Excerpt from 'Room 274' by Killian H. Gore - Taken from The Shining Quiz Book

ROOM 274

by

Killian H. Gore

Letter #1 from Jacob Donaldson to Mr. Elkind – dated 11^th March 2011

Dear Mr. Elkind,

My name’s Jacob Donaldson from the UK and I’m the host of a YouTube channel called Jacob’s Heebie Jeebies. A few months ago I was on the top floor of Roy’s Antiques in Ealing when I found a rather peculiar book. I had been casually looking for strange objects to further decorate my study whilst I was researching the nearby Castle Hill Hotel – a rather haunted and spooky little establishment that is featured on my channel (check out the video, if you get the chance).

         I discovered the book at the base of a wonderfully gothic small chest of drawers. Clearly it had fallen down there at some point in time and remained hidden from view for who knows how long.

         It’s called The Last Room by Caleb Baldwin and there’s a possibility, considering your location, that you may know something about it. However, having thoroughly researched it, I can find no records of its existence. There is no publishing house or printing company listed anywhere throughout the entire book (including the cover). I can’t find any information about the author either. All I can surmise is that the book is one of a kind and was perhaps homemade.

         I have spoken with some antique experts about the chest of drawers in the hope that their history would shed some light on the book. The date 1899 is carved into the base of them but there are no visible indications of which company produced them. It is more likely they are a bespoke piece created for a wealthy client or maybe something a carpenter made for his own use. Unfortunately nothing more could be determined from a mere visual evaluation of the drawers. Their history would have to be researched more thoroughly and I don’t really have the time or resources to pursue this endeavor presently. 

         However, it is the contents of the book that are most relevant at the moment. The hotel featured in the book is your hotel, The Golden Dome Hotel in Skarrow, Alaska. I figured that whilst the hotel is specifically named that you or someone else employed by you (past or present) might be able to shed some light on it.

         Are you aware of any stories surrounding room 274 at the hotel? Anything strange? I tried to find more about your hotel online but I could only find this address and your name. I realize that maybe the hotel is no longer in business and I’m just waffling to myself here! So I’ll keep it at that for now.

         I hope to hear back from you soon,

         My best wishes,

         Jacob

Letter #2 from William Elkind to Jacob Donaldson – dated April 13^th 2011

Dear Mr. Donaldson,

Thank you for getting in touch. My apologies for the late response. The Golden Dome Hotel is indeed closed down. It has been out of business for the past five years now. I still own the building and live nearby in Skarrow. I make monthly visits to check on things and look for mail – though this is the first time in three years that there’s actually been any! It took me rather by surprise – especially the contents of the letter.

         There indeed were stories connected to room 274. I don’t know if it’s mentioned in your book but there are actually only twenty rooms at the Golden Dome. When my father opened the hotel he must have decided against having a room 13 – I believe other hotels also don’t have a room 13 or even a 13^th floor. Unlucky for some, I guess! The numbers 2, 7 and 4 obviously add up to 13 and so I suppose it was my father’s humorous idea to use 274 instead. Or maybe he just wanted the hotel to seem bigger!

         It’s quite amazing that there’s a book about the hotel and the room. I’d love to read it. Does it say what year it was published? With it being so rare I wouldn’t expect you to lend it to me by post. If there is any chance you could have it photocopied and sent over I would gladly pay all of the costs. Alternatively if you wanted to fly over here and see the hotel for yourself (maybe shoot a video for you channel?) that would be fantastic. You would be most welcome to stay at my home if it allowed me the opportunity to read the book. With the Golden Dome being in my life since I was born I would naturally be very keen to read it.

         But, you know something Jacob? Room 274 scares me.

The hotel may not have a website but I’m no technophobe. I’ve got an email address. I will tell you more when I hear back from you. It’s billelkind@mailtoz.com.

         I look forward to your email!

         Bill

Taken from The Shining Quiz Book by Killian H. Gore

Heeere’s The Shining Quiz Book! Featuring 237 trivia-filled questions on Stanley Kubrick’s classic version of Stephen King’s novel.

