In addition to a token payment, gaunt requests that each person perform a little deed, usually a seemingly innocent prank played on someone else from town. Needful things is claimed to be kings last castle rock story though he would return there at least one more time and its a doozie. This book took me longer than any other sk novel has. Needful things is a 1991 horror novel by american author stephen king. Plot a new shop named needful things opens in the town of castle rock, maine, sparking the curiosity of its citizens. Sep 25, 2018 even though needful things might not have captured the attention of hollywoods remake and reboot machine just yet anyway it is directly connected to the hulu show castle rock, which is an anthology series of untold stories conceptualized by stephen king over the course of his career but never written. The shop is called needful things and is run by a man called leland gaunt. The fictitious maine town has been the setting for a number of kings horror classics, including the dead zone. Needful things 1992 read online free book by stephen king. Needful things was a big music publication, which made sense when you considered the monumental amount of plot not story crammed into it. Another of mr kings trade marks is the sheer number of characters you need to get to know and keep track of,this one is comparable with under the dome,it. His new shop, needful things, seems to have something for everybody.
Based on a novel by the prolific stephen king, the film bears many of the authors trademarks, such as the new england setting and the focus on regular people tempted by the forces of supernatural evil. For every one that does carrie, the dead zone, misery, there are three that dont. Needful things is just the thing you need if youre looking for your fill of thriller. Like many other stephen king novels this is a long read,over 900 pages,so be prepared for a fairly involved plot that does wander a bit. Needful things is a 1993 american horror film based on stephen kings 1991 novel of the same name. Needful things was a big book, which made sense when you considered the enormous amount of plot not story crammed into it. Soon hell breaks loose in town with deaths, violence and riot and sheriff pangborn discovers that leland gaunt is the devil. This is a really creepy book by the us master of horror. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The story and the characters have been developed to evolve across the span of the book very efficiently.
The cover says the last castle rock story, and i guess that king will have a hard time topping this one if the poor citizens of castle rock ever decide that its worth the trouble to rebuilding their town. Merrill, john ace childhood boyfriend of myra evans. Oct 30, 20 needful things was a big book, which made sense when you considered the enormous amount of plot not story crammed into it. Novel needful things stephen king published on june 6, 2019 by conjueror i havent heard much about needful things compared to other stephen kings books, but it might have actually turned out to be my favorite of his as the main boogeyman here only plays people and their already prevalent frustrations against each other to create a. Sep 18, 2017 though both the film and the book are less than successful with their respective stories, i think the concept of needful things is such a good one.
The old horrormaster in top form, this time with a demonic dealer in magic and spells selling his wares to the folks of castle rock, scene of several king novels including the dead zone, cujoand how many others. The novel ends as it begins, with a firstperson narrative indicating that a. The story is about a shopkeeper who runs his business by exchanging goods for money and mysterious deeds performed by the customer. King also gets some good digs in at organized religious, nationalism, racism, celebrity worship and, in his first novel since getting sober, the perils and horrors of addiction. As satire it is far from comedic but is very effective. May 12, 2011 needful things is, occasionally pointedly, about the dangers of greed and materialism. Stephen king states that needful things will be the last castle rock story. Gaunt like kurt barlow in salems lot is an supernatural being, whose goal is sowing distrust, division, and paranoia in castle rock, and then harvesting the souls of the people who end up killed or dead by their own hand. As an 40 year old adult i have dropped my 5 star rating down to a 44. In this case, the problem is that the characters are unattractive and the plot, once it reveals itself. Anyone who enters his store finds the object of his or her lifelong dreams and desires. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading needful things.
By the end of the book, i was praying for it to finish. Of grand proportion, the novel ranks with kings best, in both plot and characterization. Even for stephen king, needful things is pretty silly. Mar 20, 2018 the premise of needful things is remarkable simple and a new take on the making a deal with the devil scenario. The town is named castle rock, after the name of the company that is releasing the film ho, ho. When people come to buy their hearts desires, the only caveat is that they must play a trick on someone. The store sells various items of great personal worth to the residents some of which, like a pendant that eases pain or a toy which predicts the outcome of horse races, are clearly supernatural, and gaunt. When leland gaunt opens the store needful things, he seems to have the object of desire for each dweller. A new store, needful things, opens in town, and its proprietor, leland gaunt. He opens a store in the town and calls it needful things. A mysterious man comes to the town of castle rock, maine in an old, sinister car. Needful things is the 30th book published by stephen king. I like all of his works, but ive read needful things several times now. He calls himself leland gaunt and claims he comes from akron, ohio.
Dec 28, 2012 randall flaggs escape before the stands nuclear conflagration and his reemerge elsewhere to once again plot destruction is identical to gaunts escape from the rock in this novel. Needful things is a 1993 horror movie and an adaptation of the 1991 novel of the same name. A new shop named needful things opens in the town of. Leland gaunt opens a new shop in castle rock called needful things. The last castle rock story stephen king, author, cayne, author. Leland gaunt, a seemingly demonic being, is the, seemingly, charming and charismatic proprietor of the new store which has got everybody talking, needful things.
