no play makes Donatello a homicidal boy?