How long does it take to read Needful Things?
Needful Things by Stephen King takes about 12 hours 48 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 12 hours 48 minutes
A week or two of reading
First published 1991. 698 pages, about 191,950 words.
26 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 21 hours 20 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 12 hours 48 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 8 hours |
The page count is the median across 67 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Needful Things is a 1991 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It is the first novel King wrote after his rehabilitation from drug and alcohol addiction. It was made into a film of the same name in 1993 which was directed by Fraser C. Heston. The story focuses on a shop that sells collectibles and antiques, managed by Leland Gaunt, a new arrival to the town of Castle Rock, Maine, the setting of many King stories. Gaunt often asks customers to perform a prank or mysterious deed in exchange for the item they are drawn to. As time goes by, the many deeds and pranks lead to increasing aggression among the townspeople, as well as chaos and death. A protagonist of the book is Alan Pangborn, previously seen in Stephen King's novel The Dark Half.
Content warnings (AI-checked, may be incomplete)
- violence
- animal death
- suicide
- drug use
Subjects: suspense, City and town life, Specialty stores, Good and evil, American Horror tales, Fiction
