`SHINING': IT'LL KEEP YOU UP FOR THREE NIGHTS : STEPHEN KING'S THE SHINING.

Byline: Jay Bobbin Tribune Media Services 

Author Stephen King has been scaring people for years.

One of his most popular books is ``The Shining.'' The initial inspiration for his best seller, which was made into a film in 1980, and comes to television as a six-hour miniseries, came from a Colorado drive he took with his wife while seeking a subject for a book. ``We went past a sign that said, `Roads may be closed after October','' King recalls. ``I said, `Whoa, wait a minute, something's happening here,' and we got to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. We were the only guests there that night, and the wind was high, and one of the shutters had come unanchored and was clapping against the side of the building.

``The orchestra was still there and playing, and the music was echoing down the hall,'' he continued. ``It was like God had put me there to hear that and see those things, and by the time I went to bed that night, I had the whole book in my mind.''

In its first film rendering, ``The Shining'' was directed by Stanley Kubrick with Jack Nicholson in the starring role. Now, it's being revisited as a miniseries spread over three nights. The new version, which airs Sunday, Monday and Thursday on ABC, was adapted by King and returns to the isolated and foreboding Overlook Hotel, where newly hired winter caretaker Jack Torrance (now played by Steven Weber, ``Wings''), his wife Wendy (Rebecca De Mornay) and their clairvoyant young son Danny (Courtland Mead) begin experiencing the site's bizarre past.

A recovering alcoholic and aspiring writer, Jack is seduced by the place's lethal history into developing murderous tendencies himself, with the rest of his family in peril as a blizzard bears down on the Overlook. Directed by frequent King collaborator Mick Garris (``The Stand''), the melodrama also features Elliott Gould, Wil Horneff, Melvin Van Peebles and Pat Hingle.

King explains that in order to give ``The Shining'' new life as a TV venture, a deal was made between three parties. The other two besides himself being Warner Bros. (which released the original film) and Kubrick. ``One of Stanley Kubrick's stipulations, in order to make this thing happen, was that I would not talk about his version, so I don't. I can't. If you ask me about it, I'll say, `No comment.' ''

Garris maintains he wasn't intimidated in remaking ``The Shining,'' though he deems Kubrick a genius. ``He's one of the great filmmakers of our time, but he made Stanley Kubrick's `The Shining,' and I felt my job was to make Stephen King's `The Shining.' We went back to the book, so this is very different. There are a lot of important elements that we thought should be treated in a cinematic manner, particularly the whole subject of abuse and alcoholism and responsibility, and the whole idea of familial and parental guilt. All of those things were what the book was about, and what Steve's script was about.''

Nicholson's ``Shining'' portrayal of Jack arguably is one of his best-remembered performances, but Weber claims he was able to separate himself from any thoughts of that while doing his rendition. ``I'm a fan of the genre,'' he said, ``if indeed this is an entry in the horror genre, because it's much more complex than that. I think we all had a lot of fun, so as well as being a good acting role, it was just a blast to do.

``You do have to build up to certain things in this story, and it does take a little time to come down, but the environment was very secure. Everybody was very supportive, so in those times when we had to be vulnerable enough to go to those dark and clammy places, it wasn't that bad.''

King feels fans of the book will expect the overriding sense of darkness that's retained by the TV edition, but he allows that others may not. However, he concludes, ``We're promising them a scary ride, but one that I'm sure they'll come back from alive.''

When: 9 p.m. April 27, April 28 and May 1

Network: ABC

Starring: Steven Weber, Rebecca De Mornay, Courtland Mead

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Photo: (Cover--Color) `The Shining's' Overlook Hotel is dying for bu siness

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