The Light Fantastic

28

The idea of a strange little shop that appears, sells the most peculiar things, and then vanishes again first appears in a short story by H. G. Wells, appropriately called The Magic Shop. A recent variation on the same theme can be found in Stephen King’s Needful Things.

When an a.f.p. reader mistakenly thought that this type of shop was invented by Fritz Leiber, Terry replied:

“Actually, magically appearing/disappearing shops were a regular feature of fantasy stories, particularly in the old Unknown magazine. They always sold the hero something he didn’t — at the time — know he needed, or played some other vital part in the plot. And I think they even turned up on the early Twilight Zones too. You’re referring to a Leiber story called Bazaar of the Bizarre or something similar, where a shop appears which seems to contain wonderful merchandise but in fact contains dangerous trash.”

The Leiber story is indeed called Bazaar of the Bizarre. It features Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and can be found in Swords Against Death.