Needful Things

Intrigued visitors arrive at Needful Things to peruse the new inventory. Mr. Gaunt has a new sign that reads, “I do not issue refunds or make exchanges. Caveat emptor!” (211). Sally Ratcliffe buys the splinter from Noah’s Ark; in exchange, she agrees to play a prank on Frank Jewett, the principal of the middle school.

Cora arrives to purchase the Elvis picture and is very disappointed to learn that it has already been sold. She buys a pair of Elvis’s sunglasses instead. Mr. Gaunt asks her for a candidate to enlist in order to keep an eye on Sheriff Pangborn, and she suggests Eddie, the janitor. Mr. Gaunt has a busy day, and several people agree to purchase something by pulling a prank or watching a neighbor.

Meanwhile, Alan is worried about Polly’s arthritis pain. She tries to downplay how much pain she is feeling, but he is very observant, and he wonders what else she is lying about. He reflects on her claim that her baby died of SIDS in 1971; he believes that she lied about her son’s cause of death. He also feels conflicted about their current relationship; they provide a great source of comfort for each other, but he feels guilty about dating, given his status as a widower. His older son is in college, and Alan isn’t sure how to introduce him to Polly.

Alan loves magic tricks and pretends to pull coins from Polly’s ear. Later, they sleep together, and Alan feels guilty about this as he remembers his late wife, Annie. She had bad headaches for a long time, and he wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth about her aspirin consumption. Annie and their son, Todd, had gotten in a car crash; Annie drove into a tree at a high speed. Alan is haunted because he will never know if Annie intentionally caused the crash or if she was suffering from a medical condition like a tumor or a seizure that caused her to lose control. Todd was wearing his seat belt, but Annie was not. 

Now, Polly emphasizes that Alan did not notice anything amiss with Annie’s behavior, so Annie’s and Todd’s deaths were likely caused by a tumor or seizure. He cries, and she comforts him. Later, Alan dreams that he is walking through a massive store called Endsville.

Dan “Buster” Keeton is paranoid and has become obsessed with the idea that people are following him and watching his every move. He refers to these imagined watchers as “The Persecutors.” As the Selectman, he is in charge of the town’s finances. He has been embezzling from the town for years to fund his debt, and the situation has rapidly spiraled since a coworker brought him to the raceway and introduced him to the joys of gambling on horses. This discovery began an expensive addiction.

He fears that The Persecutors will punish him for stealing from the town. When his wife Myrtle discovered that he was gambling, he was relieved that she only discovered the gambling, not the embezzling. Now, as he walks through downtown Castle Rock, he grows obsessed with looking for people who are watching him. He becomes entranced by a race track game on display in the window of Needful Things. Mr. Gaunt explains that it can be used to help predict the winners of actual races. They play the game together several times, and Keeton’s interest intensifies. He buys it and agrees to play a prank as payment. Mr. Gaunt explains that the town is full of “Them.”

Alan does magic tricks for his deputies and mentions his plan to visit Needful Things for the first time. Eddie observes this and calls Mr. Gaunt to tell him that Alan is on the way. Mr. Gaunt flips the sign to “closed” and pretends not to be there. He believes that Alan is too observant and does not want to meet him.

Myrtle Keeton hears a grinding sound coming from her husband’s study. He yells at her to go away, so she decides to go into town to buy donuts to cheer him up.

Polly contemplates her past. Her parents kicked her out after she became pregnant. She then moved to San Francisco, where she lived in poverty. One day, she left her son with a babysitter as usual so that she could go to work, and the building burned down. Polly reached out to her parents, resuming a complicated relationship with them. She eventually returned to Castle Rock to care for her sick parents and aunt, but she did not want to share her story.

Keeton heads to the raceway, excited to use his toy to gamble on the horse races.

Nettie has made a lasagna for Polly and has to talk herself into leaving her lampshade behind. Hugh Priest is waiting outside her house and watches her leave. Polly, who is in extreme pain, rushes to take a pill, and a concerned Nettie sets up the thermal gloves to help her arthritis pain. Nettie makes a vague comment about hoping that someone will leave her alone, but Polly doesn’t understand what she’s talking about. Polly asks Nettie to stop by Needful Things for her.

Hugh dreamed that his fox-tail was speaking to him and ordering him to go to Nettie’s house. Now, he stabs her dog using a corkscrew on a Swiss army knife and pins a note to the dog; the note states that no one can throw mud on “her” sheets and get away with it. Hugh is immediately obsessed with the thought of returning home to his fox-tail. Once there, he sits and holds it for three hours.

Brian dreams of the World Series and Sandy Koufax and grows confused when Sandy Koufax/Mr. Gaunt asks him to play another prank on Wilma. He wakes up sobbing but finds himself powerless to resist the urge to pack a cooler of rocks and head to Wilma’s house. In a manic state, he throws the rocks through the living room window. As he leaves, he runs into Wilma’s neighbor and tells her that he heard Wilma and Pete fighting.

Mr. Gaunt gives Nettie a pad of sheets that read “traffic violation warning.” He gives her a key and instructions about her next “prank.”

Myrtle and Buster eat at Maurice, a French restaurant. She is deeply depressed because her husband is abusive. She recently purchased a doll in Needful Things, and at the moment, Buster is being nice to her because he won a lot of money at the horse track the night before.

Nettie goes to Buster’s house, where she tears off pink notes and tapes them up in several places. Buster arrives home just as she is trying to leave, and she panics. When Buster walks in, he is terrified by the pink notes, believing that The Persecutors are after him. 

Wilma enjoyed church that morning; she believes that the mounting Casino Night tensions will lead to violence between the Catholics and the Baptists. As Buster reads the notes that detail his embezzlement crimes, he realizes that they are stamped by Norris Ridgewick, so Buster resolves to kill Norris.

Nettie arrives home and finds her murdered dog, then sees the note pinned to him. Meanwhile, Wilma arrives home to find her windows shattered and sees the note from “Nettie.” Wilma grabs a kitchen knife and sets off toward Nettie’s house. Nettie grabs a meat cleaver. Buster puts the pink slips away before Myrtle gets home.

Wilma and Nettie meet in the middle. As they shout at each other, Nettie mentions her dead dog, and although Wilma momentarily realizes that she has no idea what Nettie is talking about, she is too inflamed by violence to stop. The two women fight, stabbing and beating each other. Eventually, they kill each other.

At Needful Things, Mr. Gaunt gives Polly an amulet that he claims is an Egyptian azka that is designed to ameliorate pain. He tells her that she needs to wear it 24/7.

When Myrtle arrives home, she is terrified to find Buster in a murderous mood.

Alan attends the autopsies of Wilma and Nettie. He is perplexed by the double homicide and struggles to get to the root of the women’s arguments. As his colleagues collect evidence at the crime scene, they worry about the logistics of maintaining control when the state investigators get called in.

Meanwhile, Cyndi Rose has left a package on Norris Ridgewick’s desk. Norris opens it, and a rat trap clamps down on his hands. The accompanying note makes him believe that Buster is to blame.

Alan goes to Polly’s house, where they discuss the strange circumstances of Nettie’s murder.

Ricky Bissonette leaves notes at the Baptist church, threatening the reverend over Casino Night.

As chaos ensues in Castle Rock, Mr. Gaunt dives into the consciousnesses of the people whose souls he now owns, manipulating their dreams.