Needful Things

If a shop offered me the one thing I couldn’t stop thinking about, I’d want a very careful look at the price. In Needful Things, Leland Gaunt arrives in Castle Rock and opens a shop selling antiques and collectibles. People find objects they badly want. Gaunt asks them to do an odd little deed in return. I would be looking for the catch before he’d finished speaking.

The frightening part is how easily those deeds can turn people against each other. What begins as a private bargain spreads through the town, with anger building between neighbours. That gives the book a more uncomfortable sort of fear than a sudden shock: the sense that you might know someone involved and still have no idea what they’ve agreed to do. I’d put it at a four for scariness, particularly if the thought of a whole town coming apart gets under your skin.

This is for anyone who likes horror built from ordinary wants and the trouble people can make with them. A long, rainy evening feels right for it, preferably with no errands left to run. If you’re passing an antique shop afterwards, perhaps admire the window and keep walking.