You Can Now Reenact the Hedge Maze Scene From The Shining

The Stanley Hotel wants to make your worst Stephen King-induced nightmares come true.

The Estes Park, Colorado-based hotel became famous after its spooky, purportedly-haunted halls inspired the horror writer's most famous setting, The Shining's Overlook Hotel. Now, its visitors can reenact the movie adaptation's climax—the hedge maze chase in which protagonist-turned-villain Jack Torrance runs after his son Danny while wielding an ax.

John W. Cullen recently commemorated two decades of owning The Stanley Hotel by constructing a labyrinth inspired by The Shining on its grounds. Its twists and turns were created by New York-based architect Mairim Dallaryan Standing, who won a public competition to design the hedge maze earlier this year.

The maze scene was not in the original book, and was also never actually filmed at The Stanley Hotel. However, Cullen told The New York Times that guests went looking for the path so often that he finally broke down and created it to make them happy.

The 10,100 square-foot maze is a fun addition to the grounds and should prove to be an even bigger draw than its other spooky offerings, which include zombie-themed film festivals, psychic readings, and ghost tours. However, guests shouldn’t expect Standing’s maze to look just like the one from The Shining's popular movie adaption. She chose to build it with 3-foot juniper trees—not 13-foot ones—because the hotel didn’t want children to get lost. Although some grown visitors have expressed dismay over the decision, The Shining's kindergarten-aged Danny probably would have approved. 

[h/t Smithsonian]