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Needful Things: The Last Castle Rock Story (1991)

by Stephen King

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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10,542120640 (3.71)1 / 176
Fiction. Horror. Literature. Thriller. HTML:Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine

Master storyteller Stephen King presents the classic #1 New York Times bestseller about a mysterious store than can sell you whatever you desireâ??but not without exacting a terrible price in return.
The town of Castle Rock, Maine has seen its fair share of oddities over the years, but nothing is as peculiar as the little curio shop that's just opened for business here. Its mysterious proprietor, Leland Gaunt, seems to have something for everyone out on display at Needful Things...interesting items that run the gamut from worthless to priceless. Nothing has a price tag in this place, but everything is certainly for sale. The heart's desire for any resident of Castle Rock can easily be found among the curiosities...in exchange for a little money andâ??at the specific request of Leland Gauntâ??a whole lot of menace against their fellow neighbors. Everyone in town seems willing to make a deal at Needful Things, but the devil is in the details. And no one takes heed of the little sign hanging on the wall: Caveat emptor. In other words, let the buyer… (more)
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English (109)  Italian (2)  Danish (2)  French (2)  Spanish (1)  Hungarian (1)  German (1)  Dutch (1)  All languages (119)
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Showing 1-5 of 109 (next | show all)
An extremely long winded tale about the complexities of desire, greed, and selfishness that plagues the small town of Castle Rock after a small shop called "Needful Things" opens for business.

The idea of this book is everything I should love in a novel... a mysterious new shop suddenly appears in town which holds everyone's deepest wants and desires at a price they can afford... but unfortunately I hated about 85% of it. I love Stephen King's stories and detailed plots, but this one was just beyond monotonous and at least 450 pages too long.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but how many times can you read that something absolutely horrible happened to someone, all caused by one act of throwing shit on the sheets of a clothesline? ( )
  cbwalsh | Sep 13, 2023 |
I'd picked this book with hopes it was similar to "The Green Mile" or stories King's written that lack gore and horror. King is a top notch storyteller and the unique plot of this one is worthy, even though I read very few books in this genre. Epic in length like many of his books, its paced nicely, the small town characters well developed and the Leland Gaunt character, devious in all respects. I preferred The Mile to this one, but am glad I completed it, just the same. ( )
  Jonathan5 | Feb 20, 2023 |
A bit long. The destruction of the town at the end is over the top. At least the forces of good succeed in the end, although not for any good reason. ( )
  Castinet | Dec 11, 2022 |
A un moment, j’ai eu vraiment peur que Alan ce soit fait vraiment prendre par Gaunt. Très beau livre, histoire terrifiante et fascinante comme tous les autres livres de Stephen King! ( )
  Capucinette | Oct 25, 2022 |
I read this long ago, way before joining Goodreads. I used to read all of King's books in the early days, and still do read most of them. This one was one of my favorites, if I remember correctly. It was amazing how fairly simple acts could balloon into such drastic consequences. ( )
  MartyFried | Oct 9, 2022 |
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Showing 1-5 of 109 (next | show all)
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▾Other authors

» Add other authors (15 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
King, Stephen—primary authorall editionsconfirmed
Dobner, TullioTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rekiaro, IlkkaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wiemken, ChristelTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Canonical title
Original title
Needful Things
Alternative titles
Original publication date
1991-10
People/Characters
Leland Gaunt
Brian Rusk
Danforth "Buster" Keeton III
Alan Pangborn
Patricia "Polly" Chalmers
Important places
Castle Rock, Maine, USA
Iowa, USA
Junction City, Iowa, USA
Maine, USA
Important events
Related movies
Needful Things (1993 | IMDb)
Castle Rock (2018 | IMDb)
Awards and honors
Bram Stoker Award Nominee (Superior Achievement in a Novel, 1991)
New York Times bestseller (Fiction, 1991)
Bram Stoker Award Nominee (Best Novel, 1992)
Locus Poll Nominee (Best Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel, 1992)
Epigraph
Ladies and gentlemen, attention, please!
Come in closed where everyone can see!
I got a tale to tell, it isn't gonna cost a dime!
(And if you believe that,
we're gonna get along just fine.)
-Steve Earle
"Snake Oil"
I have heard of many going astray even in the village streets, when the darkness was so thick you could cut it with a knife, as the saying is . . .
-Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Dedication
This is for Chris Lavin,
Who doesn't have all the answers-
Just the ones that matter.
First words
Sure you have.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
English
Canonical DDC/MDS
813.54
Canonical LCC
PS3561.I483
▾References

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▾Book descriptions
Fiction. Horror. Literature. Thriller. HTML:Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine

Master storyteller Stephen King presents the classic #1 New York Times bestseller about a mysterious store than can sell you whatever you desireâ??but not without exacting a terrible price in return.
The town of Castle Rock, Maine has seen its fair share of oddities over the years, but nothing is as peculiar as the little curio shop that's just opened for business here. Its mysterious proprietor, Leland Gaunt, seems to have something for everyone out on display at Needful Things...interesting items that run the gamut from worthless to priceless. Nothing has a price tag in this place, but everything is certainly for sale. The heart's desire for any resident of Castle Rock can easily be found among the curiosities...in exchange for a little money andâ??at the specific request of Leland Gauntâ??a whole lot of menace against their fellow neighbors. Everyone in town seems willing to make a deal at Needful Things, but the devil is in the details. And no one takes heed of the little sign hanging on the wall: Caveat emptor. In other words, let the buyer
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WorldCat

Genres

Melvil Decimal System (DDC)

813.54Literature › English (North America) › American fiction › 20th Century › 1945-1999

LC Classification

PS3561.I483Language and Literature › American literature › American literature › Individual authors › 1961-

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Average: (3.71)
0.5 4
1 33
1.5 9
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3 697
3.5 125
4 868
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