The History of the Overlook Hotel

Unfolds the hotel's dark past through Jack's research and the scrapbook, revealing a legacy of crime and corruption.

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The Scrapbook Discovery

The Hidden Record The Basement Find Jack discovers a white leather scrapbook in the basement, filled with newspaper clippings about the Overlook's history. It includes articles about Horace Derwent's ownership, the Mafia key club, and the gangland murder of Vito Gienelli. The Fascination Jack becomes obsessed with the scrapbook. He sees it as material for a book. He does not realize that the scrapbook was left for him deliberately by the hotel. The Clues The scrapbook contains clues about the hotel's true nature: it has been a place of violence and corruption for decades. The hotel's evil is not new; it has been growing for years.

Horace Derwent's Era

The Millionaire's Playground The Grand Opening Horace Derwent, a millionaire inventor and entrepreneur, buys the Overlook in 1945 and renovates it into a showplace. He throws a lavish masked ball on August 29, 1945, to celebrate the grand opening. The Decline Despite his wealth, Derwent cannot make the hotel profitable. He sells it in 1952 to a California group. The hotel's reputation for scandal begins. The Legacy Derwent's association with the hotel includes rumors of bootlegging, prostitution, and Mafia connections. He remains a shadowy figure, and the hotel seems to carry his corrupt influence.

The Mafia Key Club

The Criminal Haven The Purchase In 1963, a Las Vegas group called High Country Investments buys the Overlook and turns it into a key club for wealthy criminals. The hotel becomes a meeting place for Mafia figures. The Guests Notable visitors include Charles Grondin, "Baby Charlie" Battaglia, Richard Scarne, Peter Zeiss, and Vito "the Chopper" Gienelli. The hotel is used for illegal deals and entertainment. The Murder In June 1966, Gienelli and his two bodyguards are shot dead in the Presidential Suite. The murder is gangland-style. The hotel's reputation is permanently tarnished.

The Brothel Years

The Whorehouse Sylvia Hunter After the Mafia era, the hotel is owned by Sylvia Hunter, Derwent's ex-wife. She runs it as a high-class brothel. The hotel continues to be a place of vice. The Senator's Death A U.S. senator dies of a heart attack while with a prostitute. The scandal is covered up. The hotel's dark history deepens. The Pattern The hotel seems to attract and enable corruption. Each owner adds to its malevolent legacy. The scrapbook documents this pattern.

The Grady Tragedy

The Previous Caretaker The Hiring Stuart Ullman hires Delbert Grady as the winter caretaker in 1970. Grady has a wife and two daughters. Ullman later regrets the decision. The Murder-Suicide Grady, driven mad by isolation and alcohol, murders his wife and daughters with a hatchet and a shotgun, then kills himself. The bodies are found frozen. The Parallel Grady's story foreshadows Jack's fate. Both men are alcoholics who succumb to the hotel's influence. The hotel seems to repeat its patterns of violence.

The Hotel's Reputation

Local Knowledge Watson's Stories Watson, the maintenance man, tells Jack about the hotel's scandals: the woman who died in Room 217, the Mafia murder, the suicides. He says every big hotel has ghosts. The Chambermaid's Tale A chambermaid named Delores Vickery sees the ghost of Mrs. Massey in Room 217 and is fired. Her story spreads among the staff. The Collective Memory The hotel's dark history is known to locals but hidden from guests. The hotel's reputation as a haunted, evil place is well-established.

early November

1945-1952, referenced in the scrapbook

1963-1966, referenced in the scrapbook

1967-1968, referenced in the scrapbook

winter of 1970-71, referenced by Ullman

throughout the novel, as told by Watson and others