For Halloween, The Book Club takes on Stephen King, the childhood behind The Shining, and the film adaptation

If your idea of Halloween involves a blanket, an ’80s classic, or a Stephen King novel, this is the podcast to put on this weekend. Hosted by Dominic Sandbrook and Tabitha Syrett, The Book Club is a freeflowing conversation about the books that shape the culture, drive the conversation, and change how we see things.

What to expect: The Book Club is a weekly podcast with episodes running from an hour to 90 minutes. Sandbrook and Syrett cover classics and contemporary titles alike, and they go well beyond the plot to explore cultural context, author histories, and the movements and moments behind each book. Episodes are timed to the calendar, with each pick tied to a major holiday, conversation, or season.

Since it’s Halloween, this week’s episode goes to Stephen King, the “King of Horror,” and The Shining, one of his best-known novels, which has an equally famous film adaptation. Over 80 minutes, the hosts discuss the film, note where it departs from the book, explore how King’s childhood shaped his writing, and range across his wider body of work.

What we liked: Much like a real book club meeting, the hosts don’t fuss over structure, which is the one setting where we’d call that a plus. The discussion is unburdened, they speak naturally and with passion, and they go past surface-level chit-chat to dig into the author’s psyche and offer their own readings. Despite its length, the episode flew by thanks to a light-hearted, accessible tone. Sandbrook and Syrett made observations we appreciated enough to save the podcast to our favorites.

The verdict: The Book Club is for anyone who loves stories and has an hour or two to spare on a weekend. With genres and authors rotating, there’s usually a discussion worth tuning into, whether it’s Sylvia Plath, the Brontë sisters, or the dystopian novels that somehow came true.

WHERE TO LISTEN- You can tune in on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anghami.