Editing Needful Things (section)

==Plot summary==
A new shop named "Needful Things" opens in the small town of [[Castle Rock, Maine]], sparking the curiosity of its citizens. The proprietor, Leland Gaunt, is a charming elderly gentleman purportedly from [[Akron, Ohio]] who always seems to have an item in stock that is perfectly suited to any customer. The prices are surprisingly low, considering the merchandise – such as a rare [[Sandy Koufax]] baseball card, a picture of [[Elvis Presley]], a [[carnival glass]] lampshade, and a fragment of [[petrified wood]] stated to be from [[Noah's Ark]] – but he expects each customer to also play a "prank" on someone else in town. Each customer enters a trance and becomes highly agreeable when making a deal with Gaunt, afterwards forgetting anything abnormal about the encounter. Gaunt has complete knowledge of the long-standing private histories and conflicts between the various townspeople, and the pranks are his means of forcing them to escalate.

Gaunt quickly marks local Sheriff [[Alan Pangborn]] and Polly Chalmers, Alan's sweetheart and proprietor of a local sewing shop, as "tough customers" who are likely to question and interfere with him. Gaunt avoids Alan and offers Polly an ancient charm that relieves the terrible [[Arthritis|arthritic]] pain in her hands, as well as giving Gaunt control over her. Local boy Brian Rusk vandalizes the home of Wilma Jerzyck, who loathes Nettie Cobb, Polly's housekeeper, and alcoholic Hugh Priest kills Nettie's dog. Nettie and Wilma then kill each other with knives in a public confrontation, increasing tensions in town.

Other rivalries begin to fester, spurred by the personal motives and secrets of the people involved. Gaunt hires petty criminal John "Ace" Merrill as his assistant, providing him with high-quality [[cocaine]] and hinting at buried treasure that could relieve the debt he owes to drug dealers. Ace's first assignment is to retrieve crates of pistols, ammunition, and [[Detonator|blasting caps]] from a garage in [[Boston]]; Gaunt soon begins to sell the pistols to his customers so they can protect their purchases.

The truth is eventually revealed: for centuries, Gaunt has tricked people into buying worthless junk that magically appears to be whatever they treasure or desire most. They then become so paranoid about keeping their items safe that they eagerly buy up the weapons that he offers, until the whole town is caught up in madness and violence. Ace begins to suspect the supernatural background of his new employer, but Gaunt keeps him in line through intimidation and promises of revenge against Alan and Castle Rock.

Several cases of violence happen simultaneously: gym coach Lester Pratt attacks Deputy John LaPointe (his fiancée's ex-boyfriend) and is killed in self-defense; Hugh Priest and bar owner Henry Beaufort kill each other in a shootout; Brian commits suicide out of guilt for his role in Wilma and Nettie's deaths; and town [[selectman]] Danforth "Buster" Keeton (who has been secretly [[embezzlement|embezzling]] from public funds to fuel his gambling addiction) attacks Deputy Norris Ridgewick before escaping to his home and killing his wife, Myrtle, with a hammer. Buster is then recruited by Ace to join him in his work for Gaunt. With the violence in Castle Rock rapidly escalating, Ace and Buster plant [[dynamite]] all over town, using the caps Ace brought back. Alan sets out to kill Ace, led by Gaunt to believe him responsible for the car accident that killed his wife and son. Polly realizes the evil of the charm she bought and destroys it. Norris attempts suicide, realizing that his prank on Priest led to the fatal shootout, but decides to go to the police station to help. As the bombs explode, Buster is wounded by Norris and is put out of his misery by Ace. Taking Polly hostage, Ace demands that Alan hand over a hoard of buried cash he allegedly stole. Norris kills Ace, leaving Alan to face off against Gaunt.

Using [[sleight of hand]] and magic novelties that suddenly come to life, Alan forces Gaunt back and grabs his [[valise]], which contains the souls of his customers. Gaunt flees the scene, his car turning into a horse-drawn wagon (with the words CAVEAT EMPTOR - "Let the buyer beware" - written on the side), and the survivors are left to ponder an uncertain future. The novel ends as it begins, in first-person direct address indicating that a new and mysterious shop called "Answered Prayers" is about to open in a small [[Iowa]] town –ominously implying that Gaunt is ready to begin his business cycle again.