Needful Things discussion

So, I'm a moderate Stephen King fan... I've read IT, The Shining, The Stand, Pet Semetary, and Desperation, and enjoyed them all. I am currently reading Tommyknockers, and I like it as well. I picked up "Needful Things" at an antique shop the other day (it was $1.50, not a bad way to shop for books). But then the cover page said that it was "The Last Castle Rock Book". For those of you who have read it, please no spoilers, but do I need to read the other castle rock books before I read needful things, or does it stand alone?

James wrote: "So, I'm a moderate Stephen King fan... I've read IT, The Shining, The Stand, Pet Semetary, and Desperation, and enjoyed them all. I am currently reading Tommyknockers, and I like it as well. I p..."

Hi there i have read many of stephen king books including needful things and haven't found that you have to read them in any order but if you are interested in doing so here is the list of castle rock books.
1. Deadzone
2. Cujo
3. Tommy knockers
4. Dark half
5. Needful things.
I hope this helps you in some way.

Reading 'The Body' - Stand By Me- from Different Seasons is relevant but not essential.

You can definitely read Needful Things without reading any of the others.

I've found King's earlier books much better than his later ones....

Carrie
Salem's Lot
The Shining
The Stand
Christine

His short story and novella collections are quite good too. I'm afraid I didn't rate Cujo (far too many profanities used for padding if I remember correctly, Tommyknockers or Needful Things, so I stopped reading his stuff around then. Maybe I grew out of this genre and began looking at other authors.

Great. Thanks so much!

Needful Things was the very first Stephen King book that I read and I didn't feel that I was missing anything because it was the "last Castle Rock book". Even years later when I reread it, it was equally enjoyable.

Hi James - this might interest you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_R...

Castle Rock is simply a fictional place, not an actual series of books which need to be read in a specific order.

You can read Needful Things without reading his other books, but I second the recommendations in this list. By far two of his best are Mercy and Duma Key. I swear I could read Duma key over and over, but that's just me.

For color, read the novella, 'Sun Dog,' though I forget which collection it's in. I re-read it every summer. Even if you were born long after Polaroid cameras were popular, the story will still resonate. (I have the darn paperback somewhere around here; I'm at my summer cottage. I'll update when I find it.)

With King, I like most of his books, but not all. Some just leave me going - wth? But Needful is on my list of Iloveit.

Needful Things was the first King book I ever read. I'm not sure if it's my favourite because it was my first, but it's definitely one of his best. No need to read anything prior.

Also, I agree with Jaksen. Duma Key is a must!

Needful Things is the apocalyptic book for Castle Rock, the town. You should read a least a couple of other books set there first. Salem's Lot being the first.

Needful Things stands on its own pretty good. The main character, however, is introduced in The Dark Half. But if you ever start looking at the Dark Tower Series, you may want to read as many of his books as possible before you do. He references several of his other works throughout the series.

The Story is A Stand Alone.