The Shining's Twins Explained & Why The Movie Changed The Grady Sisters

The film is deeply enigmatic, filled with mysteries and vague allusions about which fans still theorize to this day. One of the most prominent topics of speculation is the meaning of the Grady twins. The identical twin sisters, spirits of two children murdered by the previous caretaker Delbert Grady, are the subject of one of the movie’s most haunting scenes. The appearance poses numerous questions, including whether the twins are good or evil, what they represent for young Danny Torrance, and why they constitute one of the many changes from the Shining book to the movie.

The Twins' Role In The Shining Movie Explained

The Shining Twins Embody The Forever-Building Dread

In discussions of the particular brand of fear that Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining manifests, a word that recurs again and again is “dread.” Better than perhaps any other film ever made, The Shining uses its imagery and atmosphere to create a feeling of dread in the viewer. From the moment that the audience learns of the previous caretaker family’s terrible fate, every image, from the elevator of blood to the terrifying stillness of the Grady twins, is intended to build upon the crushing certainty of Wendy and Danny’s murder.

The twins’ memorable line, “come and play with us Danny, forever… and ever… and ever” intercut with flashes of their grisly end, is a not-so-subtle allusion to Danny’s own potential fate. On a psychological level, Danny, who has already faced abuse at the hands of his father, sees the murdered twins as a haunting manifestation of what can happen to the children of a violent man.

In the film, the Grady girls are the daughters of the former caretaker who murdered them, his wife and himself. Danny’s visions of two girls lying bloody beside an axe fit the description of the Grady family’s death. Lisa and Louise Burns have said the blood scene was one of the last shot for the movie. Stanley Kubrick was such a perfectionist that he had planned exactly how he was going to pour the blood over them, so their main concern was just staying really, really still.

Why The Grady Sisters Haunt The Overlook Hotel

The Creepy Twins In The Shining May Be The Only Friendly Spirits In The Film

It’s clear that the Overlook Hotel is a haunted, malevolent place that preserves the souls who die in it. However, this doesn’t explain why the Grady sisters don’t act like the other ghosts present at the hotel, who seem to work as a monolith bent on driving Jack Torrance into murderous insanity. It’s likely that the twins, despite their sinister appearance, are trying to help Danny. After all, it's explained that they were killed after trying to burn down the Overlook; the girls were aware of the hotel’s dark power and tried to put an end to it.

One Shining twins theory even suggests that the Grady sisters may have had “the Shine”, a power which allows them to telepathically to communicate with Danny directly. When the twins show Danny images of their own death accompanied by the haunting “forever... and ever… and ever,” they’re not just trying to scare him; they’re warning him. Later in the movie, Jack tells Danny “I wish we could stay here forever... and ever... and ever.” The twins have given Danny context to understand this line for what it is: a sign that he and his mother are in grave danger of meeting the same end they did.

How The Shining Movie Changed The Sisters Compared To Stephen King's Book

Kubrick’s Shining puts far more focus on the Grady sisters than Stephen King’s original novel. In the book, the girls are mentioned a few times but never feature. While they are not named, they are described as “cute as buttons.” Most importantly, King’s novel positions the girls as sisters, but not twins. The Grady girls are 8 and 10 years old in the novel. Kubrick changed the Grady sisters to two identical twins, Alexa and Alexie. The original casting call wasn’t for twins at all, just sisters, Lisa Burns has said. After seeing her and her sister’s audition, "Stanley decided twins were just spookier."

The sight of the identical pair speaking to Danny in monotone unison is one of cinema’s most enduringly creepy images. Kubrick’s reason for the change likely comes down to a desire to enhance the motif of doubles which runs through The Shining’s story. The novel is full of characters who are paired with unsettling reflections of themselves.

Danny has his imaginary friend, Tony, Jack has the previous caretaker, Dilbert Grady. By turning the sisters into twins, Kubrick enriches the theme, encouraging the viewer to reflect on the unsettling phenomenon of the double.

Who Are The Twins In The Shining?

The twins are played by Lisa and Louise Burns, who were 10 when they started filming Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel. They finished after they celebrated their 11th birthday on the set. In the film, they play the Grady girls, daughters of the former caretaker who murdered them, his wife and himself. Even while Kubrick was shooting, he still hadn’t cast Louise and Lisa Burns in those roles. His assistant, Leon Vitali, saw them for the roles before Kubrick did. Vitali knew right away that when he showed them to Stanley, Stanley would respond positively. He did, and they were pretty much cast right on the spot.

The Shining Twins In Pop Culture

The Ghosts Of The Twins Resonate With Viewers More Than Almost Anything Else In The Shining

It's difficult to overstate the cultural legacy and pop culture impact of The Shining. Not only is it considered one of the best Stephen King adaptations, but it's also regarded as the highpoint of the career of legendary director Stanley Kubrick, and the performance that made Jack Nicholson a household name. Even if the film existed in a vacuum away from the legacies of King and Kubrick, The Shining would still be regarded as one of the best horror movies ever made - an example of a movie responsible for the fame of the names attached to it, rather than one buoyed by them.

Given just how iconic the film is, it's no surprise that The Shining has been parodied time and time again in other movies as well as many TV shows. However, it's interesting just how often The Shining twins in particular have been used over the decades. Considering just how little the Grady Twins actually feature in the film, it's something of a surprise at just how much they, of all the creepy goings-on in Kubrick's 1980 horror, have appeared in or been referenced in the years since - especially in media that's about as far from the horror genre as it's possible to be.

For example, children's movies seem like the last place a reference to a film as dark and, to many, disturbing as The Shining should appear. However, many family films contain Easter-Egg nods to the classic Stephen King adaptation, with many of these being obvious and direct parodies of the creepy twins in The Shining. For example, 2016's The Angry Birds movie contains a The Shining parody sequence when Red (the titular angry bird) sneaks into the Pig Castle. During this scene, two of the green Pigs are dressed as the Grady twins, though instead of inviting Red to play with them, they instead say "REDRUM".

Another example in a family-friendly movie comes in the 2015 SpongeBob SquarePants film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water. This reference is less on-the-nose than Angry Birds, and comes during a moment when Plankton jumps inside SpongeBob's brain to explore his mind. Among the many bizarre things Plankton finds there are a twin pair of popsicles who speak exactly like The Shining twins, and for older viewers familiar with the 1980 movie, the reference is obvious.

Kids TV shows aren't exempt either, as pony versions of The Shining twins have been spotted in the background of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "Where The Apple Lies". There are then, of course, the expected parodies from shows like The Simpson and Family Guy, both of which have included direct and obvious spoofs of the twins from The Shining among the dozens of references both have made to the film. Their matching dresses have spread beyond the screen too, and YouTube tutorials dedicated to the costumes go viral every autumn.

While Kubrick's groundbreaking horror has no shortage of iconic moments, it does seem that one that resonates the most with audiences is also one of the most simple. As evidenced by how frequently they're parodied, The Shining twins are now just as synonymous with the movie as the elevator of blood or Jack Nicholson's unforgettable delivery of the line "here's Johnny!".