Listen Full Story:
Read Full Story:
Danny Torrance grew up haunted by memories of the Overlook Hotel, where his father Jack, driven mad by the malevolent spirits of the place, had tried to kill him and his mother. Now an adult, Danny has become Dan, a man struggling with the same demons that consumed his father—alcoholism, anger, and the ghosts of the past. He drifts from town to town, working menial jobs, drowning his psychic abilities—his “shine”—in drink. But even alcohol cannot silence the whispers of the dead that sometimes reach out to him. After years of running, he finally lands in the small town of Frazier, New Hampshire, where he decides to start over.
In Frazier, Dan takes a job at a hospice, where his ability to comfort the dying earns him the nickname “Doctor Sleep.” He can sense when a patient is about to die, and with the help of a cat named Azzie—who always curls up beside those nearing the end—Dan eases their passing with calm words and a gentle touch. Though haunted by his past, this work gives him a fragile peace and a purpose. He also joins Alcoholics Anonymous and finds friendship with Billy Freeman, a kind older man who becomes his sponsor and confidant.
Elsewhere, a young girl named Abra Stone is born with a shine even stronger than Dan’s. As a baby, she startles her parents by making spoons bend and by causing psychic disturbances when upset. As she grows, her powers become more pronounced—she can project her thoughts across great distances, move objects with her mind, and even communicate telepathically. One night, when she is still very young, she senses the horror of a boy being tortured and killed hundreds of miles away. This boy, Bradley Trevor, is murdered by a traveling group known as the True Knot.
The True Knot appear to be ordinary middle-aged travelers who roam America in RVs, but they are actually semi-immortal psychic vampires. They feed on “steam,” a psychic essence released when people with the shine are slowly tortured to death. Their leader, Rose the Hat, is charismatic, cruel, and centuries old. She and her followers live off the steam of children like Bradley, whom they hunt down and kill to sustain their unnatural existence. But after Abra psychically witnesses one of their murders, Rose becomes aware of her. The power within Abra’s shining is unlike anything Rose has ever felt—it could feed the True Knot for years. Rose becomes obsessed with finding her.
Meanwhile, Abra and Dan, though strangers, begin to sense each other. Abra sends mental messages that appear as chalk words on Dan’s wall, and he responds through his thoughts. Over time, they build a bond that feels almost familial. Dan recognizes her as a powerful shiner, and he becomes both protective and fearful for her. Abra, fearless and curious, begins to call him “Uncle Dan.” When she tells him what she saw—the murder of Bradley and the group that calls itself the True Knot—Dan realizes that the evil forces that once tormented him have not gone away. They’ve simply evolved.
The True Knot, however, are facing their own crisis. A new disease—a mutated strain of measles—has infected them through one of their victims, and their immortality does not protect them from it. They begin to sicken and die. Rose sees Abra’s power as the answer to their survival. She orders her followers to find the girl and bring her in alive so they can extract her steam. Abra, terrified, reaches out to Dan for help. Through Billy and Dan’s AA friends, they begin to devise a plan to protect her. Dan realizes that to save Abra, he must confront both Rose and his own dark inheritance.
Dan and Abra’s psychic connection deepens as Rose begins her pursuit. The True Knot track Abra through her mind, but she fights back with strength that even surprises herself. When they try to spy on her through the astral plane, she traps one of them—nicknamed Snakebite Andi—and kills her by turning her own psychic trick against her. The attack enrages Rose, who vows revenge. Abra’s courage is powerful, but Dan knows that Rose’s hunger will not stop until one of them is dead.
To protect Abra, Dan and Billy travel with her father, David Stone, to confront the remaining members of the True Knot. They lure them into an ambush at a campground. Using Abra’s psychic visions and Dan’s connection to the dead, they manage to kill several members, including Crow Daddy, Rose’s lover and chief lieutenant. But the confrontation comes at a cost—Abra’s father is killed during the fight, and Rose is left more determined than ever to destroy them.
The final battle draws Dan back to the place that shaped his entire life: the site of the Overlook Hotel. The hotel itself burned down decades ago, but its foundation still stands, and the land remains steeped in evil. Rose believes Abra will come there, sensing the psychic power that lingers in the ruins. Dan realizes that this is where they must make their stand. Together with Abra and Billy, he returns to the mountains of Colorado. As they arrive, the ghosts of the Overlook awaken once more—those same spirits that had tormented his father and driven him to murder. Dan can feel them pressing against his mind, whispering, tempting him to give in to the darkness.
Rose the Hat arrives, confident and powerful. She underestimates the strength of Dan and Abra working together. As she attacks Abra’s mind, Dan steps forward and reveals the monstrous spirits trapped within him—ghosts he has carried since childhood. Using the psychic lockboxes he learned to build in his mind, he unleashes them all on Rose. The revenants from the Overlook—famished and enraged—turn on her, feeding on her instead. Rose’s screams echo through the night as the spirits consume her, finally destroying the leader of the True Knot.
But victory comes at a price. The Overlook’s dark energy grows unstable, as if the land itself remembers the fires that once destroyed the hotel. Dan realizes the only way to save Abra is to sacrifice himself. He tells her to run as the ground begins to tremble. In his final moments, Dan feels the presence of his father, Jack Torrance—no longer the murderous caretaker, but a spirit redeemed in death. Jack helps him stay strong long enough to let Abra escape. The remnants of the Overlook finally burn away once more, taking Dan and the last of its evil with it.
Years later, Abra continues to live her life, older and wiser but still haunted by the memory of what happened. She visits her mother and recalls Dan’s final message to her—that life, even with all its pain, is worth living, and that she must use her gift to help others, not hide from it. Like Dan, she begins to comfort those near death, passing on the peace and understanding that he gave to so many. Sometimes, in quiet moments, she still hears his voice—calm, steady, and kind—guiding her, like a guardian in the dark.
And somewhere beyond the veil of the living, Doctor Sleep finally rests.