With bonus sections on Stanley Kubrick, Stephen King, Jack Nicholson, Haunted House movies and some hauntingly difficult questions on The Shining that might just hurt your head real bad!

So come and play the quiz with us. Forever… and ever… and ever!

Also features the chilling new The Shining-inspired Killian H. Gore short story, Room 274.

OUT TO BUY NOW FROM AMAZON

The Shining Quiz Book - A Selection of Questions

1. Where were the opening scenes of Jack driving through the mountains filmed?

A) Cairngorms National Park, Scotland

B) Yosemite National Park, California

C) Glacier National Park, Montana

D) Tongass National Forest, Alaska

2. Which actual hotel in Oregon was used as the exterior of the Overlook Hotel for some of the wide shots?

A) Chateau Marmont

B) Mohonk Mountain House

C) The Stanley Hotel

D) Timberline Lodge

3. Who co-wrote the screenplay for The Shining with Stanley Kubrick?

A) Stephen King

B) Diane Johnson

C) Frederic Raphael

D) Michael Herr

4. What was Stephen King’s sequel to his original novel of The Shining called?

A) Revival

B) Doctor Sleep

C) Finders Keepers

D) The Wind Through the Keyhole

5. In which Hollywood blockbuster is The Shining seen playing on a drive-in theater screen that gets destroyed?

A) Independence Day

B) The Day After Tomorrow

C) Twister

D) Into the Storm

6. Who plays Jack Torrance in the television miniseries adaptation of The Shining?

A) Steven Weber

B) Gary Sinise

C) Tom Skerritt

D) Jimmy Smits

7. Which type of drink does Grady accidently spill over Jack in the Gold Room?

A) Coquito

B) Eggnog

C) Advocaat

D) Red wine

8. In which television comedy was The Shining spoofed in a Halloween special called The Shinning?

A) Family Guy

B) South Park

C) Futurama

D) The Simpsons

9. From which television show does Jack’s famous line, “Heeere’s Johnny!” come from?

A) Johnny Ringo

B) Jonny Quest

C) The Johnny Cash Show

D) The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

10. What is the year in the photograph at the end of the film of the July 4^th Ball at the Overlook Hotel?

A) 1920

B) 1921

C) 1922

D) 1923

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE ANSWERS!!!

1) C - Glacier National Park, Montana (some footage from this second unit shoot was given to Ridley Scott by Kubrick for use in the original release of Blade Runner)

2) D - Timberline Lodge

3) B - Diane Johnson (apparently Stephen King also had written a draft of the screenplay which Kubrick didn’t use)

4) B - Doctor Sleep (in the afterword in Doctor Sleep, King notes that the sequel follows his novel rather than Kubrick’s film)

5) C - Twister

6) A - Steven Weber

7) C - Advocaat

8) D - The Simpsons (changed to The Shinning to avoid being sued!)

9) D - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (the show’s announcer, Ed McMahon, would introduce Johnny Carson with the catchphrase every night for 30 years. It is often written that Nicholson improvised the line though he claims it was always in the script)

10) B – 1921 (the photograph was actually a real photo from the 1920s into which Jack Nicholson had been airbrushed in)

Taken from The Shining Quiz Book by Killian H. Gore

Heeere’s The Shining Quiz Book! Featuring 237 trivia-filled questions on Stanley Kubrick’s classic version of Stephen King’s novel.

With bonus sections on Stanley Kubrick, Stephen King, Jack Nicholson, Haunted House movies and some hauntingly difficult questions on The Shining that might just hurt your head real bad!

So come and play the quiz with us. Forever… and ever… and ever!

Also features the chilling new The Shining-inspired Killian H. Gore short story, Room 274.

