Needful Things (novel)

Needful Things is an American full-length novel of the supernatural thriller genre. It was written by author Stephen King and first published in hardcover format by Viking Press in October, 1991.

Main characters

 * Alan J. Pangborn
 * Brian Rusk
 * Danforth "Buster" Keeton, III
 * John "Ace" Merrill
 * Leland Gaunt
 * Myrtle Keeton
 * Nettie Cobb
 * Norris Ridgewick
 * Polly Chalmers
 * Wilma Jerzyck

Minor characters

 * Andy Clutterbuck
 * Cora Rusk
 * Frank Jewett
 * George Nelson
 * Henry Beaufort
 * Hugh Priest
 * John LaPointe
 * Lenore Potter
 * Lester Pratt
 * Myra Evans
 * Peter Jerzyck
 * Sally Ratcliffe
 * "Slopey" Dodd
 * William "Willie" Rose

Locales

 * Maine
 * Castle County
 * Castle Rock
 * Mellow Tiger Bar
 * Needful Things
 * You Sew and Sew


 * California
 * San Francisco


 * New York
 * New York City


 * Ohio
 * Akron


 * Iowa
 * Junction City

Items

 * 1956 Sandy Koufax Topps card
 * Carriage
 * Elvis Presley sunglasses
 * Elvis Presley photograph
 * Fox Tail
 * Knife
 * Magic charm
 * Meat cleaver
 * Pistols
 * Shotgun
 * Treasure map

Animals

 * Birds
 * Tammy Faye


 * Dogs
 * Raider


 * Horses

Vocations

 * Bartender
 * Business owner
 * Deputy
 * Demon
 * Drug addict
 * Farmer
 * Police officer
 * School principal
 * Sheriff

Miscellaneous

 * Dead animals
 * Gunshot victims
 * Hospital
 * Mystic artifacts
 * Shot in the head
 * Stabbing
 * Suicide

Notes & Trivia

 * Needful Things was marketed as "The Last Castle Rock Story" on the cover.


 * This is the first novel that Stephen King wrote after his drug and alcohol rehabilitation.


 * Needful Things was adapted into a feature film in 1993 by director Fraser C. Heston and starred Max von Sydow, Ed Harris, Bonnie Bedelia and Amanda Plummer.


 * This novel was also released in audio book format and read by Stephen King.


 * The short story, "It Grows on You", originally published in Marshroots magazine in 1973 serves as an epilogue to this story.


 * Brian Rusk is the first character to begin the circle of pranks that infect the town.


 * The character of Alan Pangborn and the Mellow Tiger Bar both make appearances in the Castle Rock television series on Hulu.


 * Reference is made to Johnny Smith in this novel, who is a psychic and the main character from the Stephen King novel The Dead Zone.


 * Reference is made to Donna Trenton in this novel, who is the mother of Tad Trenton - both of whom were terrorized by a rabid St. Bernard in the novel Cujo.