The good news is he’s still committed to making it happen. The bad news is he doesn’t know when.

“We didn’t have time to do it because we were involved in all kind of projects,” Muschietti tells Slash Film. “The show had a priority over the supercut,” he adds, referring to “IT: Welcome to Derry.”

Muschietti continues, “We’re in a moment now where we can definitely go to the studio and ask for support, but when is the question. They can say, ‘Yeah, go for it,’ but now we are sort of committed, like happily committed, to season 2 of ‘Welcome to Derry.’ And there’s other movie projects going around. But we’re going to do it.”

Muschietti’s IT films adapted Stephen King‘s 1986 novel in two parts, with the first focused on the Losers Club as kids and the second centered on their adult counterparts. The proposed supercut would likely restructure them to more closely resemble the book.

Muschietti is more in-demand than ever these days. In addition to the IT supercut and plans for two more seasons of “IT: Welcome to Derry,” he’s attached to helm the DCU Batman movie The Brave and the Bold.

Muschietti also produced They Will Kill You, in theaters today.

The post Andy Muschietti on ‘IT’ Supercut: “We’re Going to Do It” appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

All three retail for $15 and are available to preorder now.

Read on for details and find images below.

POP Movies: It – Pennywise 

Are you on the edge of your seat? POP! Pennywise sure is! Featuring a seated pose and a base for stability, this shelf sitter is perfect for elevating your display! Perch POP! Pennywise on a ledge when you welcome this horror icon to the It lineup your POP! Movies collection. Vinyl figure is approximately 4.9 in (12.4 cm) tall

POP Movies: Ghost Face

Are you on the edge of your seat? POP! Ghost Face® sure is! Featuring a seated pose and a base for stability, this shelf sitter is perfect for elevating your display! Perch POP! Ghost Face® on a ledge when you welcome this horror icon to the Ghost Face® lineup your POP! Movies collection. Vinyl figure is approximately 3.8 in (9.7 cm) tall.

POP Movies: Terrifier – Art the Clown

Are you on the edge of your seat? POP! Art the Clown sure is! Featuring a seated pose and a base for stability, this shelf sitter is perfect for elevating your display! Perch POP! Art the Clown on a ledge when you welcome this horror icon to the Terrifier lineup in your POP! Movies collection. Vinyl figure is approximately 4.1 in (10.4 cm) tall.

The post Funko Launches New Pop! Horror Shelf Sitters with Pennywise, Ghost Face, and Art the Clown appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Topics include Andy Muschietti’s IT supercut, Welcome to Derry season 2, Mike Flanagan’s Carrie, The Talisman no longer happening with the Duffer Brothers, and Wil Wheaton narrating The Body. It should be noted this was recorded right before the official announcement of King’s new book. Stay tuned for a future episode on that.

Stream the episode below and stay tuned as we rank all of Stephen King’s books in our great big ranking. For further adventures, join the Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. You can also unlock hundreds of hours of content in The Barrens (Patreon).

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The post Stephen King News Roundup: On ‘IT’ Supercut, ‘Welcome to Derry Season 2’, Mike Flanagan’s ‘Carrie’, and ‘The Body’ [The Losers’ Club Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In the end, Stranger Things remained what it has always been, a love letter to outcasts and fans of genre fiction. The show that once ignited Easter egg obsessives with a The Thing poster hanging in the Wheelers’ basement went out with a handful of fun horror references.

Vickie (Amybeth McNulty) refers to the vicious demogos as “mutant Cujos,” namechecking Stephen King‘s 1981 novel about a rabid Saint Bernard. Nancy (Natalia Dyer) may channel John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) with her machine guns and bandoliers, but she infiltrates the Abyss in a haircut identical to Sigourney Weaver‘s Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott’s original Alien. Max (Sadie Sink) traverses memories from Hawkins’ past set to the pleasing chorus of the “Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)” featured in the 1985 comedy Clue. And that’s not to mention an ominous Greek chorus which brings to mind a deadly college production of “Agamemnon” in the 1997 sequel Scream 2. These surface-level references may be a dream come true to horror cinephiles, but Matt and Ross Duffer also fill their finale with the threads of deeper thematic connection.  

The first season of Stranger Things drew comparisons to Stephen King’s 1986 novel It, with a main cast of tweens riding bikes through suburban streets. Though always an original story in its own right, the connection was so strong it paved the way for Andy Muschietti to adapt the kids’ storyline in his 2017 film It, which remains the highest-grossing horror film of all time. Though later seasons would drift away from this unofficial source material, the show’s season finale takes us back to the novel.

Throughout season 5, we’ve caught glimpses of Vecna/Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower) hovering in his lair, which, from the outside, resembles one of the villain’s ropelike claws with curved fingers turned up to the sky. But as the final battle ensues, we realize that this scraggy home is the body of the Mind Flayer itself, the beating sac above Vecna’s head a pulsing monster heart. As we learn the truth about Henry’s horrific transformation, the creature emerges from the earth with a multitude of spider-like legs. The Duffers solidify this visual nod when the nebulous Mind Flayer first appears to Henry in the form of a tiny, black spider crawling from the depths of the Creel house. 

STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5. Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in Stranger Things: Season 5. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025

Though most casual fans picture Pennywise the Dancing Clown, Constant Readers know that the sinister charmer is just one of the many faces It wears. This shapeshifting monster manifests as Its prey’s greatest fear to maximize terror and “season the meat.” Yet, when the Losers confront Pennywise in his subterranean lair, they see It at its most basic form — or at least the closest approximation our minds can imagine. The entity emerges for a final showdown not in the guise of a bloodthirsty clown, but a massive spider, tapping into one of humanity’s greatest phobias. What’s more, the beast has laid dozens of eggs, signalling a horrific future for Derry and the larger world. Ben manages to smash each one, mirroring Steve (Joe Keery) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) using their makeshift spears to destroy egg-like sacs on the Mind Flayer’s underbelly. 

In the wake of this jaw-dropping conclusion, Hawkins has begun to repair with the military quarantine now a memory. Mike (Finn Wolfhard) processes his terrifying experience in a final campaign with the Party’s remaining members, outlining happy futures for them all. Though not what Mileven shippers may have wanted (more on that in a minute), we see an adult Mike sitting in front of a typewriter, translating the Party’s adventures onto the page. As the Game Master, Mike has always felt like the leader of the Stranger Things Party, a proxy for King’s Bill Denbrough, who leads the beloved Losers’ Club. We follow this shy protagonist on a journey of empowerment as It follows his quest to avenge the death of his younger brother. A born storyteller like Mike, Bill grows up to become a horror novelist, and an obvious parallel to King himself. 

But writing is just one way in which Mike processes his grief. We reunite with the shattered hero 18 months after the climactic battle to see him patiently waiting for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) to return. With his own campaign concluded, the episode’s final moments show Mike wistfully watching his younger sister Holly (Nell Fisher) and her friends begin their own D&D journey, remembering some of his happiest moments. This — combined with the character’s name — reminds us of Mike Hanlon, the lifeline of the Losers’ Club. The only one to stay in Derry after their first battle with Pennywise, Mike remains to keep the watch and look for signs of the monster’s return. While waiting, he compiles a history of the dangerous town and a series of mass casualties linked to Pennywise’s periodic resurgence. As the Game Master, Mike serves a similar purpose, his own D&D binder — the last to grace the basement’s shelf — chronicling a long history of epic campaigns.  

STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5. (L to R) Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, and Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson in Stranger Things: Season 5. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix/Netflix © 2025

Though Mike may be keeping watch, Vecna is unlikely to return. After Eleven uses her telekinetic powers to impale the villain on a large spike, the Party hears him sputtering back to life. Wary of Vecna’s own psychic powers, Joyce (Winona Ryder) emerges to finish his story once and for all, nodding to one of the most exciting moments in slasher history. Twenty years after Michael Myers came home to terrorize his younger sister and her friends, the masked killer returns in Steve Miner’s Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. But rather than continue to run and hide, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) turns with an ax in hand to hunt down the brother who ruined her life. When a crashed ambulance leaves Michael similarly trapped — pinned between an ambulance and a tree — Laurie uses her own ax to chop off his head, definitively ending the Shape’s reign of terror. (We don’t talk about that jaw-dropping retcon in Halloween: Resurrection.)

Her empowered “MICHAEL” as she stalks the famously terrifying killer channels the same strength Joyce wields when she insists that Vecna “messed with the wrong family.” The fierce mother takes similar action and chops off Vecna’s head while the Party watches, each remembering the pain he’s caused in their lives. 

While Joyce may get her happy ending, season 5 teases a disturbing future for our favorite star. The return of Kali/Eight (Linnea Berthelsen) and subsequent revelation of Dr. Kay’s (Linda Hamilton) ultimate plan leave Eleven’s future in jeopardy. The sinister military scientist has been harvesting Kali’s powerful blood and transfusing it into pregnant women, hoping to create a new batch of psychically talented kids. Kali explains that as long as Eleven remains alive, Henry’s blood — similarly fed to her own pregnant mother — will tempt future mad scientists. She and Eleven must destroy themselves along with the Upside Down to permanently end all traces of Henry’s power. We see this devastating pact play out as the Party returns to Hawkins proper. With Dr. Kay watching, Eleven allows herself to be consumed by the explosion that collapses the bridge to the Abyss. 

STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5. Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in Stranger Things: Season 5. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025

Hamilton’s presence has always nodded to James Cameron’s The Terminator, but Kali’s theory recreates the heartbreaking conclusion of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Wary of future inventors using his recovered circuitry to develop deadly AI, the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) vows to rid the world of his advanced technology and lowers himself into a vat of molten steel. It’s Hamilton as the legendary Sarah Connor who must push the button that seals his fate. But the Terminator was never meant to share our timeline, and his choice to self-terminate will save countless lives. As Hopper (David Harbour) explains in a gut-wrenching scene, Eleven deserves a chance at happiness. 

Everyone involved with the final season of Stranger Things was wary of fumbling the long-awaited conclusion, keeping one show’s finale firmly in mind. After years of dominating TV ratings and every element of pop culture fandom, Game of Thrones sparked fury among devotees with an egregious turn for its female star. For eight seasons, we’d watched Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) transform from a bartered and abused bride to a benevolent ruler and the mother of dragons. But the penultimate episode saw her use this hard-earned empowerment to decimate the home she’d always longed to rule. Daenerys would be killed in the season finale, her surprising villainous arc complete. Fans remain outraged over this narrative betrayal and a perceived warning about giving women too much power.

Stranger Things seemed to be approaching a similar misstep before a last-minute course correction. 

Drawing on painful memories from her sacrificial choice, Mike envisions a hopeful future for our heroine. Theorizing that she couldn’t use her powers against Dr. Kay’s technology, he tells the tearful Party that perhaps Kali used her own telepathic gifts to cloak Eleven with invisibility so that she could escape the horde of military goons and finally find peace in a distant land. We leave Eleven as she crests a hill and gazes at two beautiful waterfalls, a picture of the bright future she’d hoped for with Mike. After experiencing love and acceptance for the first time, Eleven has emerged from the shadow of Hawkins Lab to find happiness on her own terms.

While not the ending we might have chosen, it’s a fitting conclusion for the powerful character and a reminder that strong women should not have to destroy themselves to save a world built on their exploitation. And who knows, with at least two spinoffs in the works, we may yet see Eleven return to once again save the day. 

STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5.Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in Stranger Things: Season 5. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025

The post The Many Horror References Lurking Within the Series Finale of ‘Stranger Things’ [Spoilers] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Stream the episode below and share your favorites in the comments. For further adventures, join the Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and RSS. You can also unlock hundreds of hours of content in The Barrens (Patreon), which includes their spinoff series Talkin’ Hawkins, CrichtonCast, and Dark Tower Detour.

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The post The 10 Best Stephen King Movies of the 21st Century [The Losers’ Club Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

This first wave of “IT: Welcome to Derry” toys from Funko is now up for pre-order, with the toys expected to begin shipping out within the first couple weeks of January 2026.

The lineup includes Original Periwinkle, Little Periwinkle, and Periwinkle – the wife of original Pennywise performer Bob Gray, and his daughter as both a child and an adult.

Bob Gray as Pennywise is also getting his own Funko toy, along with two versions of the blood-soaked “Bloody Pennywise” from the Season 1 finale of “IT: Welcome to Derry.”

And then there’s “Pickle Dad,” IT’s gruesome manifestation of Lilly Bainbridge’s deceased father. The memorable scene makes for one of the gnarlier Funko toys we’ve seen.

Pre-order the “IT: Welcome to Derry” Funko POP! toys today.

The post ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Funko Toy Line Includes Periwinkle, Pickle Dad & Bloody Pennywise appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

A frequent collaborator of Scott Derrickson, Ransone co-starred in Sinister, Sinister 2, The Black Phone, Black Phone 2, and V/H/S/85.

His other horror credits include Kristy, Prom Night (2008), Family Blood, and “Deadwax.”

Outside the genre, Ransone was known for playing Ziggy Sobotka in the second season of “The Wire.”

Ransone also appeared in Tangerine, Oldboy (2013), “Generation Kill,” In a Valley of Violence, Inside Man, The Next Three Days, and “Treme.”

Ransone’s wife, Jamie McPhee, wrote on Instagram, “I told you I have loved you 1000 times before and I know I will love you again. You told me – I need to be more like you and you need to be more like me – and you were so right. Thank you for giving me the greatest gifts – you, Jack and Violet. We are forever.”

A Gofundme has been set up to support Jamie and their two young children.

If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential support 24/7.

James Ransone in ‘It: Chapter Two’

The post ‘It: Chapter Two,’ ‘Sinister’ Actor James Ransone Has Passed Away at 46 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Constant Readers and fans of Stephen King’s 1986 novel It know that “no one who dies in Derry ever really dies.”

That’s the eerie aphorism shared with Losers’ Club member Beverly Marsh (Jessica Chastain) as she sips tea with the deceptively monstrous Mrs. Kersh (Joan Gregson) in the story’s modern timeline. King’s terrifying novel follows Beverly and her friends on a quest to destroy a shapeshifting child-killer known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård). Every 27 years, this creature emerges from the sewers to feast on the frightened children of Derry before returning to sleep in Its subterranean lair.

After watching the finale of Andy Muschietti’s prequel series It: Welcome to Derry, perhaps we can expand on Mrs. Kersh’s ominous warning to say that nothing in Derry ever truly ends. Season 1 takes place in 1962, one cycle before the events of King’s book, and we think we know how the overall story will end. But an ominous interaction with the monster Itself calls an ostensibly solid timeline into question. 

Season 1 has been building to the horrific fire at the Black Spot speakeasy while following a military quest to free Pennywise from a metaphysical cage confining him within the town. With a key pillar of this perimeter missing, a de facto Losers’ Club has formed to bury a powerful artifact and essentially close the gate again. Desperate to save Will (Blake Cameron James) — and scores of other kids — trapped in the monster’s hypnotic Deadlights, Marge (Matilda Lawler) and her friends confront Pennywise on a river strangely frozen by a monstrous mist. As It prepares to devour Marge, he taunts the frightened girl with information about her future and reveals that her married name will be Margaret Tozier. This confirms the fan theory that Marge is the mother of Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard, Bill Hader), a member of the Losers’ Club that finally manages to kill the clown. 

Photo courtesy of HBO

Though admittedly exciting, this revelation opens the door for larger horrors. While Marge cowers on the ice, Pennywise toys with the idea of killing her, thus preventing Richie from ever existing. But It seems amused by the situation and waxes poetic on the nature of time. As an eternal being, It notes that past, present, and future are all the same and his end will also be a beginning.

Early episodes have shown that the entity known as Pennywise is an interdimensional being who arrived on Earth within a star, crash-landing in a forest that would one day form the town of Derry. He will later call himself a “god” and an “eater of worlds,” implying that his existence transcends our understanding of time and space. Pennywise is ultimately prevented from devouring Marge, momentarily frozen by a mental distraction. But she’s haunted by this interaction and what it could mean for her future safety. 

With the dust still settling on their victory, Marge discusses this disturbing conversation with her friend Lilly (Clara Stack). Not only does she now know the name of her future son, but that he will be partially responsible for killing It, which places her own existence in danger. What she does not know is that Will’s future son Mike (Chosen Jacobs, Isaiah Mustafa) will also be part of this group and similarly pivotal to the monster’s destruction. As the only Loser to stay in Derry, the future town librarian will bide time between the monster’s cycles by compiling a dark town history, writing the very Interludes upon which It: Welcome to Derry is based. He will also be responsible for calling the adult Losers back home in order to stop the monster once and for all.

