Bazaar (original 1991; edition 1992)

There's nothing like a silly Stephen King thriller to distract you for a few days. The characters in this one were rather recycled and one-dimensional (more so than many other of his books) but it had such a delicious setup and concept. Even if the ending sputtered a bit, it was well worth the time. ( )

My favorite Stephen King to date. How one man running one little shop gets into the heads of an entire town and brings it to its knees. My only wish for this book is that Castle Rock's ending had been a little bigger.

EXCELLENT book! ( )

Leland gaunt is one of King's creepiest creations, but the town of Castle Rock deserved a better death. Seemed like everybody whoever peopled a Castle Rock story showed up and deja vu set in. Captivating and boring in stretches. ( )

A stranger sets up shop in the small town of Castle Rock, and he always seem to have just what each resident needs, and the prices seem very low, until the "pranks" he elicits as payment spark violence, murder and mayhem.

This is terrific classic Stephen King. It has a small-town setting, in which ordinary people come up against an otherworldly evil. Things start off small and quickly snowball, creating a chain of events that inevitably leads to all-out chaos. While it is delightfully campy and over-the-top in parts, the main characters are believable and likable. It's just a fun read.

Read because I like the author; reread at least once (1990s). ( )

Why read: Reading all of Stephen King's books

What impressed me: I love Stephen King, but he has a really annoying habit of writing these mind-blowing stories and then sort of ruining them with something unnecessarily over the top in the end. Having not seen the movie version of Needful Things, I was very worried the ending would not work for me. I was so pleased to find that King kept everything on track and making sense to the very end. And as always, King shines when he focuses on internal character development and Needful Things showcases that on a large scale. We see into the entire town's inner desires, secrets and greed. Things get scary well before you realize anything supernatural is even going on.

What disappointed me: So long. So very, very long. This fantastic story just dragged on unnecessarily. Since the start of his career, people seem just completely unwilling to really edit King's books. The story works as is, but could have worked as well and been less intimidating to readers had it been cut down a bit.

Recommended: Definitely. This is classic horror. Not to be missed. ( )