12 Stephen King Universe Fan Theories That Make A Surprising Amount Of Sense

Little Danny Torrance is not the only one with "the shine" and an aptitude for the abnormal. Actually, many of King's characters have some type of otherworldly ability, including Carrie from her self-titled book and Charlie from Firestarter. No reference to "the shine" is as clear as Mother Abagail's in The Stand; it ties her story directly back to The Shining.

"My own grandmother used to call it the shining lamp of God, sometimes just the shine," she says in reference to that special mystical talent.

Shine on, Mother Abagail.

The fictional Shawshank Prison is mentioned in many King works besides Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. Dolores Claiborne, Bag of Bones, It, and Apt Pupil all reference the correctional facility. It is also mentioned throughout 11/22/63. In the sixth Dark Tower novel, John Cullum says he used to work at the Maine State Prison. The Maine State Prison is also referred to as Shawshank.

In It, Eddie Corchoran's stepfather is sent to Shawshank for killing his youngest stepson, Dorsey.

Stephen King loves small towns in Maine and the vast majority of his stories are set in little hamlets of The Pine Tree State. There are a few towns that serve as settings or passing references in many of King's novels. Castle Rock, for example, is the backdrop for The Dead Zone, Cujo, Needful Things, The Dark Half, and others. Derry is a frequent setting as well, providing the locale for It, Bag of Bones, Insomnia, parts of 11/22/63, and many more.

The fact that all of these fictional works are set in the same communities is perhaps the strongest evidence of a shared King universe.

In The Shining, Dick Hallorann is the Overlook Hotel caretaker. He recognizes "the shine" and supernatural gifts in Jack's young son Danny. It also seems that Hallorann appears in It. Mike Hanlon is the last member of the Loser's Club and his father once served in the army with one Dick Hallorann.

That's quite an unusual name so it's very likely that Dick from The Shining and Dick from It are one and the same.

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (filmed as The Shawshank Redemption in 1994) also ties into Apt Pupil. In the latter work, Denker says that a man named Dufresne once helped him buy stocks under a fake name. Dufresne, a banker, went on to kill his wife and was sent to prison. 

How many Dufresnes worked in banking and were sent to prison for murdering their spouse in a small-town Maine locale? Likely only one: Andy Dufresne from Shawshank. If that's true then two more of King's works are connected.

The Dark Tower series could easily be considered Stephen King's masterwork. There are currently eight volumes in the series, telling an epic tale of science fiction, fantasy, gun-slinging, mystery, and horror. Because of the vast nature of his work (4,250 pages total), King has plenty of opportunities to reference his other tales; the Dark Tower is filled with allusions.

The places and characters referenced come from a number of sources, including It, 'Salem's Lot, The Stand, Cujo, Dreamcatcher, Hearts in Atlantis, and Cell, to name just a few.