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A boy named Gordie Lachance lives in a small town in Maine called Castle Rock. One Labor Day Weekend, Gordie plays cards in a treehouse with his friends Teddy Duchamp and Chris Chambers, when another friend of theirs, Vern Tessio, asks if they want to see a dead body. Vern explains that he overheard his older brother, Billy, talking to a friend about finding the body of Ray Brower, a local boy who just went missing, by some railroad tracks in the forest. Billy doesn’t want to report the body that night just in case it comes to light that he drove to the forest in a stolen car. Gordie and his friends decide if they go to find the body, they will be able to report it to the police and become town heroes. With a lie about camping in Vern’s backyard, Gordie, Teddy, Vern, and Chris set out to find Ray Brower’s body.
After packing his things, Gordie heads back to the treehouse to meet up with his friends. On the way, Chris intercepts him and leads him into an alley where he shows Gordie the gun he stole from his father. Chris dares Gordie to pull the trigger, promising the gun isn’t loaded. However, when Gordie pulls the trigger, he shoots a hole in a trashcan. As the boys set out, they realize they need to get supplies. After stopping for a drink at the pump in the town dump, they flip coins to see who will go get supplies. One of their early flips results in four tails, which according to local superstition means bad luck. On the next flip, only Gordie gets heads, singling him out to get supplies. Gordie wonders if this coin flip is an omen after the boys get into shouting matches with the owner of the market and the dump-keeper Milo, who sets his dog on them. Nevertheless, the boys continue on.
To reach the woods, the boys have to cross a railroad trestle bridge. The bridge has no room for pedestrians, so if a train comes, the boys will either be hit or fall into the rocky waterbed below. Chris dares Gordie to go across, which means Chris has to lead the group, and Gordie holds up the rear. Gordie soon feels a train coming and starts to run, hurrying Vern ahead of him. They make it safely across, just before the train zooms past. As they walk along, Chris asks Gordie to tell the group a story he’s been working on. Gordie tells the group “The Revenge of Lard Ass Hogan,” a story about an overweight kid who sabotages a pie-eating contest. Vern and Teddy don’t like the ending of the story, which dampens Gordie’s confidence. Chris confides in Gordie that Vern and Teddy aren’t smart enough to understand his work. He begs Gordie to pursue writing and leave them all behind, claiming they will just drag him down.
That night, the boys camp out, cooking hamburgers over a fire before sleeping. They awaken to the sound of a frightening scream they worry is Ray Brower’s ghost, but Chris suggests it might be a wildcat. The boys take turns keeping watch throughout the night. While he’s asleep, Gordie dreams that a teacher forces Chris to recite a poem while treading water, only for the undead corpses of Vern and Teddy to drag him down. The next morning, the boys continue their quest to find Ray Brower’s body. By the time they reach the spot in the woods where Ray Brower still lies, a thunderstorm has begun. Gordie is horrified by the sight of the body and truly begins to understand what it means for this boy to be dead.
Before the gang can decide much else, Billy Tessio arrives with his friends, including Ace Merrill. These older, tougher boys are also determined to get credit for finding Ray Brower’s body, threatening to hurt Gordie’s group. However, Chris pulls out the gun he stole. The older boys at first don’t believe he’ll shoot anyone, but Chris’s demeanor scares them. It begins to hail, sending Vern and Teddy running for cover. Chris tells Gordie to stay with him, and he does. Eventually the older boys give up, threatening that they’ll get back at Gordie and his friends for what they’ve done. Now free to take the glory, Gordie realizes they have no way of taking Ray Brower’s body back with them. Chris tries desperately, but eventually gives up. The boys trek home to Castle Rock. Eventually an anonymous tip to the police brings Ray Brower home.
In the aftermath of their adventure, Ace Merrill and another boy beat up Gordie. Gordie decides not to tell anyone who hurt him. Gordie and Chris drift apart from Vern and Teddy, taking more advanced classes in school. However, Gordie, narrating the story years later, is the only member of the group still alive. He is an established writer, married with children. When going back to Castle Rock to visit his dad, he sees Ace Merrill. Ace Merrill has become the same kind of drunk adult that used to antagonize Gordie and his friends when they were young. Gordie reflects on his own survival.
