Horace Derwent

Horace Derwent is a fictional hotelier and a minor character featured in the 1977 horror novel The Shining by author Stephen King. He appeared again in King's 2013 sequel Doctor Sleep. The character also appeared in the 1997 television adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining.

Biography
Horace M. Derwent was an American entrepreneur and businessman with ties to organized crime. He purchased the Overlook Hotel in the Rocky Mountains in 1946 and maintained direct ownership until 1952. When Derwent officially re-opened the hotel, he celebrated with large costume ball. Derwent ultimately sold the hotel to a group of investors from California. Charles Grondin purchased the overlook in 1952.

High Country Investments purchased the Overlook Hotel in 1963. The spokesman for the company was Robert T. Leffing. Horace Derwent later re-invested himself into the hotel and gained controlling interest, and used it as a platform to conduct illicit operations involving members of organized crime. There were several mob hits that took place at the hotel in the 1960s. Gangster Vittorio Gienelli, as well as his two bodyguards, Victor T. Boorman and Roger Macassi were shot to death in a mob hit in June, 1966.

Horace Derwent eventually died, the manner of which is unclear, and his spirit became one of many that resided inside the estate. His widow, Sylvia Hunter Derwent, became the owner of the Overlook from 1967 until 1968.

Years later, young Danny Torrance, the son of the hotel's winter caretaker, Jack Torrance, saw a grotesque ghostly representation of Derwent in the hotel that frightened him.

Derwent's ghost lived on even beyond the destruction of the Overlook. Like all the ghosts, Derwent coveted Danny Torrance's psychic power, and sought to lay claim to him. Danny's fellow telepath, Dick Hallorann taught Danny how to construct psychic lock-boxes, which Danny used to imprison Derwent after he had tried to attack him as an adult.

Dan Torrance found himself in conflict with a cult called the True Knot, who were a group of semi-immortals who sated themselves by absorbing the power given off by dying psychics, which they called "steam". Danny released Horace Derwent's spirit and he subsequently murdered Silent Sarey.

Notes & Trivia



 * Horace Derwent did not make a direct identifiable appearance in the 1980 The Shining feature film by director Stanley Kubrick.


 * Although Horace Derwent did not appear in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, there is a ghost seen in the hotel, who could possibly be Derwent. An injured guest appears as a balding, middle-aged man with a grey mustache. He is briefly seen in the lounge wearing a tuxedo and holding up a drink glass. He has a large, bloody gash running across his scalp. This man was played by an uncredited extra.


 * Another ghost from Kubrick's film that could possibly be Derwent is a man seen engaged in homosexual congress with Roger the Dog man. This detail hearkens back to a piece from the novel, which established Roger having ties to Derwent. This man was played by an uncredited extra.


 * It was Horace Derwent who developed Denver Croquet, which is the same as traditional croquet except that the ball and the mallets are bigger. Like everything related to the Overlook, Derwent wanted things to be larger than life.


 * According to Stuart Ullman many years after the fact, Horace Derwent "saved the Overlook from extinction".


 * Actor John Durbin is no stranger to playing in films that feature hotels. In fact, his very first movie role was a bit part in the 1983 film Rock 'n' Roll Hotel.

Appearances

 * Doctor Sleep (novel)
 * Shining, The (novel)
 * Stephen King's The Shining