Muschietti’s Richie is an integral member of the Club that finally kills the clown, but King’s source material gives him an even more important role. While embarking on the Ritual of Chüd, a telepathic battle of wits, an adult Bill misses his grip and it’s Richie who manages to save the day. Though they are two of a seven-person team, Richie and Mike are absolutely essential to the Losers’ Club’s victory and ridding Derry of the monstrous clown. Marge worries that if this interdimensional creature has the ability to see forward in time, perhaps It can travel backwards as well. Lilly assures her that this will be someone else’s fight, alluding to cycles past and future, but Marge’s existential worry presents a horrific possibility: if Pennywise is indeed eternal and has the ability to travel through time, could he find a way to murder the ancestors of the Loser’s Club, negating their heroic actions before they begin?  

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Muschietti stops short of pulling on this thread, instead choosing to wrap the series on an emotional beat. But these conversations cast new light on the expected events of seasons 2 and 3. Written in 1986 and twice adapted for the screen, King’s story is a closed loop in which the adult Losers defeat the evil entity, nearly destroying Derry in the process. Based on four literary Interludes, It: Welcome to Derry will likely chronicle earlier cycles of death, leading up to mass casualty events.

The 1935 cycle will end with the massacre of the Bradley Gang, an outlaw family attempting to hide out in Derry. Previous episodes have featured flashbacks to the 1908 cycle in which the monster adopts his Pennywise persona, sparking a deadly obsession in  Ingrid Kersh (Emma-Leigh Cullum, Madeleine Stowe). This earlier cycle will end with a devastating explosion at the Kitchener Ironworks during a town-wide Easter Egg hunt. This disturbing event is referenced along with the Bradley Gang shootout in the series’ eerie opening sequence. 

Marge’s fears of a time-travelling killer clown seem to reference James Cameron’s Terminator franchise in which a murderous cyborg arrives in the past to kill a prominent military leader before he can rise to power. But King has provided precedent for this mind-boggling theory in a subsequent Derry novel. 11//22/63 follows Jake Epping, a teacher from the 21st century who travels back in time to prevent the Kennedy Assassination via a portal located in Southern Maine. The invisible tunnel Jake calls a rabbit hole leads him to the neighboring town of Lisbon Falls circa 1958, the year of King’s first literary cycle. On his way to Dallas, Jake makes a stop in Derry and interacts with Losers Beverly and Richie in the aftermath of their first battle with It. Perhaps there are other portals surrounding the monster’s hunting ground linking travelers to the deadly cycles of 1935 and 1908?

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

While Pennywise would be unable to use a portal located outside Derry’s protective perimeter, his human familiars could. King sets precedence for this as well. In the novel’s adult timeline, Pennywise assists the sinister Henry Bowers (Teach Grant) in breaking out of the Juniper Hill asylum and attempting to kill the returning Losers before they can enter It’s subterranean lair. We also know that Mrs. Kersh has been luring children to Pennywise, hoping to catch a glimpse of her long-lost father, the original dancing clown. Having been caught in the Deadlights in the previous episode, her mind appears to have been destroyed by the evil entity and reprogrammed to do Its bidding.

Or, now that she knows the truth about her father’s murder and assimilation, perhaps Mrs. Kersh will use a rabbit hole to save her father’s life, thus preventing the Entity from killing Robert Gray (Skarsgård) and adopting the clown persona altogether. Marge and her friends could also use this passageway to travel backward or forward in the Derry timeline, providing assistance to their children — or parents — as they also attempt to defeat the clown.

And there is one additional option. We’ve assumed that It: Welcome to Derry follows the human experience, backtracking through linear time. But if this universal constant is actually malleable, perhaps we’ve been experiencing events from Pennywise’s point of view. If It truly has the power to bend time and space, maybe his near death in 1989 and defeat in 2016 (1958 and 1985 in King’s source material) has sparked the eternal monster’s defense mechanism. This end at the hands of the Losers’ Club could be the beginning of a new attempt to survive. Instead of traveling back in time, perhaps It is reliving the 1962 timeline after the events of 2016 and each trip backwards in human time is a subsequent attempt to stop the Losers’ Club from ever existing.

If Pennywise has the power to adopt any shape or form, maybe It can transform time as well. After all, if no one ever really dies in Derry, doesn’t that extend to the monster too?

For more coverage of It: Welcome to Derry, check out episode by episode coverage on The Losers’ Club: A Stephen King Podcast.

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

The post ‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Explained: Pennywise Opens the Door to Time Travel in Season 2 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After seven thrilling episodes, It: Welcome to Derry concludes its inaugural season with “Winter Fire,” a powerhouse finale that effectively wraps up the town’s 1962 cycle of death and destruction while peppering in shrewd connections to Stephen King’s larger body of work.

With Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) unbound by the protective Pillars previously used to confine him to Derry, the monster has emerged from his subterranean lair, seemingly ready to skip his traditional 27-year hibernation and continue to feast on children’s fear. This shift coincides with a mysterious fog that spreads through town, bringing out-of-season ice and snow while providing cover for the clown’s sinister deeds. Constant Readers will undoubtedly be reminded of another tiny Maine town overtaken by a deadly haze. 

King’s 1985 collection Skeleton Crew opens with “The Mist,” a novella in which a heavy summer storm is followed by dense clouds spreading through Bridgton, Maine, sparking chaos among the frightened survivors while cloaking a variety of massive beasts.  Co-creator Jason Fuchs has stated that the mist permeating Derry is not the same phenomenon that decimates Bridgton, but comparisons are nonetheless eerie. The Bridgton disaster is reportedly caused by a dangerous experiment at a nearby military base and the mysterious Project Arrowhead, reminiscent of General Shaw (James Remar) and his reckless Project Precept. Anyone familiar with King’s harrowing “The Mist” — not to mention Frank Darabont‘s devastating 2007 adaptation — will no doubt see this mist rolling through town and worry that Derry may be headed for a similar fate. 

Photo courtesy of HBO

After watching the weather turn from their lofty clubhouse, Marge (Matilda Lawler), Lilly (Clara Stack), and Ronnie (Amanda Christine) descend the stairs to find the walls of the Standpipe covered with Missing posters emblazoned with the images of Derry’s kids. Most upsetting is a flyer featuring Will (Blake Cameron James), who was pulled into Pennywise’s Deadlights in the final moments of episode 7. These bulletins nod to one of co-creator Andy Muschietti‘s more sinister visual frights in his 2017 adaptation It. After entering the house on Neibolt Street, Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard) is confronted with a Missing poster featuring his own smiling face. Determined to save their friend and still reeling from the deadly Black Spot fire, Marge insists, “I wanna kill that fucking clown,” paraphrasing Richie’s explicit call to arms in Muschietti’s It and It: Chapter Two. 

Disoriented by the freezing mist, the girls follow a trail of blood into the woods. But with just one bike between them, they’re unable to move fast enough. Fortunately, Marge commandeers an abandoned delivery truck after spying a milkman lying dead nearby, cleverly nodding to two of King’s most bizarre short stories. Skeleton Crew also features a pair of entries reworked from snippets of an abandoned novel. “Morning Deliveries (Milkman No. 1)” and “Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman No. 2)” are unsettling vignettes following Spike, a milkman and suspected serial killer who delights in delivering deadly ingredients like poisoned gas and venomous spiders hidden inside his bottles of milk. When Marge mentions learning to drive a truck by watching her uncle, Constant Readers may also remember another story collected in Skeleton Crew. “Uncle Otto’s Truck” is an eerie Castle Rock tale following a man plagued by guilt that takes the form of an abandoned truck creeping immeasurably closer to his bedroom window. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Among those still left to battle the clown, none has been terrorized quite like Dick Hallorran (Chris Chalk). While using his telepathic powers to locate the Entity, Pennywise was able to infiltrate Dick’s mind and release a host of ominous spirits previously trapped in a mental lockbox. Terrorized by visions of the dead, Dick accepts a potent tea from Rose (Kimberly Guerrero), who promises it will help silence their voices.

This concoction is made from Maturin root, used as a hallucinogenic in Muschietti’s It: Chapter Two. Both inclusions of this mysterious plant reference an interdimensional turtle named Maturin who serves as a benevolent counterweight to the relentless evil of Pennywise. (For more information on Maturin, see our recap of episode 1). Rose explains that ingesting this root will connect Hallorann “to all things in the realm this evil came from.” Though she does not use the explicit term, Rose is referencing Todash Space, a liminal void between other worlds from which Pennywise – along with the aforementioned Bridgton monsters — likely originates. This tea not only allows Dick to quiet the dead and locate the Entity, but he’s also able to hijack Pennywise’s own consciousness and create a mental distraction while the kids attempt to rebury the Pillar. This metaphysical ruse sets up a similar tactic that Hallorann’s protege, Danny Torrance, will use to battle the True Knot in King’s 2013 novel Doctor Sleep. 

While this reference is admittedly thematic in nature, Muschietti wraps up Dick’s time in Derry with an overt nod to his origin story. Once Pennywise has been subdued, Hallorann plans to leave the military and try his hand at a new career. While saying goodbye, he mentions accepting an opportunity to cook at a friend’s hotel, foreshadowing his time as Head Chef at the sinister Overlook Hotel, first introduced in King’s 1977 novel, The Shining. Inside, he will be confronted with more visions of the dead, which seem to feed on his strange abilities. Hallorann quips, “How much trouble could a hotel be?” an ominous precursor to the horrors he will face in another of King’s most terrifying tales. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

In the midst of this episode’s jaw-dropping climax, Marge also gets a window into her own future. Having cornered the frightened girl away from her friends, Pennywise refers to her as Margaret Tozier, before noting that this is not her name … yet. After weeks of fan theories and speculation — sparked by the character’s thick glasses and affinity for impressions which heavily mirror Richie’s own persona — this name drop confirms that Marge is the future mother of Losers’ Club member Richie Tozier, forming a direct link between her survival and It’s demise. We don’t yet know who Richie’s father will be, but considering the events of episode 7, we can now assume that Marge will name her son after Rich Santos (Arian S. Cartaya), the brave boy who died to save her life. 

Marge turns this encounter over in her mind, wondering about the limits of the Entity’s power. Revealing that her child will one day cause It’s death, the trickster clown also alludes to the cyclical nature of time itself and warns that this end will also serve as a birth. Marge worries that It has the power to target her ancestors in previous cycles, potentially wiping out the Losers’ Club and their hard-won victory before it begins. Lilly calms her fears, noting that this will be “someone else’s fight,” simultaneously referring to the events of King’s novel and the remaining two seasons of It: Welcome to Derry, which promise to chronicle earlier Interludes. As the final credits roll, eagle-eyed viewers will note a subtle addition to the script. “Chapter One” not only mirrors the conclusion of Muschietti’s It, but promises a return to this troubled town. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Also wary of the monster’s resurgence, Rose believes she’s found a new generation of guardians. Devastated by her nephew’s death, she offers to sell her farm to the Hanlons and, along with it, the task of monitoring Derry to make sure the Pillars stay in place. Though the Hanlons initially balk at this invitation, Charlotte (Taylour Paige) convinces her husband Leroy (Jovan Adepo) to stay, mirroring her grandson’s role in future cycles. After battling the shapeshifting nightmare as kids, members of the Losers’ Club scatter to the winds, growing wildly successful in their respective fields. But Mike Hanlon stays behind, dedicating his life to keeping the watch. While waiting for the monster to arise, he begins researching the town’s history, compiling his findings into four literary Interludes which will become the basis of It: Welcome to Derry. 

Despite this heartwarming conclusion, Muschietti is not yet done with the terror. A post-credits scene takes us inside Juniper Hill, a hospital for the mentally ill, where we see a disturbed Ingrid Kersh (Madeleine Stowe) ranting about the murderous clown. Muschietti then fast forwards to 1988, the year before the Losers’ Club forms. Joan Gregson reprises her role as the elderly Mrs. Kersh, nodding to her unsettling appearance in It: Chapter Two (see our recap of the Mrs. Kersh lore). 

The unnervingly cheerful woman hears sobbing from an open room and patters down the hall to take a peek. Inside, another patient named Elfrida Marsh has finally succeeded in dying by suicide. Standing in the doorway, Ingrid ignores the woman’s dangling body to focus on her grieving daughter. Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis) attempts to console her abusive father before turning to lock eyes with Mrs. Kersh, who promises that “no one who dies in Derry ever really dies.” She will later echo this ominous phrase as a warning to an adult Beverly (Jessica Chastain) as she returns to Derry, intent on killing Pennywise once and for all.

This connection also brings the episode’s title full circle. “Winter Fire” not only describes the icy fog overtaking the town, but references a line from a romantic poem sent to Beverly from a secret admirer, revealed to be fellow Loser Ben Hanscomb. This connection draws a direct line between Mrs. Kersh and her future victim while reminding us that both evil and good exist side by side within the borders of King’s infamous town.

For more on It:Welcome to Derry, check out episode by episode coverage from Bloody FM’s The Losers’ Club: A Stephen King Podcast.

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

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Spoilers for the “IT: Welcome to Derry” Season 1 finale are incoming…

Long story short, we learned last night that Pennywise experiences time differently than the rest of us, with the evil entity experiencing past, present and future all at once. How exactly that works is a little bit unclear, but the Season 1 finale of “Welcome to Derry” reveals that Pennywise has been on a mission to kill Marge this whole time, who it turns out is the mother of Losers Club member Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard). Richie and his pals will eventually go on to kill Pennywise, and Pennywise knows this and has been attempting to stop his future fate.

It’s strongly suggested in the finale that Pennywise will now dig further back into the Losers Club family tree in an attempt to prevent his own demise, which lines up with everything we’ve been hearing about planned future seasons of “IT: Welcome to Derry” for a while now.

If HBO orders up a second season – and we assume it’s only a matter of time – “Welcome to Derry” will travel back to 1935, with the third season jumping back even further to 1908!

IT of course wakes up and feeds every 27 years, so the series will be tracking those cycles throughout time. The show’s first season took place in 1962, while the first IT (2017) movie was set in 1989 and Muschietti’s IT: Chapter Two (2019) jumped forward 27 years to 2016. Each cycle begins and ends with a horrific act, while Pennywise feasts on children throughout.

“His experience of time is non-linear. How is that and why, that’s a whole exploration that we intend to flesh out during the next two seasons, but that was pretty much [the idea] from the beginning,” producer/director Andy Muschietti tells Deadline. “The pitch to Stephen King was we’re going to tell a story backwards, and it has to do with that hint.”

Muschietti aims to answer a very specific question in Season 2 & 3: “Is [IT] going backwards in a linear way, or is he omnipresent, and how does that affect the story that we already know?”

The post ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Season 2 & Season 3: Andy Muschietti Previews Epic Plan appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Horror fans love a killer clown. HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry has taken the world by storm with a deft blend of heartstopping terror and comforting nostalgia surrounding a solid emotional core.

Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård) returns to terrorize the children of Derry, Maine, this time matched by a group of intrepid kids and a handful of familiar adult faces. Set in 1962, season 1 of a planned three-chapter run brings to life the fire at the Black Spot, one of the most disturbing sections of Stephen King’s 1986 novel, It.

Over seven jaw-dropping episodes, creators Andy and Barbara Muschietti, along with showrunners Jason Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane, have resurrected fan-favorite characters from King’s connected universe, concocted fascinating origin stories, and dazzled us with a series of horrific sequences as we watch the shapeshifting monster go to work. But as we approach the season one finale, five burning questions begin to take shape.  

Will Leroy escape?

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

One of the more surprising storylines this season follows General Shaw (James Remar) and Operation Precept. Commander of the Derry Air Force Base, Shaw has recovered memories of his own childhood in the sinister town and returned to capture the nightmarish beast that once tried to kill him in the woods. Or at least that’s what we think. Episode 7, “The Black Spot,” reveals the true nature of his plan.

Well aware of the Entity’s shapeshifting power, Shaw plans to free Pennywise and use the fear It inspires to control a rapidly changing nation. Ostensibly kind, Shaw has been using Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) and his psychic gifts to locate the mysterious monster, and he’s summoned Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) to the Base because of the airman’s peculiar strength. Thanks to a brain injury suffered during combat, Leroy is incapable of fear, making him impervious to Pennywise’s manipulative power. 

