10 Stephen King Stories That Wouldn't Work As Movies

Included in the 1993 collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Chattery Teeth was adapted for television in the anthology Quicksilver Highway in 1997.

Salesman Bill Hogan notices a large, metal pair of walking "Chattery Teeth" in a convenience store. The clerk gives Hogan the teeth, claiming they had been broken. As he leaves the convenience store, Hogan reluctantly gives a ride to a hitchhiker standing outside. His reluctance is validated when the hiker tries to carjack and kill Hogan. During the ensuing struggle, Hogan wrecks the van, and before the hitchhiker can recover, the teeth come to life and bring the criminal's life to a gruesome conclusion. Hogan passes as he sees the Chattery Teeth dragging the hitchhiker's body off into the desert.

Nine months later, Hogan stops again at the same convenience store, where he is unexpectedly reunited with the "broken" teeth again. Hogan realizes the teeth likely never intended to kill him, but rather to protect him. The store owner gives him the teeth again. His theory is proved correct when a dog snarls at him as he leaves and the teeth rattle in his pocket.

Chattery Teeth is a fun read at 16 pages. This is a story best kept at all killer, no filler.