A sequel to The Shining. With Danny Torrance versus vampires. I shit you not.

Either another van hit Stephen King in the night and he’s lost his goddamn mind or he’s got some sort of a hook that justifies revisiting one of his early classics. The Shining is special stuff. Even considering the really weak miniseries attempt and the fact that despite being a classic, Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation really isn’t all that faithful.

Now AICN and Stephen King’s official site have told us that Mr. Sleep is coming.

What is Mr. Sleep?

A sequel to The Shining that pits a now-grown Danny Torrance (who survived the events of the first story thanks partially to his “shine” and the little boy named Tony who lives in his mouth) against a roving band of vampires. Bizarre. Is it another case of King tightening his universe and Torrance is just another convenient piece of connective tissue or is there simply more stories left to tell that tie directly to the original?

Whatever it is, I’ll take it. King has been a shadow of his former self for some time now and this could be a nice sweet spot for the author.

Here’s hoping we get to hear about what happened after the Overlook. What remnants of his father still haunt Danny. And if King can match the vampire action of Salem’s Lot, another classic.

Cautiously optimistic. And weirded out. Stay tuned…