I really needed this book. It didn't cost me a lot, (no pranks mind you) and it filled the void. Whilst not the best Stephen King I have ever read, it is by no means the worst. I had read Misery, Dolores Claibourne, The Tommyknockers and Geralds Game in sequence and I was nearly off King's books for life. This is what we want, good old fashioned fiction, proper horror please. As this story is set in Castle Rock many characters you have met before return, giving a homely feel if that is possible in a horror story. Mind you, they seem to be used to it in Castle Rock. "Have a good day dear, watch out for terrifying occurances and unbelieveable horror". If you are looking for a story synopsis here sorry, I let Mr King do the story telling, but briefly the story concerns NEEDFUL THINGS, the shop that sells exactly what you want. It won't cost you much, whatever it is that you want, just a few coins and a little joke here, a little prank there. The shops owner Leyland Gaunt is not who he appears to be and some rather angry scenes ensue. I am not really a fan of the rather lurid demise of pets in Stephen King's books, it does happen with monotonous regularity and while I can read all day about people being dispatched in the most hideous of fashions, one mention of a mistreated pet and I get all squeamish. You'll know when it's coming, just skip a few pages. This is definitely worth a read especially in paperback. The story jogs along at a steady pace, which will leave you a bit breathless in places, with a satisfying ending that does leave a chink in the door should Stephen ever wish to send us a sequel. Give the 'real life horror' novels a miss, we all know truth is more scary than fiction, but that's why we read horror, because you can put it away from the realities of life, to some extent anyway. Until your car radio plays on its own, the dog won't let you out of the car, theres a flu epidemic........

Recommended: Yes