OUT TO BUY NOW FROM AMAZON

Universal Monsters 10 Questions - From The Monster Squad Quiz Book

1. What was Boris Karloff’s real name?

A) Marion Mitchell Morrison

B) Archibald Alexander Leach

C) William Henry Pratt

D) Maurice Joseph Micklewhite

2. What was the name of 1998 biopic about James Whale starring Ian Mckellen as Whale?

A) Immortal Beloved

B) Gods and Monsters

C) Permanent Midnight

D) Waiting for the Moon

3. Which Universal Monster movie had started out as story treatment entitled Cagliostro?

A) Creature from the Black Lagoon

B) The Mummy

C) Dracula

D) The Invisible Man

4. Which comedic actors made a string of “Meet…” movies with the Universal Monsters?

A) Abbott and Costello

B) Laurel and Hardy

C) The Three Stooges

D) The Marx Brothers

5. Where did Béla Lugosi embark on a 1950’s theatre tour of the stage production of Dracula?

A) France

B) UK

C) Spain

D) Australia

6. In which language was the alternative version of Dracula (1931) filmed, which was shot at night on the same sets as the English-language version?

A) French

B) German

C) Italian

D) Spanish

7. Which legendary Hollywood star appeared in an uncredited role as a lab technician in Revenge of the Creature before he became famous?

A) Jack Nicholson

B) Dustin Hoffman

C) Clint Eastwood

D) Gene Hackman

8. Where does the majority of Creature from the Black Lagoon take place?

A) The Congo

B) The Amazon

C) The Everglades

D) Costa Rica

9. What is the name of Claude Rains’ character in The Invisible Man?

A) Dr. John Talbot

B) Dr. Jack Griffin

C) Dr. Erique Claudin

D) Dr. George Edward Challenger

10. Which musical instrument was Erique Claudin renowned for playing in Phantom of the Opera (1943)?

A) The violin

B) The piano

C) The pipe organ

D) The flute

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE ANSWERS!!!

1) C - William Henry Pratt (for the record, the other names were: Marion Mitchell Morrison – John Wayne; Archibald Alexander Leach – Cary Grant and Maurice Joseph Micklewhite – Michael Caine)

2) B - Gods and Monsters

3) B - The Mummy (the script based on the Cagliostro story was firstly named Imhotep before being changed to The Mummy)

4) A - Abbott and Costello (Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein; Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff; Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man; Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy – They also encountered the Creature from the Black Lagoon in a short sketch on NBC’s Colgate Comedy Hour)

5) B – UK (the stage production toured to such places as Brighton, Eastbourne, Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Leicester, Chatham, Cambridge, Chiswick, Luton and Derby)

6) D – Spanish (the Spanish version is seen by some to be a superior movie partly due to the fact that the Spanish crew were able to watch the footage from the Lugosi version being shot in the daytime and improve upon it)

7) C - Clint Eastwood

8) B - The Amazon

9) B - Dr. Jack Griffin (aka The Invisible Man)

10) A - The violin

Taken from The Monster Squad Unauthorized Quiz Book

OUT TO BUY NOW FROM AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE!

Have you got nards big enough to take on the ultimate quiz about Fred Dekker’s fantastic The Monster Squad? If you want to join the club, you’re going to have to pass the test!

Featuring over 200 questions including bonus sections on Dracula, Frankenstein, Werewolf and Universal Monster movies.

Plus the BRAND NEW Killian H. Gore short story ‘Creature Food’ inspired by The Monster Squad.

So if you’re a fan of the movie, why not take the goddamn quiz!?

“The Monster Squad is the perfect fusion of classic kids' adventure and creature-feature. A spellbinding tale of childhood and monsters that is equally suspenseful and charming. As a kid, this film captured my imagination like no other. It was my gateway drug to all things horror and fantasy, so I can't wait to see if I pass the Squad initiation with this bitchin’ quiz book!” – DAN PALMER

“The Monster Squad is pure 80's movie heaven. What other movie brings together Dracula, The Mummy, The Wolfman and Frankenstein! Killian H. Gore has done it again with another awesome quiz book!” – TONY NEWTON

“One thing this movie has taught me is to make sure when I have kids, they have a cool treehouse for their monster club” – REYNA YOUNG