Joined this board specifically to ask this question:
I've always found the internal logic of King's books to be pretty tight. In The Shining, Jack clearly believes (and we're given no reason to doubt him) that Horace Derwent is alive, as Jack makes several inquiries as to whether he still owns a piece of the overlook. However, Derwent is present in the Overlook's re-creation of the party from the 40s. An explanation I read, which seems plausible, is that Derwent is still alive as an old man (he was based on Howard Hughes, who died roughly around the publication date), but that some psychic/ghostly remant of him in the 40s has remained at the overlook.
Something about this just struck me as off. Anyone else?
I've always found the internal logic of King's books to be pretty tight. In The Shining, Jack clearly believes (and we're given no reason to doubt him) that Horace Derwent is alive, as Jack makes several inquiries as to whether he still owns a piece of the overlook. However, Derwent is present in the Overlook's re-creation of the party from the 40s. An explanation I read, which seems plausible, is that Derwent is still alive as an old man (he was based on Howard Hughes, who died roughly around the publication date), but that some psychic/ghostly remant of him in the 40s has remained at the overlook.
Contrast this with Dr. Sleep, which presents Derwent as one of the standard ghosts (actually, not standard, but as a horrid monster at the end - Also, Halloran describes him as amongst the dead people who know that something worse is waiting for them on the other side) haunting the Overlook/Danny, who's remant is still available to Danny in 2013.