Author Language English | Country United States Publication type Periodical | |
 | ||
Genre(s) Horror, Fantasy short story Published in Marshroots (1st release),
Nightmares & Dreamscapes | ||
"It Grows On You" is a short story written by author Stephen King and originally published in Marshroots, volume 3, no. 1, Fall 1973, later revised and published in August 1982 in Whispers, and again revised for the 1993 short story collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes. "It Grows on You" was nominated for the 1983 Locus Award for Best Short Story.
Contents
Plot
The story recounts bizarre and inexplicable events that have taken place in a notorious house in the town of Castle Rock. The house seems to take on a life of its own as new wings are added, growing in a way that seems proportionate to the awful events that have occurred there. The new wings added seem to be connected to the deaths of men who, as boys, were molested by the house owner's wife. The story also serves somewhat as an epilogue to Needful Things, as stated by Stephen King himself.
Similarities to other works
The house in the short story bears a resemblance to the mansion depicted in Stephen King's television miniseries Rose Red, which grows and builds onto itself as more and more visitors die within its halls at the hands of the ghosts that haunt it.