Fairly repetitive with little explanation as to why these strange events are happening, but overall pretty fun. Definitely a slow build, but the pay off when the town starts to go crazy at once is fantastic. The story is set in the small, fictional town of castle rock, maine, where a new. All things considered, like the tommyknockers, needful things is an enjoyable book if you can choose to ignore its flaws, which abound, and which occur to some degree in a lot of kings stuff from this time period. Needful things stephen king needful things took me a month to read. It is a novel with a message, a novel with at least the glimmerings. Needful things is about the dark side in us all have you ever heard that one as a plot synopsis for a king story, before. Differences between needful things book vs movie page 1. Needful things is a 1993 american horror film based on stephen kings 1991 novel needful things. Needful things follows the classic theme of a stranger comes to town. A mysterious stranger arrives in castle rock and opens an antiques and collectibles store named needful things. The story takes place in one of those peaceable little stephen king towns where everybody knows each other and theyre mostly all doomed.
Yeah needful things was the 4th king novel i read and has the only ending ive genuinely disliked. Another of mr kings trade marks is the sheer number of characters you need to get to know and keep track of,this one is. Leland gaunt, a gentlemanly stranger who opens the needful things curiosity shop. Needful things, stephen king leland gaunt opens a new shop in castle rock called needful things. Moreover, theres nothing to be done with the source material except. King locates his hokey our town in maine, but as ever its really consumerville, usa, with everyones life festooned with brand names. The story is set in the small fictional town of castle rock, maine, where a new shop named needful things opens, to the curiosity of the townspeople. Stephen kings approach to horror is much less about the supernatural than i think his reputation suggests. Needful things is a horror book that deals with supernatural elements. The reason for this being that, whilst i love stephen kings writing style, i found that needful things was just a little too long. Needful things by stephen king goodreads share book. A mysterious proprietor named leland gaunt, claiming to be from akron, ohio, 1 opens a new antiques store called needful things in the small town of castle rock, maine. It just seemed so wrong, it was set up properly, but it just came off like a disney princess movie ending.
A mysterious stranger arrives in castle rock and opens an antiques and. Review needful things by stephen king book bastion. Needful things, in addition to sounding like a farewell to an epoch in kings career, also seems to foreshadow things to come. Soon hell breaks loose in town with deaths, violence and riot and sheriff pangborn discovers that leland gaunt is the devil himself. I dont hear about it as much, and was curious if anyone else had the same affinity for it as i do. Needful things his first book written after conquering his own addictions, this is a compelling story of how far people will go to satisfy their appetites james. Needful things 1993 directed by fraser clarke heston. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. The story is set in the small fictional town of castle rock, maine. Needful things is my least favourite king novel if you like reading a 700page book about pranks then it may be for you. Danforth buster keeton in the books is an unpleasant person throughandthrough, even before he goes crazy. If alan already dealt with gaunt, then ace survived the ordeal. Leland gaunt is a dapper gentleman from akron, ohio. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read needful things.
Much more pronounced in the book than the movie, though. Though both the film and the book are less than successful with their respective stories, i think the concept of needful things is such a good one. Before approaching his work back in high school, i was vaguely aware of books like cujo, pet sematary, christine and it mostly due to their movie incarnations, and based on these, i assumed that king was all about the thrills and chills of the. Not because it was bad or boring, i just seem to be going through another reading slump, probably due to work stresses, and im not getting much reading done.
The fictitious maine town has been the setting for a number of. The plot builds a little slowly, as the book is subdivided into three parts. After 1990, over the next sixteen years, he composed nine. Obviously, castle rock is taking kings stories and putting its own spin on them. He was past his addictions when he wrote this it was the first book he. Stephen king needful things audiobook stephen king. It is the first novel king wrote after his rehabilitation from drug and alcohol addiction. In addition to a token payment, gaunt requests that each person perform a little deed, usually a seemingly innocent prank played on someone else. The devil in disguise comes to a quiet, peaceful town and opens a store called needful things. Leland gaunt opens a new shop in castle rock called needful thing.
He charges small amounts to the things but requests a practical joke for each of them against another inhabitant. A new store, needful things, opens in town, and its proprietor, leland. The story starts out in first person with the narrator greeting the reader and moves to thirdperson, introducing each of the book s diverse cast of characters and their complicated histories. In terms of least favorite stephen king book, not a huge cujo fan. His novel 112263 was named a top ten book of 2011 by the new york times book. King has stated that needful things is all of the greedy, negative parts of the decade distilled down into one store a father to his men. May 03, 2016 i still have my original copy of needful things, which i loved at age 19. Needful things ends as it began, with gaunt opening a new store answered prayers in another american small town. The proprietor, leland gaunt, is a charming elderly gentleman who always seems to have an item in stock that is perfectly suited to any customer who comes through his door. Needful things is, occasionally pointedly, about the dangers of greed and materialism. Needful things is yet another one of those films based on a stephen king story that inspires you to wonder why his stories dont make better films. Needful things takes place in castle rock, the small american town weve seen previously in several stephen king novels.