Cujo vs Needful Things: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Maine, American Horror tales, Horror, Thriller, Fiction
Cujo
“ONCE UPON A TIME, not so long ago, a monster came to the small town of Castle Rock, Maine.”
Cujo (/ˈkjuːdʒoʊ/) is a 1981 psychological horror novel by American writer Stephen King about a rabid Saint Bernard. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982 and was made into a film in 1983.
1 film adaptation
vs
Needful Things
“In a small town, the opening of a new store is big news.”
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…
1 film adaptation
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Cujo is the quickest read — about 6 hours vs 12 for Needful Things.
- Needful Things has the widest readership — 286941 ratings behind its score.
- Needful Things runs the darker storyline; Cujo stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Cujo | Needful Things | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 4.0 (286941) |
| Hardcover | 3.6 (568) | 3.8 (521) |
| Google Books | 4.0 (1) | 5.0 (3) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (303) | 4.5 (496) |
Reception
| Cujo | Needful Things | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 568 | 286941 |
| Editions | 81 | 67 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 149231 |
| Reading it now | — | 7667 |
| Written reviews | — | 8743 |
| Wikipedia attention | 20792 | 9521 |
| Pages | 327 | 698 |