Niki's Review: Needful Things by Stephen King
It loses a point because he’s really long-winded in backstories and we don’t always need ALL that info. It usually doesn't bother me because he does it so well, but there was one point where we flashed back for so long that I started to wonder how much of it mattered. He gains half a star bonus because the way Gaunt’s eye color changes depending on who he’s talking to really hooked me and was the first subtle hint that something was wrong.
This is a long book, but I rather enjoyed it. King seems to be an author you either love or hate and I’m clearly a fan. The whole thing bookends in a lovely way with the last chapter the same as the first but in a different town and the store has a different name. Needful things has a large ensemble cast and you have to follow several storylines to the conclusion. I have found that books like this require a time when you can read them pretty fast or I tend to forget who everyone is. If that’s also an issue for you, you’ll want to read this when you can dedicate your time to it. The way the relationships intertwine is worth remembering.
King is (in my opinion) great at weaving storylines together. The way he can show fifteen different events at the same time in a way that, not only makes sense but is compelling, is an art. Also, he has a woman in bed humping a framed Elvis photo, which I find absolutely hilarious.
If you like Stephen King and longer books, this is one I’d recommend. His combined universe is fun to me, and I like the way he casually drops other books in (Cujo is a fun reference). It probably wouldn’t be the first book I’d suggest of his, he has a style and it’s better to see if it suits you on a shorter book, in my opinion, but I did enjoy this and if you like what he writes, this one is a good one.
**Spoilers Below**
Needful Things is about a new shop in Castle Rock, Maine. The shop is all the townsfolk can talk about and they are all abuzz for the opening. Once we meet the owner, a Mr. Gaunt, we start to realize something is amiss, and not just because the items he sells are magical. Everyone in town sees Mr. Gaunt with a different eye color, and his touch makes people sick to their stomachs. However, he’s a smooth talker and knows just what everyone needs. He’s got a splinter of wood from Noah’s arc. He’s got Elvis Presley’s favorite pair of sunglasses. He’s got a trinket that cures arthritis. And they are all so affordable.
But there is a catch. He wants more than your money. He wants you to play a trick. Like slashing someone’s tires or throwing mud at clean sheets on a clothesline or smashing rocks into tv’s or breaking into houses and killing animals.
Oh, and your soul.
Once he opens and everyone gets what they want more than anything else in the world, they also covet that item. So much so that they cease with their life. They don’t leave the house in case someone comes in to steal their new lampshade. Or they refuse to fish with their new fishing rod. Or they fall asleep cradling the foxtail that’s too precious to display.
But once the items are purchased and the tricks are played, all hell breaks loose. Mr. Gaunt closes up shop and starts selling guns in the back alley.
As people start dying and understanding what they’ve done, they see the items for what they are. A rotten splintered piece of bug-infested wood. A worthless bamboo fishing rod. A spider inside a necklace. A tattered baseball card with the wrong player. It’s all trash and the townsfolk saw what they wanted, not what was there and lost themselves because of it.
Bombs are placed on the bridge, in the courthouse, and in other places strategically through town. Cops and residents alike are killed and, in the end, it’s the Sherriff, Alan Pangborn, and his girlfriend, Polly Chalmers, that have to shake off the trance to save Castle Rock. They do, but just barely. The town is reduced to a pile of smoldering rubble and children, adults, and animals have all fallen victim to Mr. Gaunt.
As he tries to run from town with his bag of souls, Alan and Polly are able to stop him from taking the souls of the townsfolk, but Mr. Gaunt flees and opens up a new shop in a new small town.
Side note: I haven't read all King's books but I know Castle Rock is (besides Derry) one of the main fictional towns in Maine that his stories take place in. The town is utterly destroyed after the events of Needful Things. I didn't want to do a deep dive into the book before I wrote my review but I couldn't help but look what the next stories in Castle Rock were. And it turns out, Castle Rock was so destroyed that King hasn't revisited it for another full-length novel (apparently it featured in a short story) since it was blown up in 1991. It's been thirty years now...I wonder if Castle Rock has recovered...