Gaunt sets up a network of pranks between the townsfolk, growing from innocent stuff like a couple of broken windows and turkey turd on the wash to gifts containing rat traps (eeeeeYOWCH!) and having the town nutcase’s dog skinned. SATAN?!?” Well, no, but one of his lackies, to be sure.)Īnd that’s where it gets interesting. (In the unforgettable words of SNL’s Chruch Lady, “Could it be….

And the best part is that he’ll give you a great deal! Hell, he sold a priceless baseball card to the token twerpy kid in the movie for something like 75 cents…. Gaunt will sell you whatever it is that you need or want most in your life, whether you know what it is or not.

In the Maine that only exists in Mr King’s strange imagination, a man named Leland Gaunt sets up Needful Things (surprise!), a kind of antique and curios shop that specializes in making every person perfectly happy by giving them exactly what they want. There’s suspense, violence, just a hint of sexual overtones (if you know about the scenes with the Elvis statue, they’re better in the book), and that grit that only comes to light when it’s everyone against themselves, no holds barred (not unlike the movie of The Stand, come to think of it). Thankfully, the movie comes set to match. This book was reeeeeeally good, and worth the read. The exceptions I’ve noted are the Gunslinger stories, The Stand, and Needful Things.

I am an amateur writer myself, and I often find I have a problem with the stuff he does. Poolman’s review: I’m one of those people that Stephen King doesn’t suck in too easily. Poolman’s rating: I’ll give you one Babe Ruth card, autographed to you personally, plus a chance to kill your neighbour (this is a good rating!).

Needful things leland gaunt