With these factors at play, episode 7 ends with a game-changing showdown. Upon locating one of thirteen Pillars — pieces of the star in which Pennywise arrived that now contain him to a small hunting ground — Leroy prepares to move the precious stone further in, reducing the size of Its metaphysical cave. But Colonel Fuller (Thomas Mitchell) orders the Pillar brought to the Base, where it can be “studied.” Having nearly lost his son Will (Blake Cameron James) to this frightening beast, Leory knows this is a terrible idea and storms the Base with his service weapon drawn. He demands to take possession of the Pillar so he can rebury it before the creature escapes. Shaw reluctantly reveals his true motivation and orders Leroy to return to his barracks.

But moments after the airman departs, Shaw instructs Fuller, “Don’t let that man leave the Base.” The General’s callous regard for the children of Derry — not to mention the larger U.S. population — shows that he will not hesitate to kill anyone who jeopardizes his dangerous plan. Will Leroy manage to escape the Base, and can he stop Shaw before it’s too late?

Can the Losers rescue Will?

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Unfortunately, Leroy is not the only Hanlon in jeopardy. After the horrific Black Spot fire, Pennywise returns to his subterranean lair and prepares to sleep for another 27 years, thus fulfilling another deadly cycle. We see the murderous clown nearly submerged in blood, surrounded by the dismembered bodies of his previous meals. But now that Shaw has removed one of the Pillars, the clown’s options have dramatically changed.

Home alone, Will answers a call from his crush, Ronnie (Amanda Christine), but stares at the phone in horror when her words become increasingly vulgar. He realizes that he’s talking to Pennywise himself before discovering that the call is coming from inside the house. 

Will turns around to find the fiend — soaked in blood from the nose down — perched atop his refrigerator. Before he can fight back or flee, Pennywise unhooks his cavernous jaws and traps Will in the Deadlights, powerful beams used to stun and subdue his prey. Constant Readers know that Will must survive this startling encounter so that he can grow up to father Mike Hanlon, who will wage a similar war with the clown as a child in 1989 and again 27 years later. But this attack puts everyone else in danger.

We can assume that the Entity will bring Will to his lair and that the child’s friends will come to his aid. The loss of Rich (Arian S. Cartaya) in episode 7 proves that anyone else in this de facto Losers’ Club can die, and Will’s capture places Ronnie, Lilly (Clara Stack), and Marge (Matilda Lawler) in imminent danger. 

Will Dick Hallorann be able to close the Lockbox?

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

While Pennywise is known for preying on children, this interdimensional monster is dangerous to adults as well. Hallorann has been using his Shining to locate the Entity and the thirteen Pillars that keep him contained — at a high cost to his own mental health. Episode 5 follows Fuller and his men on a disastrous mission into the sewers, where they’re decimated by the shapeshifting beast. Though he survives the ill-advised plan, Hallorann is pulled into a metaphysical space and forced to relive his painful past.

In a disturbing childhood memory, the ghost of Dick’s abusive grandfather uses Pennywise’s power to pry open a mental lockbox used to trap dangerous spirits. Outside the sewers, Hallorann sees the body of one of the airmen just killed by Pennywise’s deception, indicating Hallorann’s new vulnerability. After years of locking spirits away, It has managed to set them all free. 

Though unnerving to see mangled ghosts wherever he goes, Dick has thus far been able to evade their awareness. But in order to escape the Black Spot fire, he must ask one of the dead for help. Though Sesqui (Morningstar Angeline), leader of the indigenous tribe that first battled It, leads Hallorann to safety, this interaction draws the attention of every ghost in the area. Dick may survive the harrowing fire, but the spirits of his fallen friends swarm him in the aftermath, screaming their confusion and pain in his ears. Unable to help or drown them out, Hallorann has no choice but to accept the cacophony.

Constant Readers know that he will go on to teach a young Danny Torrance this mental lockbox trick within the pages of Doctor Sleep, but will he be able to help when his friends wage war with Pennywise? And what will he be required to do in order to trap these spirits once again? 

What lies in store for Mrs. Kersh?

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

In a season filled with revelations and connections to King’s larger catalogue, one of the most shocking has been the story of Ingrid Kersh (Madeleine Stowe). The kindly housekeeper first meets Lilly at Juniper Hill, a hospital for the mentally ill, but becomes a trusted confidant and advisor as the girl battles the clown with her friends. But recent episodes have unveiled her darker connection to the shapeshifting monster. We learn that Ingrid is the daughter of Robert Gray (Skarsgård), the original Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

Flashbacks reveal that the once-human circus performer was targeted by It, who sets his eyes on Gray’s appealing stage persona. Desperate to reconnect with her missing father, Ingrid has spent years luring children to the predator’s feeding ground and consoling herself with glimpses of the familiar clown. But a confrontation outside the burning Black Spot leaves Mrs. Kersh in mortal danger. 

As Pennywise prepares to sleep for another 27 years, Ingrid calls the creature back, demanding to know what really happened to her father. The Entity delivers the devastating news while approaching with murderous curiosity. But rather than eating the daughter of his stolen human form, It sweeps Ingrid up into the Deadlights. The next day, we see paramedics cart the catatonic woman away on a stretcher, but a sly dart of her eyes reveals something more menacing.

We know that Mrs. Kersh will go on to terrorize Beverly Marsh in King’s adult timeline, also chronicled in It: Chapter Two. What we don’t know is how the woman transforms from a grieving and unstable daughter to an outright monster capable of Its shapeshifting powers. Will Ingrid become a resident of Juniper Hill or find herself trapped alongside her father in Pennywise’s metaphysical menagerie? 

Can Pennywise be contained?

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

With charming characters, shocking reveals, and of course a bevy of horrifying deaths, It: Welcome to Derry has fleshed out some of the sprawling novel’s more mysterious lore. We’ve learned that Rose (Kimberly Guerrero) and a committee of indigenous protectors have been monitoring It for centuries, containing the beast to the woods where the otherworldly fiend can do minimal damage. But General Shaw arrives in town, determined to undo their life-saving work. He’s used Hallorann to locate and remove one of the tribe’s protective Pillars, leaving the cage door open for Pennywise’s escape. 

In addition to King’s creature mythology, the novel makes no mention of these thirteen Pillars, nor do either of Muschietti’s cinematic adaptations, leaving containment an open question. We know that Pennywise will awaken in 1989 to torture and eat the children of Derry and that he will target the Barrens, a wooded creek where the Losers’ Club forms. What we don’t know is whether future cycles will see him caged or if he’ll be able to hunt in a larger area. Will they be able to force Pennywise back into the box, or will he find a way to terrorize more of the town’s most vulnerable citizens? 

It: Welcome to Derry seasons 2 and 3 will probably be set in previous cycles, bringing to life the Bradley Gang massacre of 1935 and the 1908 Kitchener Ironworks explosion, both teased in the show’s deceptively wholesome opening sequence. This timeline regression means we’re likely to get answers to most of these questions as the anthology-esque series transforms to showcase earlier eras. But what does that mean for our beloved 1962 characters? Part of what sets It: Welcome to Derry apart from a crowded field of horror TV is a willingness to kill fan-favorite characters, mirroring King’s own ability to shatter our hearts by blending terror and devastation.

As we approach the finale of season one, perhaps our most unsettling question should be who will survive and what will be left of them when the dust settles on the Master of Horror’s infamous town.

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

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Of course, that extended supercut of IT and IT: Chapter Two never ended up happening. We ended up getting something even better, with the first season of 1962-set prequel series “IT: Welcome to Derry” wrapping up on HBO Max this coming Sunday night (December 14).

Does Muschietti plan on revisiting the idea of the IT supercut movie? In an Ask-Me-Anything chat on Reddit this week, he reveals that it remains a dream project after all these years.

“Still a big dream of mine,” Andy Muschietti told fans during the AMA chat. “Since we’ve been involved heavily in this show we hadn’t had time to execute it. Crossing fingers.”

What would be included in this extended cut, you might be wondering?

Muschietti told Consequence of Sound back in 2019, “There’s a scene that we shot that’s in the 1600s. I decided not to put it in the film because it was a little confusing. You know, the problem is that people sometimes want to know a little more, but if you give them too much, then they’re disappointed. It’s like a magic trick in a way.”

In that 2019 chat, Muschietti also touched upon a deleted scene referencing the celestial turtle known as Maturin, an ancient figure who appears in King’s IT novel as well as The Dark Tower.

“When you see McAvoy confronting his fear in the flooded basement, and he kills the notion of guilt by killing himself as a kid, he jumps back in the water. He’s lost, there is no way out, and suddenly, the eyes of Pennywise — Pennywise Bill, the kid — come out of the dark. But it’s not Pennywise, it’s the turtle that is swimming by him,” he details. “And he views the turtle and he’s sort of fascinated, like, ‘What is this thing?’, and very soon after, the kids are swimming after it. So, McAvoy follows them toward the light, and he emerges back in the cavern.”

Muschietti added, “It’s a beautiful scene, but I had to leave it out over pacing reasons. It was very emotional, but it was not in the right moment, where things had to move faster.”

Whether or not the IT and IT: Chapter Two extended supercut ever happens, it’s likely that we’ll be seeing much more of Pennywise in the coming years. The first season of “IT: Welcome to Derry” is proving to be a hit for HBO and HBO Max, and we expect the series will soon be renewed for a second season. The Muschiettis have plans for a three-season arc for the series.

Stay tuned for more on all things IT, Pennywise, and “Welcome to Derry.”

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Fans of Stephen King‘s 1986 novel It know that in a town plagued by an interdimensional shapeshifting creature who delights in torturing and eating children, the human monsters are arguably worse.

King’s sprawling novel is punctuated by a series of four Interludes chronicling Derry’s violent history. Collected by Derry Librarian and Losers’ Club member Mike Hanlon, these four chapters tell stories of violence and hate, which conclude each of the beast’s feeding cycles. After spending the summer feasting on the children of Derry, It gorges itself in one massive event and then returns to sleep for another 27 years. Though Pennywise the Dancing Clown usually makes an appearance in one of Its many forms, these Interludes are usually caused by all-too-human hatred that explodes into violence. 

HBO’s hit series It: Welcome to Derry is based on these stories, which precede the events of King’s novel and director Andy Muschietti‘s own dual adaptations. Created along with Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs, season 1 takes place in 1962, the cycle before the Losers’ Club forms. Set in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, this season centers on King’s second Interlude, a devastating hate crime known as the fire at the Black Spot. Though markedly different from King’s source material, this harrowing event follows a group of Maine racists who set fire to a speakeasy frequented by the Black servicemen of the Derry Army Air Corps Base. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Mike first hears the story of the Black Spot fire from his father in 1958, the same year he and his Losers’ Club friends wage war against the sinister clown. While chatting after dinner one night, Will begins the story by recounting his time at the Derry Base. Stationed there in 1930 (for more information on this timeline change, see our recap of episode 1), Will was assigned to Company E, an all-Black unit housed in a rundown barracks with an unreliable wood furnace and no insulation. After installing a series of storm windows to protect themselves from the brutal Maine cold, the men of Company E were sent out of town on a special assignment and returned to find each window busted out. To further explain the town’s vicious racism, Will tells his son another horrific story about being abducted by a white soldier named Wilson and forced to spend hours digging, then refilling, then digging, then refilling a hole in the ground. 

Will explains that due to widespread segregation, Black servicemen were not allowed in the base’s NCO club and began to frequent bars in town, drawing attention from the Derry chapter of the KKK (who fancy themselves the Maine League of White Decency). The five men of the Derry Town Council complained to DAACB Major Fuller, who found a handy — if insulting — solution: the use of an old requisition shed. Will remembers, “It was dark and smelly, full of old tools and boxes of papers that had gone moldy. There were only two little windows and no electricity. The floor was dirt. George Brannock, who was also killed in the fire that fall, said: ‘Yeah, it’s a hell of a black spot, all right.’ And the name just stuck.”

The men of Company E begin to fix up the ramshackle structure, installing a makeshift kitchen and bar. It soon becomes a popular hangout for Company E and invited guests, but it’s not until the men cobble together a Dixieland combo that Derry citizens begin to take notice. When word gets out about the exciting new speakeasy, people begin travelling from miles around. The place is packed every Friday and Saturday with the doors essentially standing open from 7:00 p.m. until 1 a.m. Men of the Derry Town Council again take notice when this affects business from the town’s whites-only bars. But rather than simply complaining to Major Fuller, the Legion takes matters into its own hands. 

It: Welcome to Derry episode 5. Madeleine Stowe and Stephen Rider. Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Set in 1962, Muschietti’s timeline is significantly different, weaving together multiple subplots. Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James) is just a child battling Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) with his own club of Losers who find themselves caught in the adult crossfire. Local projectionist Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider) has been arrested on concocted evidence for the deaths of three children in the movie theater massacre that opens the season. A Black man, he’s hesitant to share his alibi — an affair with a white woman named Mrs. Ingrid Kersh (Madeleine Stowe) — for fear that he will be lynched rather than wrongfully convicted. After escaping from a prison bus headed to Shawshank Penitentiary, he’s been holing up in the Black Spot’s back room.

But an anonymous tip, revealed to have been called in by Ingrid herself, leads former Police Chief Clint Bowers (Peter Outerbridge) to his hiding place. Clint and four other men pull on cheap Halloween masks and barge through the doors of the Black Spot, demanding the hand of Hank. Wearing the faces of a vampire, wolfman, and Frankenstein’s monster (among others), each mask nods to a persona It uses to terrorize children in the pages of King’s novel, directly linking this egregious attack to the Entity’s evil influence and Derry’s overall corruption.

Photo courtesy of HBO

These faux “enlightened” men of the north need to dress their attack up in righteousness, but King’s version is much more straightforward. One November Saturday night, a handful of men approach the Black Spot dressed in white sheets toting homemade torches. Will muses, “Maybe they only meant to scare us. I’ve heard it the other way, but I’ve heard it that way, too. I’d rather believe that’s how they meant it, because I ain’t got feeling mean enough even yet to want to believe the worst… It could have been that the gas dripped down to the handles of some of those torches and when they lit them, why, those holding them panicked and threw them any whichway just to get rid of them.”

But regardless of their intention, the impact is the same. A fire breaks out in the kitchen of the Black Spot, currently filled with some 200 guests.

Several years later, while dying of cancer, King’s Will tells his son Mike the rest of the story. With the band raging and the dancefloor packed, the fire has time to build. When someone opens the kitchen door, flames shoot into the larger room, quickly spreading throughout the shed. Panic ensues, and a stampede forms as everyone rushes to the doors. The shed’s only exits are by the kitchen, where the fire began, and a pair of front doors that must be pulled from the inside. As terror spreads, frightened patrons rush the entryway, creating a jam that makes the doors impossible to open. 

Photo courtesy of HBO

The series’ version of the fire leans into the hatred displayed by this deliberate act. Clint and his masked men barge into the Black Spot with shotguns raised, demanding the “fugitive” Hank Grogan. When Dick and his men raise guns of their own, the cowards make a hasty retreat. Outside, they immediately barricade the doors and throw Molotov cocktails to light it on fire. They position themselves around the building and begin shooting the people trapped inside. This intentionality is important in a series set 32 years after the novel’s original Interlude. While overt racism was culturally accepted in King’s Maine of 1930, multiple characters in It: Welcome to Derry note the town’s progressive attitude towards discrimination. But this hate-fueled murder shows that racism is alive and well even when cloaked in dog-whistle calls for law and order. 

Initially caught in the stampede, Will is saved by fellow serviceman Trev Dawson, who extends a hand and pulls the young man to his feet. (Muschietti mirrors this moment when Pennywise extends a hand to a frightened young woman, promising to lead her to safety. He’s later seen devouring her face.) Here, King makes an exciting connection to his 1977 novel The Shining with the inclusion of Dick Hallorann. When the fire breaks out, the future Head Chef of the Overlook Hotel is a 19-year-old member of Company E. Though King stops short of mentioning the man’s clairvoyant powers, Dick has uncanny knowledge of the deadly door jam and guides his friends to a nearby window where they’re able to escape mostly unharmed.  

