Needful Things, by Stephen King

Needful Things is another book by Stephen King. The book is set in Castle Rock, Maine, just like a few of his other books. The book follows the opening of a small shop in the town called “Needful Things”, owned by a man named Leland Gaunt.

The shop itself holds magical properties in that it has items that characters in the story want the most. For example, in Myra Evans case, she wants most a framed picture of Elvis Presley. Leland is actually tricking the people into believing these items exist, when in reality they are nothing more than junk. Many of his items are actually aging and tattered and do not hold true to the ideas of those who pursue them. Closer to the end of the book, it is revealed to the reader that Leland has been going from town to town for hundreds of years and is some kind of supernatural entity.


Leland does not let each character in the book simply buy the item. To obtain the items the characters must perform pranks and practical jokes on other people in the town. This quickly gets out of hand, and plunges the town into dissonance. Alan Pangborn, the towns sheriff, eventually finds out that these jokes are tied to Leland and drives him out of the town, but not before many of the townspeople are dead.

The book is very sinister in that it plays on an innocent shopkeeper for such nefarious deeds. Leland’s evil is apparent and early on in the book the reader realizes there is something wrong.

Like The Cycle of the Werewolf, King’s work really shows through in his detail and wild imagination. Even though he has many, many publications, each one is an adventure that King has worked painstakingly on to create vivid details and terrific storylines. I really enjoy his books, as I am a fan of horror and science fiction. King's detail in his stories comes through because of his imagination, which really appeals to me.