Inspired by Stephen King's book "Needful Things". Mr. Needful's shop is called Needful Things and the idea of a shop of items that pertain to the heart's desires but come with an extra price, was taken from the plot of the book.
At the beginning of the episode, Jerry is playing the "Rick and Morty: Jerry's Game" app from Adult Swim on his iPad at the breakfast table.
In the after credit scene of the episode, the placard with "God Hates Fags" changes instantly to "God Hates You" when Rick and Summer appear.
When Rick gets bored with his shop that removes curses, the last customer he speaks to says "I'm here to pick up my undead child and cat." This is a reference to yet another Stephen king novel, Pet Sematary.
The title of the episode is a reference to Ray Bradbury's novel -later adapted to a film- "Something Wicked This Way Comes", about a mysterious man who runs a traveling carnival and grants wishes, but they come at a price. In turn this title references a famous line from Macbeth, "by the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes", said by one of the witches that provide Macbeth the prophecy about his rise and fall.