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Muschietti’s iteration of Hallorann (Chris Chalk) is similarly heroic, using his psychic powers to escape the blaze. Guided by ghosts only he can see, Hallorann breaks through floorboards warped by a leaking icebox to create a tunnel under the kitchen, inverting the source of King’s literary fire as a means of escape. This allows them to bypass Bowers and his armed men, who are shooting anyone who escapes out a window. Unfortunately, attracting the attention of one ghost causes every spirit in the vicinity to notice his presence. Moments later, he’s swarmed by ghosts, he’d previously been able to lock away (see our recap of episode 5).

This eerie moment may have been inspired by a haunting passage from King’s novel. Watching from outside, Will remembers, “nothing but shimmers shaped like men and women in that fire … Some of em had their arms held out, like they expected someone to save them. The others just walked, but they didn’t seem to get nowhere.” 

Once outside, Trev jumps into action, gaining a tiny bit of catharsis in the terrible scene. Seeing the blaze, Wilson has arrived and attempts to give orders, though they’re drowned out in the chaos. Trev demands the keys to his cargo van and, along with Will, knocks the man out when he will not comply. Trev climbs behind the wheel and rams the side of the shed, eventually knocking down the wall. Survivors immediately stream out, some of them on fire. Watching in horror, Will remembers, “The last one was a woman. Her dress had burned off her and there she was in her slip. She was burnin like a candle. She seemed to look right at me at the end, and I seen her eyelids was on fire.” 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

All told, King’s version of the massacre accounts for 60 deaths, many more than Muschietti’s 16, though his sequence is equally disturbing. Moments after Clint and his friends retreat, the 30 or 40 Black Spot patrons begin to panic when they realize the doors have been barricaded shut. Fire soon rampages through the building as bullets pour in through the windows. We watch in horror as a man tries to break out, only to have a bullet tear through his head. Chaos ensues, and it becomes nearly impossible for survivors to tell what’s going on around them, let alone find a way out. 

Of course, this terror draws the attention of Derry’s supernatural threat. While Hallorann struggles to find an exit, we see a familiar silhouette emerge from the flames. Taking advantage of the chaos, Pennywise begins feasting on the panicked survivors, cheerfully gnawing on a woman’s face while taunting those he has not yet devoured. King’s monster makes a similar appearance, but in a much different form. After escaping through the window, Will notices several “ghosts” running to the forest, eventually realizing that they are the sheet-clad racists who started the fire. But one is grabbed by a mysterious monster, and it takes Will a moment to gather his courage before he can tell Mike what he saw. “‘Twas a bird… Right over the last of those runnin men. A hawk, maybe. What they call a kestrel. But it was big. Never told no one. Would have been locked up. That bird was maybe sixty feet from wingtip to wingtip… But I seen … seen its eyes … and I think … it seen me.”

Will describes the monstrous creature hovering over the flaming shed to pick off those fleeing the scene. Horrified, Mike recognizes the bird from his own battle with It in the summer of 1958 when he was terrorized near the Kitchener Ironworks, leading his father to an ominous clarification. “‘It didn’t hover,’ he said. ‘It floated… There were big bunches of balloons tied to each wing, and it floated.'” Constant Readers and It fans alike will recognize this as Pennywise’s signature phrase, “you’ll float too,” indicating either bodies submerged in his sewer dwelling or those caught in his terrible Deadlight beams.

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

After telling his son this harrowing story, Will notes that Derry came together in the wake of the tragedy. Hospitals treated victims free of charge, and people showed up in droves for the funerals of victims, Black and white. Though the perpetrators were never punished, the fire effectively ended the Derry chapter of the KKK. Of course, none of this support brings back the sixty lost souls, nor does it excuse generations of racism that laid the groundwork to light the match. But it does signal that Pennywise has gone to ground and the town’s heightened hostilities have begun to abate.

We’ve yet to see Derry react to the fire in Muschietti’s world, but an egregious radio announcement sets an ominous tone. The event is described as an electrical fire at an illegal speakeasy on the outskirts of town. The deceased servicemen are blamed for it all, and the racist murderers who started the blaze have been reframed as concerned citizens helping the wounded. Both versions of this tragic sequence show the very real cost of racism and hatred, rivaling the story’s supernatural villain. After all, humans caused this horrific fire, with Pennywise only planting the seeds.

King has famously stated his belief in evil, insisting, “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” One of the most upsetting chapters in the Master of Horror’s catalog, the fire at the Black Spot bears this point out, with human hatred proving to be much more dangerous than a child-eating clown.

For even more on It: Welcome to Derry, check out episode by episode coverage from The Losers’ Club: A Stephen King Podcast.

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

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In all of Stephen King‘s works, few occurrences are as upsetting as the fire at the Black Spot. 

Chronicled in the Second Interlude of his 1986 novel It, this story follows a group of Black servicemen stationed at the Derry Air Force Base who turn a decommissioned storage shed into a popular speakeasy to combat the Whites Only policy in Derry’s other establishments. Jealous of the location’s popularity, members of the Maine Legion of White Decency (a fancy title for the KKK) descend on the Black Spot and burn it down, accidentally trapping dozens of patrons inside. King’s horrific description of this roaring fire rivals anything else in his vast catalogue, blending racist cruelty with painful gore. Perhaps the Interlude’s sensitive nature is why nearly four decades and two adaptations later, we’ve never seen the fire at the Black Spot committed to screen.

But episode 7, “The Black Spot,” of It: Welcome to Derry pulls us into this devastating vignette while exploring the forces responsible for striking the match. 

Due to the altered timeline (see our recap of episode 1), creator Andy Muschietti‘s version plays out slightly differently. Originally set in 1930, King’s literary racists set a small fire in the kitchen, perhaps intending to simply damage the building. Yet, the hundreds of dancing patrons become trapped inside, leading to sixty deaths and many more injuries. Though perhaps difficult to capture a massacre of this scale on screen, Muschietti instead leans into intentionality.

Photo courtesy of HBO

Demanding the fugitive Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider) come out, a gang of Derry racists barricade the doors and use torches to set the building ablaze, shooting in the windows and picking off anyone who happens to escape. King’s Interlude follows several instances of blatant discrimination in the heavily segregated military barracks, laying the groundwork for this egregious hate crime. But, set in 1962, Muschietti’s fire takes place in a different world. Previous episodes have noted Derry’s northern enlightenment, and this purposeful crime shows that racism can be just as deadly when not spoken out loud. 

Just moments before, several of Derry’s prominent citizens, led by former Police Chief Clint Bowers (Peter Outerbridge), barged into the Black Spot demanding Hank. Each wears a different Halloween mask referencing faces It wears in King’s novel. A vampire, wolfman, and hobo are all among the many forms the shapeshifting monster takes to terrorize its prey. This moment also nods to another of King’s lesser-known villains: Andre Linoge (Colm Feore). Based on one of the author’s rare screenplays, Storm of the Century is a 1999 miniseries set on the quaint Little Tall Island. When a brutal nor’easter rolls in off the water, a madman begins terrorizing the town. This mysterious demon causes acts of unspeakable violence, promising more if citizens do not submit to his will. “Give me what I want, AND I’LL GO AWAY,” he vows, while demanding one of the Island’s children to serve as his evil protege. Muschietti doubles down on Clint’s villainy by using this phrase to capture Hank. 

Muschietti takes us inside this deadly inferno in a jaw-dropping and emotional action sequence. Yet, in the midst of this terror, Constant Readers may notice a deft inversion and subtle reference to King’s original source material. While the literary fire begins in the kitchen, Muscietti’s Dick (Chris Chalk) uses the small enclosure as a means of escape. Stomping through floorboards rotted by a leaking icebox, he’s able to create a tunnel under the blaze. This appliance proves beneficial for Marge (Matilda Lawler) as well. In a heartbreaking twist, Rich (Arian S. Cartaya) convinces her to climb inside to shield herself from the deadly smoke, sacrificing himself for the girl of his dreams. This tender moment references two more sinister iceboxes found elsewhere in King’s literary canon. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

In one of Its more disturbing vignettes, the literary Beverly Marsh stumbles upon Henry Bowers and Patrick Hockstetter lighting farts with friends in the otherwise deserted junkyard. Alone, Patrick gives Henry a handjob and offers oral sex, to which Henry responds by punching him in the face. He proceeds to threaten Patrick with revealing the truth about the “secret fridge” Patrick has been using as a torture device. The budding psychopath traps small animals inside and then leaves them to die. Worried, Patrick attempts to dispose of the evidence, but opens the icebox door to a supernatural horde of flying leeches. These disgusting creatures drain him of blood before Pennywise appears to drag him away. Though horrific, by this point in the story, we’ve seen Patrick murder his infant brother, and his gruesome death will undoubtedly save an unknown number of future victims. 

Another sinister icebox rears its head in King’s 1972 story “The Mangler,” also referenced in episode one. When an industrial speed ironer becomes possessed by a demon, detective John Hunton hears a similar story about a mysterious refrigerator in the town dump. This icebox is constantly filled with the corpses of birds and rodents, suspected of harboring a similar demon. The dump overseer finally removes the door when a neighborhood child is found dead inside. 

Drawn by the fire’s suffering and pain, Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) appears inside the blaze, feasting on those untouched by the flames. Well-fed, he emerges for one last victim — the town’s cruel butcher Stanley Kersh (Larry Day) — before returning to sleep for another 27 years. With little regard for her murdered husband, Ingrid (Madeleine Stowe) begs his killer to stay, believing It to be her long-lost father. The episode opens with a flashback to 1908 and a human performance from the notorious clown. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Charming and kind, Robert Gray (Skarsgård) takes the stage as Pennywise the Dancing Clown to delight an audience filled with kids. Muschietti can be seen looking on with approval while grinding the organ behind the crowd. Backstage, Gray has a tender moment with young Ingrid (Emma-Leigh Cullum) in which he graces her with the name Periwinkle, an homage to her late mother’s stage persona. But a sinister figure watches in the distance.

Later that night, Robert Gray (holding a handkerchief monogrammed with the initials R.G.) is drinking on the edge of the carnival perimeter when a creepy boy approaches asking for help. Though he balks at first, Robert enters the forest with the sinister child, never to be seen again. Wearing this innocent disguise, the Entity mutters, “The children seem drawn to you,” confirming a long-held fan theory that the shapeshifting monster killed Robert Gray and appropriated his likeness as a default persona. 

It will also confirm this while taunting Ingrid outside the burning Black Spot. Finally seeing through his monstrous disguise, she demands to know where her father is. Pennywise cruelly states that he ate Robert Gray, but can still feel him reaching to her from inside his inhuman form. The horrified woman then finds herself caught in the clown’s powerful Deadlights (see our recap of episode 3), perhaps explaining her witchy appearance when meeting with an adult Beverly Marsh. Stemming from interdimensional space, these powerful beams are known to cause death or insanity, but something different may be happening here.

As paramedics clear the scene, we see them cart a catatonic Ingrid away. But just moments before she’s loaded into an ambulance, the silent woman darts her eyes toward the surviving kids. Has she been infiltrated with the Entity’s evil or somehow fallen under Its spell? With only the season finale remaining, Ingrid’s fate may hang in the balance until Beverly pays her a visit 54 years down the road. 

For more on It:Welcome to Derry, check out episode by episode coverage from Bloody FM’s The Losers’ Club: A Stephen King Podcast.

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

The post ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Explained: The Many Stephen King Connections & References in Episode Seven appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry has captivated audiences by amplifying one of the most recognizable texts in genre history. Stephen King‘s 1986 novel It, follows the Losers’ Club, a group of seven unpopular tweens who find themselves hunted by an interdimensional monster. Commonly known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård), It lurks in the sewers, emerging every twenty-seven years to terrorize its young prey by shifting into the form of the child’s greatest nightmare.

King’s novel unfolds in dual timelines as the Losers’ Club battles this shapeshifting entity both in childhood and as adults. Interspersed between these segments are chapters titled Interludes that chronicle other disturbing events in Derry’s dark history. 

Created by Andy and Barbara Muschietti along with showrunners Jason Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane, each season of It: Welcome to Derry centers on one of the monsters’ feeding cycles, but seaon one’s episode 6, “In the Name of the Father,” fleshes out one of the novel’s more mysterious chapters. After returning to Derry as adults, the Losers, save for Mike, must recover their memories via “walking tours” throughout the town to reacquaint themselves with their frightening past.

Beverly Marsh finds herself walking towards her childhood home, hoping for — or dreading — a reunion with her abusive father, Alvin. But when she knocks on the apartment door, she meets someone even more dangerous. Mrs. Kersh appears to be a friendly old woman, but she’s hiding a horrific secret. For years, Constant Readers have speculated about the identity of this peculiar woman, wondering if she could be the monster’s daughter. Named for this cryptic relationship, “In the Name of the Father” clarifies her connection to the shapeshifting beast. 

Madeleine Stowe as Mrs. Kersh in “It: Welcome to Derry.” Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

King’s original version of this encounter is a nightmare wrapped in a fairy tale. When an elegant older woman answers the door, Beverly realizes that she’s misread the name over the bell, mistaking Marsh for Kersh. The new occupant of her childhood home reluctantly informs Bev that her father is dead before inviting the stunned woman in for tea. King describes a tall woman in her late seventies with hair that is “long and gorgeous, mostly white but shot through with lodes of purest gold. Behind her rimless spectacles were eyes as blue as the water in the fjords her ancestors had perhaps hailed from. She wore a purple dress of watered silk. It was shabby but still dignified. Her wrinkled face was kind.” 

Wandering through the suite of rooms, Bev is surprised to find a much sunnier dwelling than the one she shared with her lecherous father. Her old bedroom has been turned into a sewing studio, and she marvels at an ornate cedar trunk engraved with the letters R.G. While preparing snacks, Mrs. Kersh explains that she immigrated from Sweden in 1920 at the age of fourteen and worked at the local hospital. Her husband made a series of successful investments, allowing her financial security in her twilight years. Yet, sitting down to tea, the handsome old woman begins to change. Beverly first notices the woman’s yellowing and jumbled teeth, far from the pearly whites she noticed at the door. As her hostess gulps her tea, Bev notices that her eyes have also begun to change from deep blue to a sinister yellow, tinged with dashes of red. 

As she slowly transforms into a shrunken hag, Mrs. Kersh begins to taunt Beverly with her family connection. Referencing her “fadder,” she explains, “His name is Robert Gray, better known as Bob Gray, better known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. However, that was not his name, either. But he did love his jokes, my fadder.” She will go on to insist that she was born from the monster’s “asshole“ and that they are “the last of a dying race … the only survivors of a dying planet.“ She and Pennywise “are one“ and have been looking forward to feasting on the returning Losers. Later, we will learn that the entity known as It is indeed from another dimension and has been tormenting Derry since before the dawn of modern man. 

Joan Gregson as Mrs. Kersh in It: Chapter Two

As the woman begins to grow more monstrous, her apartment also begins to change. A wooden table now appears to be made of fudge while the floorboards transform into gooey chocolate bars. Mrs. Kersh has become the witch from Hansel and Gretel and threatens to push Beverly into her human-sized oven, an interesting reference considering the author’s newest publication is Hansel and Gretel, a horrifying children’s book chronicling the famous fairy tale. Bev remembers being terrified by the story’s cannibalistic plot before noticing that the creature has shifted once again. Her father, Alvin, now screams from within Mrs. Kersh’s purple dress, voicing previously unspoken threats of sexual abuse. He will go on to transform into the recognizable clown and chase Beverly out of the apartment. Sprawled on the sidewalk, she’s shocked to find the building boarded up and abandoned. This disturbing encounter has been an illusion. 

Intentionally vague, this chapter has tantalized Constant Readers for decades. Who is this mysterious Robert Gray/R.G., and is his daughter a human being or another manifestation of the entity? The most commonly accepted theory is that Robert Gray was once a human circus performer known for dazzling the local children. Taking note of this talent, It likely ate Mr. Gray and appropriated his clown character as a default persona. But what of Mrs. Kersh? Was she, too, a real person, eaten and absorbed alongside her father? Considering her transformation, the literary Mrs. Kersh does seem to have supernatural powers or at least the ability to syphon off Its transformative skill.

Further complicating the matter, later chapters reveal that It is not only female, but pregnant. Taking the form of a giant spider — the closest our human minds can come to picturing this otherworldly beast — the adult Losers scramble to destroy dozens of eggs that It has laid in the sewer system. Perhaps Mrs. Kersh is one of these babies, hatched from eggs laid in a previous cycle. 

