King said one of the main challenges of the sequel was to write something capable of terrifying readers who were now older and facing the really frightening things in life such as cancer and death. "A lot of people think of "The Shining" as one of the most scary books that they've read in their lives," he said. "And I'll say 'well yes, you were 14 years old, you were away at summer camp and you were reading with a flashlight under the covers. Of course I scared you, you were easy!'. Now they are all grown up and you know no matter what you write there will be a contingent who say 'well that wasn't very scary'".