Muschietti revisits this frightening sequence in his 2019 adaptation It: Chapter Two, which follows the adult Losers’ return to Derry. While substantively similar, Muschietti adds a bit of visual flair and certainty to King’s vague narrative. This Mrs. Kersh (Joan Gregson) is a bit more unkempt, but also invites Beverly (Jessica Chastain) in for tea. However, we see her moving with inhuman jerks in the background as her guest tours her pleasant home. Sitting down to chat, Mrs. Kersh mentions growing uncomfortably hot and fans her collar to reveal blistered and melted flesh beneath. As she excuses herself to bring out some cookies, Bev asks her about family photos lining the walls.

From the darkened kitchen, Mrs. Kersh tells Beverly about her “fadder“ who came to America as an immigrant before joining the circus. As she drops this bit of unsettling information, Bev notices an ominous portrait. A tall man in a suit stands with a frowning little girl in front of a stage wagon emblazoned with the words, “Pennywise the Dancing Clown.“ His strangely sinister grin resembles the murderous monster we’ve come to know and fear. 

As Beverly digests this revelation, Mrs. Kersh — now naked and monstrous — launches an attack. A gangly and still-growing banshee, she chases Beverly from the apartment and into a maze of crumbling halls. At the far end, Beverly sees a door slowly open, and the man we assume to be Robert Gray (Skarsgård) shows his face. After soaping white makeup onto his skin, he claws the iconic red slashes down his cheeks, transforming into Pennywise before her eyes. He screams to her about saving the others, referencing her harrowing vision of the Losers’ Club’s destruction. Though Muschietti does not explicitly reference Robert Gray or R.G, this scene confirms Its use of the once-human circus performer’s iconic face. 

Set two cycles before this interaction, It: Welcome to Derry provides an origin story for this sinister encounter. We first meet a younger Mrs. Ingrid Kersh (Madeleine Stowe) in 1962 as a kind housekeeper at the Juniper Hill asylum. Lilly (Clara Stack) turns to the compassionate woman for advice on how to navigate the dangerous events plaguing the town. On her latest trip to Ingrid’s house, she wanders into the woman’s attic. Thumbing through a family photo album, Lilly sees the grinning circus performer that will one day grace the walls of Beverly’s childhood home. But as she embraces the mysterious woman, she sees a more damning portrait. Hidden behind other decorations is a framed portrait of Robert Gray in full costume. His elaborate white shirt and pants are identical to those worn by the murderous clown, yet rather than an oblong and cracked forehead, he wears a bald cap outfitted with stylized red hair. 

Photograph courtesy of HBO

Noting the girl’s unease, Mrs. Kersh realizes that Lilly has seen her “fadder“ and insists this connection has “brought him back.“ A flashback to 1935 shows a younger Ingrid (Tyner Rushing) working at the hospital. She leads a little girl named Mabel (Madeleine Cox) into the boiler room for a clandestine meeting with a mysterious friend the girl calls Pennywise. Equipped with his eerie red balloon, It does appear and makes momentary pleasantries before chasing them both through the industrial room. Mrs. Kersh is unable to save Mabel and screams in terror as the child’s blood pools under the steel door. But moments later, the murderous clown has transformed into her father. Beckoning to his “pumpkin“ through the glass window, Robert Gray convinces Ingrid to open the door. 

Back in 1962, Mrs. Kersh explains to Lilly that she believes she’s finally found her long-lost father, and his strange behavior can be explained away by “whatever he’s been through or wherever he’s been.“ Further flashbacks imply that she’s been luring children towards the monster, hoping with each sighting to free her father from whatever spell he’s fallen under. Once called Periwinkle, we learn that Ingrid has been donning her own clown costume and menacing children throughout the town. Lilly’s glance at her cottony-white wig reveals that she is the clown we see sitting near the freak show entrance in 1908, and she’s been lurking outside the Hanlon home. It’s Ingrid who was photographed in the cemetery, explaining why her image doesn’t disappear along with the other ghostly apparitions. The episode ends with Mrs. Kersh ominously donning the Periwinkle costume, foreshadowing more danger for the children of Derry. 

While this chapter gives us a satisfactory backstory for the frightening Mrs. Kersh, her future remains a mystery. Terrified by these revelations, Lilly gashes Indgrid’s hand with a ceremonial knife fashioned to battle the entity. Mrs. Kersh smears blood on Lilly’s back, indicating her current humanity, but we’ve yet to see how she will become the humanoid monster who terrorizes Beverly more than 50 years in the future. Has she been trapped in It’s deadlights, a hypnotic force known to cause insanity? Will she suffer the same mysterious fate as her long-lost father and become another of Its transformative faces?

Just two episodes remain in the first season of It: Welcome to Derry, promising answers to these disturbing questions. 

The post ‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Explained: Is Mrs. Kersh Pennywise’s Daughter? appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

As we near the first season finale of It: Welcome to Derry, classic references to Stephen King’s 1986 novel abound. Episode 6, “In the Name of the Father,” sees the 1962 version of the Losers’ Club begin to solidify, placing these likeable characters in imminent danger.

While chatting with Marge (Matilda Lawler) at their Standpipe clubhouse, Rich (Arian S. Cartaya) launches a Balso Wood Glider from the observation deck, hoping to land it on Main Street. Though the toy aircraft does manage to catch the breeze, it coasts into an open sewer hole, alluding to the horrific death of young Georgie Denbrough. It begins with the doomed young child playing in the rain as his own paper sailboat careens through the bars of a sewer grate. Moments later, he’s murdered by a subterranean clown while negotiating for the toy’s return. Does this loss mean Rich is marked for death, or is it just another example of Derry’s curse?

While Marge and Rich commiserate in the lunchroom, we learn that they’ve both been hearing voices drifting out of their bathroom drains, similar to those heard by future Loser Beverly Marsh. This encounter will also see Marge firmly reject a place in the popular crowd and embrace her status as a “freak” … or Loser. As the cruel Patty Cakes mock a table full of students, Marge rips off the bandage covering her gruesome eye injury and insists that she is one of them. Just moments before, an auspicious gift has aligned her with one of King’s most beloved protagonists. After their touching Standpipe conversation, Rich has brought Marge an eyepatch to cover her extensive scars.

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Wearing it, she resembles Nick Andros, a founding member of the Boulder Free Zone in King’s apocalyptic novel The Stand. As the world falls to a deadly virus, Nick is attacked by a bully hailing from Shoyo, Arkansas. Angry and frightened, Ray Booth attempts to gouge out his eye, leaving the already deaf and mute man nearly blind as well. Nick wears an eye patch for the remainder of the novel, somehow adding to his understated charisma. By donning this iconic accessory, Marge seems to adopt his air of unexpected leadership. 

As the children become more connected, Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) moves in the opposite direction. Still reeling from his time in the sewers, he’s uncharacteristically surly and cruel. When Leroy (Jovan Adepo) consults the airman about the dangerous mission, Hallorann explains his recent malaise, detailing his childhood experiences with the Shining and his grandmother’s trick for locking bad spirits away. He explains that Pennywise was able to somehow pry the lid off of his mental lockbox, releasing decades of frightening ghosts.

What’s more, Hallorann is now plagued with visions of the dead and worries that they will notice him, mentioning the dreadful things they know. (This unnerving tidbit nods to disturbing information weaponized by those resurrected in the burial ground beyond the dreaded Pet Sematary, detailed in King’s nerve-shattering novel.) Jaime Conklin, the teen protagonist of King’s 2021 supernatural crime thriller Later, also struggles with the terrible affliction, but Hallorann’s current pain foreshadows the Danny Torrance we see in the 2013 novel Doctor Sleep. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Hallorran first meets the psychically gifted boy while serving as head chef of the infamous Overlook Hotel, months before the child is nearly killed by his possessed father, Jack. As an adult, Danny struggles to overcome this acute trauma while contending with constant visions of the dead. He’s particularly haunted by the ghost of a little boy he left unsupervised in a drug-filled apartment, a shameful memory he tries to suppress with substance abuse. Surrounded by his own disturbing specters, Hallorann seems similarly poised to erase his terror with alcohol.

This tension arises as Charlotte (Taylour Paige) attempts to hide the fugitive Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider) in a back room of the Black Spot lounge. Now open to Black servicemen stationed at the Derry Air Force Base and their invited guests, this makeshift speakeasy has attracted the attention of local racists thanks to an anonymous tip as to Hank’s location. While discussing their search, these dangerous men mention scouring the local railroad tracks where future Losers’ Club member Eddie Kaspbrak will one day encounter a solicitous leper. Pennywise later uses this frightening apparition to terrorize the boy outside the infamous house on Neibolt Street. They gather at the Derry Public Library, where the adult Losers will strategize after reuniting in the modern cycle. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Though we don’t yet know who placed the anonymous tip, all signs point to Ingrid Kersh (Madeleine Stowe), who takes a decidedly villainous turn. Desperate for kindness, Lilly (Clara Stack) enters the woman’s home and wanders up to her cluttered attic. A familiar clown suit sits by a sewing machine, and a framed photograph of Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) leans against the wall. But most damning is a book of family Memories, similar to those mentioned in King’s source material. While flipping through a photo album, Loser Bill Denbrough watches images suddenly jump to life, the jagged paper slicing into his fingers. Lilly’s digits remain intact, but the pages she turns contain a series of damning revelations. 

As Ingrid approaches behind her, we recognize a black and white photo of a man bearing an uncanny resemblance to Pennywise himself, posing with a younger Ingrid. Eagle-eyed viewers will remember this photo from Andy Muschietti’s It: Chapter Two and a harrowing interaction with the elderly Mrs. Kersh (Joan Gregson). Fleeing the monstrous woman, Beverly walks in on the strangely sinister man removing his heavy clown makeup. King’s novel identifies him as Robert Gray, “fadder” to the monstrous Mrs. Kersh, but remains vague about his position in the story.

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Muschietti adds crucial information to this shadowy character as Ingrid explains her father’s disappearance. While she stops short of identifying him as Robert Gray, we learn that he was a circus performer who disappeared during the 1908 cycle, and she has spent decades trying to bring him home. Flashbacks to 1935 bookend the episode as a younger Mrs. Kersh leads a little girl to a clandestine meeting with the sinister entity. Sensing an opportunity, It appears as Gray, recreating Bev’s disturbing intrusion. Ingrid falls for this dangerous trick, though the results of their meeting remain unclear. 

Spying a familiar costume and wig, we learn that  Mrs. Kersh was once part of her father’s act, a clown performer known as Periwinkle. We first noticed her near the freak show tent in episode three, and she’s the clown photographed near the shadowy crypt in episode four. Determined to connect with her long-lost “fadder,” Ingrid has been donning her Periwinkle costume and terrorizing the town’s children. But this revelation raises further questions about Ingrid’s age and humanity. Had she been old enough to perform in 1908, she would have been nearing seventy years old in the 1962 cycle. Perhaps it’s more likely that she now exists as a supernatural element of Pennywise’s arsenal, infiltrating the town to procure future prey. The episode ends with the mysterious woman donning her sinister costume, promising answers to these questions in the next chapter. 

For more on It:Welcome to Derry, check out episode by episode coverage from Bloody FM’s The Losers’ Club: A Stephen King Podcast.

Photograph by HBO

The post ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Explained: The Many Stephen King Connections & References in Episode Six appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

As promised in last week’s installment of It: Welcome to Derry, episode five, “29 Neibolt Street,” not only takes us inside the notorious house, but also into the sewers below. Though Hallorann (Chris Chalk) and team may arrive via the house’s namesake well, Derry’s youngest avengers enter with a surprising guide. While strategizing in their Standpipe clubhouse, Matty Clements (Miles Ekhardt) emerges from a nearby tent. Presumed dead for months, he claims to have escaped the murderous clown and balks at leading them back to his lair. Matty claims that while Phil (Jack Molloy Legault) may still be alive, his dead sister Susie (Matilda Legault) is missing an arm.

This grim detail nods to one of the most disturbing scenes in Stephen King’s vast catalogue. His 1986 novel, It, opens with young Georgie Denbrough meeting a devilish clown through a sewer grate. When he reaches in to retrieve his paper boat, the shapeshifting nightmare rips off his arm. The child bleeds to death in the rainy street, kicking off the literary 1957-58 cycle. 

Despite the child murders rocking the town, we learn that the 1962 cycle (see director Andy Muschietti’s revised timeline as explained in our recap of episode one) has actually been lighter than predicted. Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come. We’re reminded that each cycle ends with a mass casualty event, foreshadowing a deadly fire at the Black Spot nightclub that Hallorann and his friends are currently restoring. Fans of King’s novel know that each cycle also begins with a particularly shocking act of violence. The 1958 series begins with the aforementioned death of little Georgie, while the present-day deaths begin with the hate-fueled murder of Adrian Mellon. While these gruesome scenes loom large in our collective memories, we often forget the fourth Interlude. King concludes these literary tales of terror with the Sleepy Silver Dollar “cutting party” that begins the dreaded 1905 cycle. 

Amanda Christine, Miles Ekhardt, Clara Stack, Blake Cameron James, Arian S. Cartaya, Matilda Lawler. Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Originally a logging town, turn-of-the-century Derry is consumed with labor disputes and calls for unionization. When a prominent organizer and his friends are killed in a grisly warning to the rest of the workers, the incident’s sole survivor, a Canadian named Claude Heroux, exacts an unthinkable revenge. Months after the murders, he emerges from the woods and drags an ax into the crowded pub, proceeding to chop four men to pieces. “29 Neibolt Street” may reference this horrific scene with a new bulletin snippet describing an arrest, “… for trying to chop one of its legs with an ax.” While we don’t yet know who wields this infamous weapon nor the identity of their victim, this ominous report bears a striking resemblance to Heroux’s ghastly crimes. 

Though admittedly unnerving, this sequence is all the more horrific for playing out in full view of a crowded bar. Mike’s witness claims that everyone there knew exactly what was happening, but saw no need to get involved. This egregious apathy is a trademark of the strangely sinister town. We’ve seen bullies attack a young man on the street, with Charlotte (Taylour Paige) the only one to intervene, and King’s novel is filled with examples of adults ignoring extreme acts of cruelty and violence. In “29 Neibolt Street,” Muscietti gives us a possible explanation for this disregard. As Shaw (James Remar) prepares his ill-conceived raid, we learn that, having nested in the town’s sewer system, It may be excreting some chemical discharge that sinks into the city’s groundwater, slowly poisoning the residents. As adults, they would have experienced cumulative exposure, explaining their increased obviousness with age. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

In addition to this dangerous indifference, we get a taste of the town’s violent streak as Hank (Stephen Rider) is sent to Shawshank Penitentiary. While loading the prison bus, Chief Bowers (Peter Outerbridge) mentions a “fish” who didn’t last the week, referencing a heartbreaking scene from the cinematic adaptation of King’s 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. Frank Darabont brings this brutal prison to life in his 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption when a group of new inmates spend their first night in “the stir.” Longtimers routinely call these new arrivals “fish” and pass the time by betting on who will be the first to cry out in despair. When one poor man becomes the “winner,” head guard Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown) arrives to administer a brutal beating that will prove to be fatal. Chief Bowers’ cutting remark hints at this harrowing scene and reminds us what lies in store for Hank. 

Fortunately, a mysterious attack on the prison bus allows his escape, and he seeks refuge in the car of his secret lover. We’ve met this attractive woman, a housekeeper at Juniper Hill, to whom Lilly (Clara Stack) has turned for comfort and wisdom. Questioning whether the gang should enter the sewers, she shows up on her friend’s doorstep, and we finally learn the woman’s name. Lilly has grown close to Ingrid Kersh (Madeleine Stowe), wife of Derry’s genial butcher. But rather than a friendly face, Stan (Larry Day) coldly acknowledges Lilly from the shadows of his living room, then cruelly warns his wife not to burn his dinner. Considering this disturbing interaction, it’s no wonder Ingrid has sought comfort in the arms of another man. 

Clara Stack. Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

While ominous on its face, this revelation alludes to a more shocking connection. We will meet Mrs. Kersh as an older woman when adult Loser Beverly Marsh returns to her childhood home. Outwardly kind, she invites Beverly in for tea, then slowly becomes more monstrous. Muschietti’s disturbing scene in It: Chapter 2 sees Mrs. Kersh (Joan Gregson) freeze for a protracted beat before reemerging from the kitchen as a naked and rapidly growing ghoul. King’s version tracks an uncomfortable conversation in which Bev’s tea turns to muddy sludge and the woman transforms into an old hag, similar to the witch from Hansel and Gretel. Before chasing Bev away with obscenities, she mentions her “fadder,” Robert Gray — better known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård). If Ingrid Kersh is somehow related to Pennywise, her relationship with Hank may not be a love affair but part of the year’s deadly cycle. 

While Hank is searching for safety, Hallorann is putting himself in danger. Having entered the sewers through the well, he finds himself transported into a memory. Climbing out of a metaphysical bathtub, Hallorann is shocked to see his grandmother standing next to him as ominous footsteps approach the closed door. In King’s 2013 novel Doctor Sleep, we learn that Hallorann was sexually abused as a child by his paternal grandfather. Relieved when the man finally died, he was horrified to find his grandfather’s naked ghost waiting for him after the funeral. Thankfully, Hallorann’s grandmother was able to teach him to sequester this spirit in a mental lockbox along with any others who would pose a threat.

Now overwhelmed by Pennywise’s terrible power, Hallorann is unable to stop his long-dead grandfather from prying open the box’s lock. Presumably releasing the lecherous spirit along with any other “bad shines” trapped inside, the episode’s final image hints at something more dire. The open lockbox glows with the same yellowish hue we see in Pennywise’s eyes, possibly signaling an escalation in the Entity’s power. 

For more on It:Welcome to Derry, check out episode by episode coverage from Bloody FM’s The Losers’ Club: A Stephen King Podcast.

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

The post ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Explained: The Many Stephen King Connections & References in Episode Five appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

As we near the midpoint of It: Welcome to Derry season one, the lore deepens and fan favorite characters begin coming together. Episode four, “The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function,” not only provides an origin story for the titular monster but also marks the appearance of a prominent canon location. The sprawling story of Stephen King‘s 1986 source material, It, is punctuated by a series of Interludes chronicling earlier cycles of the monster’s destruction compiled by librarian, town historian, and Losers’ Club member Mike Hanlon.

It: Welcome to Derry brings these disturbing tales to life, promising future seasons that will explore the grisly Bradley Gang massacre and the Kitchener Ironworks explosions, both depicted in the show’s eerie opening sequence. While it remains to be seen if we’ll get to see the gruesome ax murder at The Sleepy Silver Dollar, series creator Andy Muschietti‘s first season will center the fire at the Black Spot. 

As payment for his extraordinary service, airman Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) is granted use of a decommissioned storage building several miles away from the barracks. Unable to relax in the informally segregated town, the base’s Black servicemen hope to turn the place into a nightclub similar to the one seen in Ryan Coogler‘s 2025 film Sinners. For now, the Black Spot is simply a building with a lot of promise, but a Danger sign on the surrounding gate hints at the horrors of King’s second Interlude. Set during the Great Depression (see Muscietti’s altered timeline explained in our recap of episode one), the men of Derry’s all-Black Company E suffer horrific acts of racist abuse, but find refuge in this exclusive club, which eventually features food, liquor, and live music. As the Black Spot grows in popularity, it attracts the attention of local racists who belong to the Derry chapter of The Maine Legion of White Decency, aka the Ku Klux Klan. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

On a busy Saturday night, a handful of hooded men creep out of the woods with gasoline and torches, then set the crowded building ablaze. With music blaring, the two or three hundred patrons don’t immediately notice the fire, and most become trapped inside. While some do manage to escape, including Mike’s father Will Hanlon and fellow serviceman Dick Hallorann, this hate crime kills around eighty people, a final sacrifice that concludes It’s 1930 cycle of death. Considering the racial tensions we’ve seen on the base, we’re likely to see this deadly episode play out in future episodes. 

Despite this looming horror, the Black Spot we see in episode four is still just a dusty storage shed in need of renovation. While Dick and his friends begin this work, Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) arrives demanding information about the mysterious Operation Precept. Hours before their angry encounter, Leroy is fishing with his son Will (Blake Cameron James) when he steps away to retrieve supplies. Standing alone in the water, Will notices a strangely friendly fish with orange and white stripes similar to the white clown suit and orange pompoms worn by Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård). When Will bends over for a closer look, a hand reaches out of the water and pulls him under. Drifting up from the river’s impossible depths is the charred corpse of his father. With glazed eyes, the ghoul moans an ominous warning: “You’ll burn too.” While obviously a nod to the murderous clown’s chilling catch phrase, “you’ll float too,” this variation hints at Will’s own demise—in Muscietti’s version of the story. 

The Will Hanlon we meet in King’s original novel is a successful farmer and loving father who helps his son navigate the treacherous town. In fact, it’s Will who recounts the story of the Black Spot as he lies in a hospital bed dying of cancer. But Muschietti’s 2017 adaptation, It, introduces us to an altogether different Hanlon family. This Leroy (Steven Williams) is a surly cattle farmer, and Mike (Chosen Jacobs) is a lonely orphan, his parents having died in a house fire when he was a child. Not only did Mike witness Will’s horrific death, but he must ignore vicious and racist rumors that the fire was caused by careless drug use. It: Welcome to Derry may provide more information about this tragic event, but for now, Will’s ominous river vision stands as a premonition of his untimely end. 

While Leroy struggles to understand the town’s sinister secrets, Dick continues his mission to locate the dangerous entity. This time, he’s tasked with interrogating Taniel (Joshua Odjick), a member of the town’s indigenous community who’s been monitoring the military excavation. Reluctant to proceed, Dick begs the young man to share information, warning that what follows will not be pleasant. When Taniel refuses, Dick uses his telepathic talent to enter Taniel’s mind and finds himself surrounded by a metaphysical circle of backlit doors. He opens one into a memory of the young man’s past and a detailed description of the tribe’s closely guarded secret.

While none of King’s works show Dick wielding this invasive skill, it’s a curious facet of the psychic ability known as the shining, most prominently seen in Doctor Sleep. This 2013 sequel to King’s 1977 novel follows a similarly gifted girl named Abra Stone who is hunted by a team of energy vampires led by the sinister Rose the Hat. Using her own shine, Rose mentally travels across the country to infiltrate Abra’s consciousness and search through metaphysical file cabinets, each filled with the girl’s accumulated memories.

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Though reluctant to enter Taniel’s mind, Dick’s mission is ultimately successful. In a conversation with his aunt Rose (Kimberly Guerrero), a young Taniel (Tres Garcia) explains Its origins. We learn that long before the dawn of man, a falling star crashed into the land that would eventually be known as Derry. Cracking open, this fallen star released a dangerous monster capable of taking the shape of its prey’s greatest fear. Remnants of the meteoroid formed the stalagmite-like nest at the center of Pennywise’s lair, and pieces of its jagged shards can be used to subdue the beast. While King’s source material describes a cataclysmic asteroid crashing into the rural landscape, possibly coming from Todash Space (described in our recap of episode three), most of this origin stems from Muschietti’s 2019 conclusion, It: Chapter Two. In order to defeat this otherworldly beast, Mike gathers information from local tribal leaders about the dangerous Ritual of Chüd, said to counteract Its manipulative power.   

Along with this secret revelation, Dick also forces Taniel to reveal the location of the entity’s nest: the dreaded house on Neibolt Street. We first encounter this rundown structure when Loser Eddie Kaspbrak is menaced by a lecherous leper who slowly transforms into the sinister clown. Muschietti makes extensive use of the terrifying locale, known as the Well House, in his adaptations, positioning it as a gateway into the realm of It. Terrifying visions and unsuspecting monsters litter the dilapidated rooms, protecting the monster’s inner sanctum. This ominous cliffhanger all but guarantees we’ll soon return to the nightmarish house on Neibolt Street.

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

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The first season of It: Welcome to Derry may be set in 1962, but its third episode, “Now You See It,” begins in the past. A little boy named Francis (Diesel La Torraca) runs through an old-fashioned carnival before daring to enter the freak show tent. Inside, he finds a menagerie of unusual oddities, some bearing a strong resemblance to cinematic adaptations of Stephen King stories. Director Andy Muschietti steps into the frame as a piano player, jovially accompanying this grotesquerie. Though never featured prominently in any of the author’s fictional works, King muses on freak shows in Danse Macabre, his 1981 treatise on the horror genre, examining the dated concept itself and the way we categorize monstrosity. 

Terrified by a one-eyed man in the circus tent’s darkest compartment, Francis receives a present from his disapproving father. This gift, a slingshot, comes in handy when It—disguised as the freak show ghoul—chases him through the forest. Just inches from the humanoid creature’s gnashing teeth, Francis is saved by a rock launched from the trusty tool by his friend Rose (Violet Sutherland). Decades later, a young Beverly Marsh will similarly save her friends from the monster in werewolf form with her own slingshot and bullets made from melted silver dollars. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

This harrowing moment was perhaps foretold by the ominous 6719 on the license plate of Francis’ Model T. Though Gen Z will likely gravitate to the first two digits, Constant Readers take notice of the number 19. This is an auspicious figure in King’s Dominion, appearing in many of his published works, from dates and addresses to room numbers and ages. Johnny Smith last bets 19 on the dreaded Wheel of Fortune game just hours before an accident unlocks his disturbing psychic abilities in King’s 1979 novel The Dead Zone, and an anonymous patient suffering from OCD describes it as “a powerful odd number” used to hold an otherworldly monster at bay in the terrifying short story “N.” 

King was just nineteen years old when he began writing The Gunslinger, the first entry in his sprawling Dark Tower saga. In a terrifying coincidence, the author would later be hit and nearly killed by a van on June 19, 1999, an event which sparked the completion of the final three Dark Tower novels. The number appears throughout King’s epic series with branches that seem to form the digits and names containing 19 letters. It is said to indicate the presence of ka, the force that binds together all living things. Here, it shepherds the passage of a powerful weapon into the hands of an early Derry defender. Marked with the number 19, Francis’ car overheats, and he must trade the slingshot for a bottle of water, placing it in the hands of Rose, who will later use it to save his life. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Sensing the slingshot’s power, a much older Francis—revealed to be General Shaw (James Remar)—asks Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) to use it as a beacon of sorts to locate the hidden “entity.” The talismanic object does manage to draw Hallorann closer, and he finds himself mentally pulled into the lair of Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård). Near a familiar funhouse stage, a pair of yellow eyes open in the darkness as the monster notices Dick’s mental presence. In addition to this lurking threat, the underground silo is filled with the remains of Its destruction—the floating bodies of those caught in the Deadlights. Originating from Todash Space, a liminal realm in King’s Macroverse, these radiant orange lights emerge from Its gaping jaws with the power to instantly kill or incapacitate.  A powerful weapon in the arsenal of the Crimson King, an antagonist in the Dark Tower series, these lights form the essence of Its deadly power. 

Among the floating victims, Hallorann spies his grandmother, Rose. First introduced in King’s 1977 novel The Shining, the saintly woman teaches her young grandson to navigate his psychic abilities and is credited with giving the power its luminous name. King’s 2013 sequel, Doctor Sleep, will further the woman’s heroic legacy. She teaches Dick to trap dangerous spirits in a metaphysical lock box where they will eventually starve. Dick, in turn, teaches a young Danny Torrance this mental defense when battling demons of his own. It’s unlikely that Rose has actually been caught in Pennywise’s Deadlights. Her presence in Hallorann’s disturbing vision is probably a subtle reminder in a moment of terror that her grandson, now grown, also possesses immense psychic strength. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

In addition to the sewer-dwelling entity, Derry has always been home to human monsters. After arresting the obviously innocent Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), Chief Bowers (Peter Outerbridge) threatens the prisoner with manufactured evidence, reminding him of what happens to child killers in the notorious Shawshank Prison. First seen in the 1982 novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, the Maine correctional facility’s most famous resident, Andy Dufresne, may not be convicted of killing a child, but he suffers brutal sexual assault at the hands of fellow inmate Bogs Diamond. 

Elsewhere in town, Derry’s indigenous residents are concerned with Shaw’s attempts to dig up the beacons. (For more information on the Bradley Gang’s exhumed car, see last week’s recap of episode 2.) Rose (Kimberly Guerrero), proprietress of the town’s consignment store, warns her nephew Taniel (Joshua Odjick) against getting involved, insisting that he and his friends are “needed.” While it remains unclear just how and why, Odjick is a familiar face in King’s Dominion, last seen starring as Walker #48 Collie Parker in Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of the Richard Bachman novella, The Long Walk. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

In addition to presiding over Secondhand Rose, Secondhand Clothes (also explained in our recap of episode 2), it seems Rose has a deeper connection to this frightening town. Flashbacks reveal that she is the brave girl who saved young Francis with a deft hit from her trusty slingshot. In a quieter moment, the smitten boy reveals that his father has been transferred to another base and he will soon be moving away. Francis asks Rose to promise not to forget, echoing Bill Denbrough’s future vow to his friends. But Rose explains the brutal truth: those who leave Derry tend to lose their memories of the town’s dark secrets. We see this strange phenomenon in the Losers’ Club members, who all forget their battle with the sinister clown, only remembering after a call from Club historian Mike Hanlon, who stays behind to man the watch. 

While the adults try to locate this entity, Lilly (Clara Stack), Ronnie (Amanda Christine), Will (Blake Cameron James), and Rich (Arian S. Cartaya) seek to prove Its existence and exonerate Hank for the movie theater massacre. When a summoning ritual seems to fail, they find themselves under attack in the cemetery but manage to snap a few photos, including one of a sinister figure emerging from a crypt. When developing the film, they make out the blurry image of a malevolent clown, marking the first official appearance of Pennywise in his iconic form. 

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The inaugural episode of It: Welcome to Derry introduced us to the sinister town via a lumbering, airborne mutant baby slaughtering a theaterful of screaming kids. Episode 2, “The Thing in the Dark,” debuts a strangely charming opening credits sequence. Set to the wholesome “A Smile and a Ribbon,” we drift through Norman Rockwell-esque illustrations that reference some of Stephen King‘s most frightening literary moments. A little girl peers into a sewer grate, recreating Georgie Denbrough’s iconic death, while children jump from the Kissing Bridge, close to where bully Henry Bowers will one day try to carve his name into Losers’ Club member Ben Hanscomb’s stomach. A frightening lobotomy unfolds in the infamous Juniper Hill Asylum, and a family poses for pictures in front of the dreaded house on Neibolt Street, where Loser Eddie Kaspbrak will battle the Leper and the Club will mount their first attack against the murderous entity. 

These disturbing images are followed by promises of seasons to come with tableaux pulled from the novel’s disturbing Interludes. A flaming Easter Bunny falls from the sky while children run for their lives, referencing the horrific Kitchener Ironworks explosion that sent the charred and dismembered remains of 88 children raining down on their horrified parents. Andy Muscietti’s It features a frightening scene in which one of these decapitated victims haunts Ben through the stacks of the Derry Public Library. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

The song concludes with a dying gangster waving an old-fashioned machine gun as he’s surrounded by armed residents and a clown somehow defying the laws of gravity by shooting from his horizontal perch on a building’s exterior. This doomed man is probably George Bradley, leader of a Depression-era gang who were murdered by the town’s self-righteous citizens. Episode 2 ends with a glimpse of their waterlogged car pulled from deep within the earth. Just moments before this grisly excavation, we will learn that the Derry Air Force Base is the site of Project Precept, a strange initiative designed to prevent nuclear annihilation with a mysterious weapon known to spark deadly fear. While perhaps far-fetched, this plan introduces us to one of King’s most beloved characters. 

Constant Readers first met Dick Halloran (Chris Chalk) as the outgoing chef of the malevolent Overlook Hotel in the pages of King’s 1977 novel The Shining. It positions a younger Dick as a survivor of the dreaded Black Spot massacre, but in Muscietti’s timeline, he is a stoic serviceman tasked with using his powerful Shine to locate beacons like the Bradley Gang’s corpse-filled car, said to surround the rumored weapon—likely Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) himself.  

Elsewhere in Derry, Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) is settling into a suburban home with his wife Charlotte (Taylour Paige) and tween son Will (Blake Cameron James). Father of Loser Mike Hanlon, Will, is kind and intelligent, a far cry from the deceased junky Mike will remember in Muschietti’s 2017 film. Perhaps this is a bit of retconning or evidence of the deceptive town’s habit of twisting the truth to vilify its non-white citizens.  

Jovan Adepo, Taylour Paige. Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO.

Projectionist Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider) experiences this deadly manipulation firsthand when he becomes a suspect in the movie theater massacre solely because he is Black. With the investigation stalled, Chief of Police Clint Bowers (Peter Outerbridge) is confronted by Derry’s angry Selectmen and threatened with the loss of his elected position if he does not arrest the innocent man. Grandfather to the Club’s psychotic bully, Bowers, may briefly stand on principles, but he will go on to coerce Lilly (Clara Stack) into giving a false statement placing Hank at the grisly crime scene, proving the Selectmen’s dire assertion that “this isn’t America, it’s Derry.”

Charlotte encounters this sinister undercurrent on an idyllic stroll down Center Street. While passing the Center Street Drug Store, she smiles at a young Norbert Keene smoking just outside the door. This cruel pharmacist will one day hit on young Beverly Marsh and torment Eddie Kaspbrak by revealing the extent of his mother’s delusions. At the Dunning Butcher Shop—mentioned in King’s 2011 novel 11/22/63—Charlotte meets a friendly Stan Kersch (Larry Day), whose last name rings an ominous bell. As an adult, Beverly will visit her childhood home, now occupied by the elderly Mrs. Kersh, who proceeds to morph into a dangerous hag, possibly related to Pennywise himself. We don’t yet know if Stan will make a similar transformation, but his surname implies that “Stan the Cleaver” may be more than just a cheeky nickname.

Kimberly Guerrero, Taylour Paige. Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO.

Charlotte’s errands will eventually lead to Secondhand Rose, Secondhand Clothes, the location for one of King’s most exciting cameos. It: Chapter Two features the author himself sitting behind the thrift store’s register as adult Loser Bill Denbrough (James McAvoy) reacquires his trusty bike, Silver. But before reaching this inviting location, Charlotte witnesses the controversial construction of the Paul Bunyan statue that will one day attack Loser Richie Tozier and gazes warily at the dark alley where the newly assembled Club will attempt to mend Ben’s mangled stomach while comparing their experiences with the shapeshifting monster. 

This episode sees Lilly and Ronnie (Amanda Christine) endure their own frightening encounters with disturbing variations of the child-eating beast. While grocery shopping, Lilly notices uncanny stares from other shoppers and announcements that repeat on an ominous loop. One touts the sale of Fizzola, a soda referencing King’s iconic Nozzala brand. A variation of Coca-Cola, the presence of this mysterious drink has become an indicator that an entry in King’s sprawling canon takes place in an alternate world, strangely similar to our own. 

Clara Stack. Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO.

As shelves move fluidly on their own, Lilly finds herself surrounded by pickle jars containing the shredded remains of her father’s corpse. Ronnie survives a similar attack when her bed transforms into the oversized body of her deceased mother, who appears to have died in childbirth. Covered in viscera, the screaming girl is dragged back towards this nightmarish creature by a monstrous umbilical cord. Behind the mangled belly’s gnashing teeth, Ronnie spies a pair of familiar yellow eyes, promising the arrival of King’s notorious clown. 

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Many Constant Readers believe that, despite publishing more than eighty titles in the last fifty years, Stephen King is actually writing a single, massive novel. His sprawling worlds may twist through a multitude of dimensions, but many of his most famous stories intersect through characters, locations, or events.

A tentpole of this expansive literary universe is Derry, Maine, home of the beloved Losers’ Club. First seen in King’s 1986 novel, It, the picturesque town also hides an ancient evil that emerges from slumber every twenty-seven years to feast on the fear of innocent children. Following the success of It and It: Chapter Two, director Andy Muschietti (along with co-creators Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs) returns to this dangerous hamlet with the HBO series It: Welcome to Derry. Drawn from the novel’s terrifying Interludes, each season will explore an earlier cycle of the shapeshifting monster’s reign of terror while building out King’s frightening world. 

Episode 1: “The Pilot” begins in the dead of winter. A down-on-his-luck boy named Matty (Miles Ekhardt) hitches a ride with a charming family, hoping to escape the dreaded town. While Matty’s time in this deceptive sedan will be shocking and brief, a radio announcement touts a more hopeful future. News of President John F. Kennedy positions this chapter in late 1961, two years before a time-traveling teacher will attempt to stop his assassination in King’s 11/22/63. Fans of the surprisingly romantic novel will remember that before Jake Epping tries to alter the future in Dallas, Texas, he will make a pivotal stop in Derry, crossing paths with Losers Richie Tozier and Beverly Marsh. 

Unfortunately, we’re not likely to see this emotional cameo due to the altered cinematic timeline. King’s novel begins in 1957 with the adult sections set in 1985. Muschietti moves this timeline up considerably with the adult Losers’ Club reassembling in 2016 to continue battling the deadly clown they first met in 1988. The first season of It: Welcome to Derry is more likely to feature the parents of our favorite Losers than any of the Club members themselves.

But that doesn’t mean we won’t see any familiar faces. While reacquainting ourselves with the dangerous burg, we travel to the Derry Air Force Base to meet its newest airman. Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) has been stationed at DAFB after a tour of duty in the Korean War. Fans of the 2020 miniseries The Stand will recognize Adepo as cavalier musician Larry Underwood, while Constant Readers will see a more It-centric connection. Leroy is the grandfather of Losers’ Club historian Mike Hanlon, who stays behind to keep the watch. We catch a glimpse of an older, disillusioned Leroy (Steven Williams) instructing his grandson on the proper way to slaughter cattle in early scenes of Muschietti’s It. Here, he is an optimistic young husband and father embarking on a new adventure.

As the Major deplanes, his copilot laments their transfer to this tiny town, assuming a lack of nightclubs and decent Chinese restaurants. The latter is a reference to Jade of the Orient, the restaurant in which the adult Losers hold their reunion, while the former nods to the doomed Black Spot. A nightclub created for Black DAFB servicemen, King’s novel describes the fiery destruction of the venue at the hands of Derry’s KKK. Given the racism we see upon Major Hanlon’s arrival at the base, it’s likely we will see this harrowing Interlude play out in later episodes.

No It chapter would be complete without a group of brave kids, and the 1962 cycle does not disappoint. Rather than meet in the overgrown barrens, this generation of Derry teens has built a clubhouse in the abandoned Standpipe. Closed due to a series of tragic deaths, the town’s water tower will become the site of Loser Stan Uris’ encounter with Pennywise disguised as the ghosts of drowned children. In 1962, Terry Uris (Mikkal Karim Fidler) and his best friend Phil (Jack Molloy Legault) discuss their own strange experiences on the building’s upper balcony. We don’t yet know how Terry and Stan are related, but they belong to the same devout Jewish family and are both studying for their upcoming bar mitzvahs when they’re attacked by the sinister entity. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

In the wake of Matty’s disappearance, Terry befriends another outcast. Lilly (Clara Stack) is a Derry High student recovering from time spent in Juniper Hill. This hospital for the mentally ill is known for its barbaric treatments and will be the home of bully-turned-murderer Henry Bowers—along with many more unfortunate souls who populate the pages of King’s Maine novels. We learn that Lilly was sent there after her own father’s tragic death, a horrific accident at the local cannery. While trying to help with a mysterious malfunction, he was pulled into the gears of a powerful machine, where his body was torn apart and packaged into pickle jars. This gruesome ordeal is a direct nod to one of King’s most grisly stories, “The Mangler,” which features an industrial laundry press somehow possessed by a bloodthirsty demon. 

Lilly references another of King’s stranger tales when she hears eerie sounds drifting out of her bathroom pipes. Peering into the empty tub, she spies human fingers poking out of the drain. Likely the appendages of Pennywise’s victims, this odd occurrence draws from “The Moving Finger,” an unnerving chapter in the author’s 1993 collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes. While using the bathroom, Howard Mitla is plagued by a gigantic finger poking out of his own sink drain, implying the existence of a gangly giant lurking somewhere in the plumbing of his urban apartment. 

Like members of the future Losers’ Club, Terry, Phil, and Lilly are outcasts at Derry High School, home of the jovial Bert the Turtle. Dark Tower fans will recognize Maturin, one of twelve guardians defending the interdimensional Beams supporting the Tower that stands at the nexus of all known worlds. Said to have vomited up our universe, this enormous turtle is a reclusive spectator to the horrors unfolding in Derry, but it provides young Loser Bill Denbrough with the key to the evil clown’s undoing. Throughout King’s worlds, Maturin stands as a virtuous talisman and reminder that even in a town plagued by otherworldly evil, it’s still possible for goodness to prevail. 

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Set 27 years before the Losers Club first confronted the child-eating trans-dimensional entity, and 54 years before they’d return as adults to destroy it for good, not much has changed in Stephen King‘s fictional Maine town. To bypass the prequel’s narrative constraints, Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti, along with showrunners Brad Caleb Kane and Jason Fuchs, attempt to deepen the lore by digging further into the past and King’s other literary works. It makes for a wildly uneven mashup of familiar retread and engaging remix of King’s works.

The series begins with the arrival of the Hanlon family; patriarch Leroy (Overlord‘s Jovan Adepo) has just relocated his wife Charlotte (The Toxic Avenger‘s Taylour Paige) and son Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James) to the suburbs for a top-secret military assignment overseen by General Shaw (James Remar). That keeps the grownups busy and distracted while strange happenings in town lead Will to connect with fellow outcast kids like Lilly (Clara Stack) and Ronnie (Amanda Christine) as they discover they’re all being tormented by the same sinister presence. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

A protracted opening sequence, which sees a troubled kid suffer a rather gnarly encounter with the eponymous shapeshifter, lays bare one of the series’ most glaring problems straightaway: shock value takes precedence over dread and genuine scares. The first five episodes screened for critics seek to build anticipation for Bill Skarsgård‘s Pennywise, relegating the figure to background scares as it chooses grand guignol-style tactics to terrorize the kids in 1962. While the imagery can be potent, Derry mistakes jump scares and fetal bat babies for tension and fear. Not helping is that the kids, at least so far, are stuck following a similar formulaic path as the Losers Club as they try to rally past their fears to solve a series of missing kids cases while being disregarded by adults. 

Stack and Christine are standouts among the young cast, with Stack especially effective and heartbreaking as the brave but bullied girl still reeling from tragedy. Adepo and Paige earn easy rooting interest as the level-headed newcomers with strong moral centers, a must in a town like Derry, but are given far less to do the more Derry piles on the lore and subplots. But it’s telling that the strongest character work and story risks hail from Chris Chalk‘s Dick Hallorann, years before the telepathic cook would step foot in the Overlook. Hallorann is indeed a character briefly mentioned in King’s epic novel, so his inclusion isn’t abnormal, but Kane and Fuchs’ writing team finds rather fascinating ways to incorporate the character’s unique skillset here. Chalk’s ability to externalize Hallorann’s rather internal psychology and the toll of his powers makes for one of the most compelling aspects of the prequel series. 

Chris Chalk as Dick Hallorann. Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

The Shawshank Prison also gets folded in with the turbulent race relations of the ’60s setting, along with no shortage of references and easter eggs lifted straight out of King’s works. Constant Readers might have fun matching the painstakingly recreated set pieces that feel lifted straight out of Muschietti’s films, untouched by time, to character names and details from the novel’s pages. But the more the series wears on, the more it becomes clear that those connections have become a narrative crutch. 

Welcome to Derry introduces a lot of great ideas and set pieces that show glimpses of greatness. The right ingredients are all there for something special. The cast is as tremendous as the production design, and the ’60s setting inspires new angles to exposing the rot beneath Derry’s Norman Rockwell-like facade. But there’s an almost empty artifice to it all, just fresh window dressing on a familiar story we’ve already seen and know how it ends, especially as the horror takes its time to escalate. The characters go far to retain interest, but so far, Welcome to Derry struggles to say anything with conviction, and we’ve seen Pennywise’s freakshow act already before. 

The eight-episode series premieres Sunday, October 26, at 9pm ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max. New episodes will debut weekly leading up to the season finale on December 14.

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Terrifer 3 is an 18×36 screen print, hand-numbered out of 100, for $60. A 3D lenticular print on 18×36 1mm PET, limited to 85, will also be available for $90.

Bottleneck writes, “Terrifier 3 brought Art the Clown’s antics to deeper, darker, and more depraved places, and Rhys’s print is centered around the simple horror of Art’s design and performance.”

IT is a 24×36 screen print, limited to 100, for $60. An archival pigment on 24×36 4mm acrylic panel, limited to just 15, will also be available for $125.

Bottleneck writes, “Hugo Richard drags the most frightening space-demon-clown to the surface with his newest print for IT. Using the modern look for Pennywise, Hugo’s print sees Georgie, in his iconic getup, ensnared by a terrifically evil Pennywise.”

Both designs go on sale tomorrow, October 22, at 12pm ET.

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“It is a shapeshifting creature, and in the movies there’s only so much space to see those non-Pennywise manifestations,” co-showrunner Jason Fuchs tells EW.

Director and co-creator Andy Muschietti, who likens the build in anticipation to the reveal of the shark in Jaws, adds, “If people are watching to be terrified, they will be terrified from the get-go.”

Serving as a prequel to Muschietti’s IT films based on Stephen King‘s 1986 novel, the eight-episode series premieres Sunday, October 26, at 9pm ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max.

The first season is set in 1962, with plans for the second season to take place in 1935 and the third season to be set in 1908.

Jovan Adepo (“The Stand”), Taylour Paige (The Toxic Avenger), Chris Chalk (“Gotham”), James Remar (“Dexter”), Stephen Rider (“Daredevil”), Madeleine Stowe (“Revenge”), and Rudy Mancuso (The Flash) star.

Alixandra Fuchs (Boogeyman Pop), Kimberly Guerrero (“Reservation Dogs”), Dorian Grey (Star Trek: Discovery), Thomas Mitchell (Spiral: From the Book of Saw), BJ Harrison (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Peter Outerbridge (Saw VI), Shane Marriott (“Fargo”), Chad Rook (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), Joshua Odjick (The Long Walk), and Morningstar Angeline (“Echo”) round out the cast.

Fuchs, who wrote the script for the first episode, serves as co-showrunner alongside Brad Caleb Kane (“Crystal Lake”).

The post Pennywise Won’t Appear in ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Until Later in the Season appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

On the heels of yesterday’s red band trailer, IGN debuted a new “IT: Welcome to Derry” teaser. Check it below, along with a new poster featuring the Hanlon family.

The eight-episode series premieres Sunday, October 26, at 9pm ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max. New episodes will debut weekly leading up to the season finale on December 14.

Serving as an expansion of Andy Muschietti’s IT films based on Stephen King‘s 1986 novel, the first season is set in 1962. Muschietti directs multiple episodes.

Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise the Clown, starring alongside Jovan Adepo (“The Stand”), Taylour Paige (The Toxic Avenger), Chris Chalk (“Gotham”), James Remar (“Dexter”), Stephen Rider (“Daredevil”), Madeleine Stowe (“Revenge”), and Rudy Mancuso (The Flash).

Alixandra Fuchs (Boogeyman Pop), Kimberly Guerrero (“Reservation Dogs”), Dorian Grey (Star Trek: Discovery), Thomas Mitchell (Spiral: From the Book of Saw), BJ Harrison (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Peter Outerbridge (Saw VI), Shane Marriott (“Fargo”), Chad Rook (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), Joshua Odjick (The Long Walk), and Morningstar Angeline (“Echo”) round out the cast.

It: Chapter Two co-producer Jason Fuchs, who wrote the teleplay for the first episode, and Brad Caleb Kane (“Crystal Lake”) serve as co-showrunners.

If the series is renewed, Muschietti plans for the second season to take place in 1935 and the third season to be set in 1908.

The post Pennywise is Back in New ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Teaser & Poster appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

From unsettling apparel to must-have collectibles, the “IT: Welcome to Derry” product line is packed with merch from companies like NECA, Funko, Bioworld, McFarlane Toys, Loungefly, and even Squishmallows, and we’ve got the exclusive sneak peek at all of IT this morning.

Here’s everything you need to know…

Fashion & Accessories: Step into the world of “IT: Welcome to Derry” with official merchandise from the WB Shop — from chilling shirts and eerie posters to themed glassware that’ll give you goosebumps. Also available now is Hot Topic’s new, bold range of styles includes hoodies, graphic tees, accessories and more.

Alex and Ani unveils a new jewelry collection inspired by the dark allure of Derry while Bioworld releases frightfully fun socks and apparel available on Amazon. JUNK Brands’ gives their best-selling athletic headbands a haunting twist. Fans of Pennywise can up their fit game with a terrifying new collection including a Team Derry Jersey, a creeptastic hoodie and a collection of shirts that are perfect nightmare fuel, available exclusively at Spencer’s later this month.

For an added scare, be sure to watch your back while opening Monogram International’s blind bags featuring characters like Pennywise, the Leper, and Mr. Keene, launching October 20 at Walmart. Also launching later this month, New Era will be ready to scare with a new line of “IT: Welcome to Derry” apparel and headwear, available at neweracap.com.

Stradivarius will launch an exclusive capsule collection on October 13, featuring designs inspired by the series and created for those who dare to blend dark aesthetics with a romantic style.

Beauty: Evil is coming… and it’s creeping into your beauty routine. Melt Cosmetics unveils an “IT: Welcome to Derry” inspired collection featuring a haunting six-shade palette, a clown white gel liner, a metallic red lipstick, and a blood-red lip liner in two Pennywise bags, launching October 9.

Toys & Collectibles: Fans and collectors can bring Pennywise home (at their own risk) with McFarlane Toys’ incredibly detailed and highly decorated 6” scale figures of the most haunting clown. Funko introduces the “IT: Welcome to Derry” lineup featuring four all-new Pop! figures – Pennywise the Dancing Clown, Bob Gray, Skeleton Man, plus a Pop! Town of Pennywise and his wagon. Don’t miss the Funko Web Exclusive: Pennywise with Head, a chilling addition available only at Funko.com.

NECA is excited to announce a new line of collectibles including action figures, plush, and more—available for pre-sale starting October 8 at https://store.necaonline.com/. Embrace the horror with Jazwares 8-inch Pennywise Squishmallows. Thrilljoy is bringing fans another spine-tingling addition to its growing PIX! Line with the Pennywise “IT: Welcome to Derry” PIX! launching as a Hot Topic exclusive. Collectors can secure this chilling piece during the presale starting October 24 at Thrilljoy.com and HotTopic.com.

Home & Decor: Live the horror at home and shop “IT: Welcome to Derry” wall posters online now from Trends International.

Costumes: Rubies’ “IT: Welcome to Derry” Pennywise deluxe adult costume includes a premium jumpsuit with puffy shoulders, ruffles at the wrist and ankles, attached pom-poms and belt, separate collar and plastic mask to bring the look of the iconic Pennywise to life.

WBDGCP is also collaborating with key retailers and licensees across fashion, accessories, home goods and more, to bring fans classic IT-themed merchandise just in time for Halloween.

Gemmy’s Pennywise Inflatable will set the scene for screams with this larger-than-life indoor decoration, perfect for home haunts or Halloween parties.

Spirit Halloween’s IT/Pennywise Collection features terrifying costumes to bone-chilling props.

Youtooz Limited-Edition Pennywise Collectible is available for pre-order now — snag it before it disappears!

Something foul is lurking beneath the streets of Derry with Homesick’s Derry Sewer Candle — part of their WB Horror Movie Collection.

Give your décor and greetings a terrifying twist with Hallmark’s IT-themed ornaments and card.

Who said birthdays can’t be scary? Give someone a pop-up surprise with Lovepop’s Pennywise birthday card they’ll never forget…

Face fear on your feet with Crocs’ new Pennywise Classic Clogs.

Get ready to float into fashion with Loungefly’s latest IT collection, a lineup that captures the chilling charm and vivid imagery of Pennywise in bold, wearable art.

From products to experiences, there will be no shortage of scares this Halloween, including…

Party City Halloween Pop-Up: WBDGCP and HBO Max are teaming up with NECA and Party City to celebrate the launch of “IT: Welcome to Derry.” Visit the limited-time Party City Halloween Pop-Up location at 1 Union Square West, open now through November 3, for exclusive merchandise and special promotions. Don’t miss a special fan event on Saturday, October 11 at 4:30 PM EST, featuring a sneak preview of the first 10 minutes of Episode 1 along with a signing with executive producers Andy and Barbara Muschietti. Space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Must be 18+. For updates, follow @IT_Official on social.

Escape IT: For fans wanting the extra jump-scare, visit Escape IT located in the heart of Las Vegas. Created by Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences and Egan Productions and spanning more than 30,000-square-foot, this immersive attraction offers two multi-room escape adventures that bring to life IT, one of the highest grossing horror films of all time, and its blockbuster sequel IT Chapter Two. Escape IT includes more than 20 interactive rooms, state-of-the-art special FX, lighting, animatronics, and live actors to create a fully immersive and terrifying experience. Tickets can be purchased at https://escapeit.com.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood: Go behind the screams with this after-hours Halloween experience: WB Behind the Horror: Tour & Screening. Explore the iconic Warner Bros. backlot and see real filming locations, original props, and costumes from classic horror films like IT, and hear behind-the-scenes stories that brought them to life. After the tour, enjoy themed snacks (available for purchase), photo ops, and a special screening of IT or IT: Chapter 2, introduced by special guests with insider insights.

For more information or to book your tickets, visit wbstudiotour.com. Dates: • Fri, Oct 24 – IT (2017) • Sat, Oct 25 – IT: Chapter 2 (2019).

Preview the full “IT: Welcome to Derry” merch and product line below!

Bioworld

Bioworld

Bioworld

Bioworld

Crocs

Crocs

Funko

Funko

Funko

Funko

Funko

Homesick

Hot Topic

Hot Topic

Hot Topic

Hot Topic

Hot Topic

Hot Topic

Squishmallows

JUNK

JUNK

JUNK

JUNK

JUNK

Loungefly

Loungefly

Loungefly

McFarlane Toys

McFarlane Toys

Melt Cosmetics

Monogram

Monogram

Monogram

Monogram

Monogram

Monogram

NECA

PIX! Thrilljoy

Trends International

Trends International

Trends International

Trends International

Trends International

Trends International

WB Shop

WB Shop

WB Shop

WB Shop

WB Shop

New Era

New Era

New Era

Set in the world of Stephen King’s IT universe, “IT: Welcome to Derry” expands the vision established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the feature films IT and IT Chapter Two.

Visit the town everyone’s dying to see when the eight-episode prequel series “IT: Welcome to Derry” premieres on Sunday, October 26, at 9pm ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max.

The post ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Spawns a Massive Merch Line Including Toys, Makeup & Clothing! [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Visit the town everyone’s dying to see when the eight-episode prequel series premieres on Sunday, October 26, at 9pm ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max.

Serving as an expansion of Andy Muschietti’s IT films based on Stephen King‘s 1986 novel, the first season is set in 1962. Muschietti directs multiple episodes.

Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise the Clown, starring alongside Jovan Adepo (“The Stand”), Taylour Paige (The Toxic Avenger), Chris Chalk (“Gotham”), James Remar (“Dexter”), Stephen Rider (“Daredevil”), Madeleine Stowe (“Revenge”), and Rudy Mancuso (The Flash).

Alixandra Fuchs (Boogeyman Pop), Kimberly Guerrero (“Reservation Dogs”), Dorian Grey (Star Trek: Discovery), Thomas Mitchell (Spiral: From the Book of Saw), BJ Harrison (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Peter Outerbridge (Saw VI), Shane Marriott (“Fargo”), Chad Rook (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), Joshua Odjick (The Long Walk), and Morningstar Angeline (“Echo”) round out the cast.

It: Chapter Two co-producer Jason Fuchs, who wrote the teleplay for the first episode, and Brad Caleb Kane (“Crystal Lake”) serve as co-showrunners.

The post Visit the Town Everyone’s Dying to See on a New ‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Poster appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The eight-episode series premieres Sunday, October 26, at 9pm ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes will debut weekly leading up to the season finale on December 14.

Serving as an expansion of Andy Muschietti’s IT films based on Stephen King‘s 1986 novel, the first season is set in 1962. Muschietti directs multiple episodes.

Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise the Clown, starring alongside Jovan Adepo (“The Stand”), Taylour Paige (The Toxic Avenger), Chris Chalk (“Gotham”), James Remar (“Dexter”), Stephen Rider (“Daredevil”), Madeleine Stowe (“Revenge”), and Rudy Mancuso (The Flash).

Alixandra Fuchs (Boogeyman Pop), Kimberly Guerrero (“Reservation Dogs”), Dorian Grey (Star Trek: Discovery), Thomas Mitchell (Spiral: From the Book of Saw), BJ Harrison (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Peter Outerbridge (Saw VI), Shane Marriott (“Fargo”), Chad Rook (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), Joshua Odjick (The Long Walk), and Morningstar Angeline (“Echo”) round out the cast.

It: Chapter Two co-producer Jason Fuchs, who wrote the teleplay for the first episode, and Brad Caleb Kane (“Crystal Lake”) serve as co-showrunners.

The post ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Trailer – Pennywise Invites You Back Into the Sewers Next Month appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

• Oct. 24 – It (2017)

• Oct. 25 – IT: Chapter Two (2019)

• Oct. 30 – The Conjuring (2013)

• Nov. 1 – The Conjuring 2 (2016)

Beyond the new limited Warner Bros. Studio Tour horror experience, studio tours depart daily from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM; details on tickets and availability can be found online here.

The post Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood Celebrates Horror This Halloween with New Experience appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

IT: Chapter One (2017) is coming back to the big screen at Dolby Cinema at AMC Theatres on September 24, and the re-release features a sneak peek at HBO Max’s “Welcome to Derry.”

Tickets are on sale now. Check out the release artwork below!

“IT: Welcome to Derry” will premiere October 26 on HBO Max.

Serving as a prequel to Andy Muschietti’s IT films and based on Mike Hanlon’s historical interludes from the Stephen King novel, the nine-episode series is set in 1962.

Muschietti, who directs multiple episodes of the show, has teased that second and third seasons, if ordered by HBO, would take place in 1935 and 1908, respectively.

Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise the Clown, starring alongside Taylour Paige (The Toxic Avenger), Jovan Adepo (“The Stand”), Chris Chalk (“Gotham”), James Remar (“Dexter”), Madeleine Stowe (“Revenge”), and Stephen Rider (“Daredevil”).

The post ‘IT: Chapter 1’ Returning to Theaters With Exclusive ‘Welcome to Derry’ Sneak Peek appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Serving as a prequel to Andy Muschietti’s IT films and based on Mike Hanlon’s historical interludes from the Stephen King novel, the nine-episode series is set in 1962.

Muschietti, who directs multiple episodes of the show, has teased that second and third seasons, if ordered by HBO, would take place in 1935 and 1908, respectively.

Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise the Clown, starring alongside Taylour Paige (The Toxic Avenger), Jovan Adepo (“The Stand”), Chris Chalk (“Gotham”), James Remar (“Dexter”), Madeleine Stowe (“Revenge”), and Stephen Rider (“Daredevil”).

Alixandra Fuchs (Boogeyman Pop), Kimberly Guerrero (“Reservation Dogs”), Dorian Grey (Star Trek: Discovery), Thomas Mitchell (Spiral: From the Book of Saw), BJ Harrison (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”), Peter Outerbridge (Saw VI), Shane Marriott (“Fargo”), Chad Rook (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), Joshua Odjick (The Long Walk), Rudy Mancuso (The Flash), and Morningstar Angeline (“Echo”) round out the cast.

Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift), who wrote the teleplay for the first episode, and Brad Caleb Kane (“Crystal Lake”) serve as co-showrunners.

The post ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Sets October Premiere Date on HBO Max appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The line includes Pennywise, Bob Gray (the human alias of It), and a creature dubbed Skeleton Man, plus a Pop! Town of Pennywise and his wagon.

Due out in September, the 3.75″ vinyl figures are $14.99 while the Town is $34.99.

Serving as a prequel to Andy Muschietti’s IT films and based on Mike Hanlon’s interludes from the Stephen King novel, the nine-episode series is is set in 1962.

Muschietti, who directs multiple episodes of the series, has teased that second and third seasons, if ordered by HBO, would take place in 1935 and 1908, respectively.

Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise the Clown, starring alongside Taylour Paige (The Toxic Avenger), Jovan Adepo (“The Stand”), Chris Chalk (“Gotham”), James Remar (“Dexter”), Madeleine Stowe (“Revenge”), and Stephen Rider (“Daredevil”).

Alixandra Fuchs (Boogeyman Pop), Kimberly Guerrero (“Reservation Dogs”), Dorian Grey (Star Trek: Discovery), Thomas Mitchell (Spiral: From the Book of Saw), BJ Harrison (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”), Peter Outerbridge (Saw VI), Shane Marriott (“Fargo”), Chad Rook (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), Joshua Odjick (The Long Walk), Rudy Mancuso (The Flash), and Morningstar Angeline (“Echo”) round out the cast.

Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift), who wrote the teleplay for the first episode, and Brad Caleb Kane (“Crystal Lake”) serve as co-showrunners.

The post ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Funko Pop!s Preview Pennywise, Bob Gray, Skeleton Man appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The line includes The Exorcist‘s Regan MacNeil, Gremlins‘ Stripe, Beetlejuice, Annabelle from The Conjuring universe, and Pennywise based on the 2017 version of IT.

Each 7″ stuffie costs $12.99. They’re expected to ship in September to arrive in plenty of time for Halloween.

That’s quite the hairdo on the Ghost with the Most, huh?

The post Funko Turns 5 Horror Icons Into Pop! Plushies appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

That footage will not be made available online — you’ll have to wait until the series premieres in October on HBO Max — so here’s a rundown of what was shown.

A film projector whirs to life. Derry’s Capitol Theater is screening The Music Man, establishing the series’ 1962 setting. The camera travels through the theater before landing on a young boy sucking on a pacifier he’s too old for. Referred to as the Clemons boy, he’s a new character created for the series.

The usher spots Clemons, who makes a run for it. A bit of dialogue reveals that the boy frequently sneaks in, and his rough family life is alluded to. The usher chases him through the lobby, decorated for Christmas, but the boy makes it outside into snowy Derry.

Clemons hitches a ride with a seemingly perfect nuclear family — a pregnant mother and father with a daughter and son in the back seat. Where does Clemons want to go? “Anywhere but Derry.” He’s in luck, as they’re headed to Portland.

The family’s facade of normalcy begins to slip away as the girl snacks on raw liver while her little brother shows off his spelling skills. Soon the parents begin to make inappropriate comments. Realizing that they’re not leaving Derry, Clemons begs to be let out of the car, but his pleas are drowned out by the family chanting “O-U-T” in unison.

The mother’s stomach pulsates unnaturally. She’s ready to give birth, but not before the brother looks at Clemons with one eye turned outward, a la Pennywise. The child is born in a graphic mess of gore, bringing to mind a similarly shocking moment in The First Omen.

No normal baby, it’s a winged mutant that flies through the car with a jump scare. It crashes through the rear window but is unable to get very far, as it’s still tethered to its mother by its umbilical cord. The monstrous newborn attacks Clemons, sending his binky flying out a broken window in slow motion.

The pacifier lands in the nearby water and flows toward a sewer tunnel, reminiscent of Georgie’s boat. The sequence comes to a close as the title emerges from the water: “IT: Welcome to Derry.”

Clemons’ disappearance serves as the inciting incident for the series, which will explore the burning of the Black nightclub The Black Spot, as detailed in one of the historical interludes in the Stephen King’s novel and briefly shown in the 2017 IT film.

The Muschietti siblings told the SDCC audience that the series is even more intense than the movies. If the first 10 minutes are any indication, they may be right.

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The post ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ – We Watched the First 10 Minutes of the ‘IT’ Prequel Series at Comic-Con appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

More than 75 decorations are available this season, including new animatronics, returning favorites, and a new line-up of budget-friendly Scream Savers.

The line-up features Killer Klowns from Outer Space‘s Spikey ($400) and Rudy ($400),  Ghostbusters‘ Terror Dog ($400), The Nightmare Before Christmas‘ Lock, Shock, & Barrel ($300), Beetlejuice‘s Beetlejuice ($300), Adam ($350), and Barbara ($350), a 10-foot Mothman ($500), and a 25-foot inflatable of IT‘s Pennywise ($700).

Other highlights include Halloween‘s Michael Myers ($300), Friday the 13th‘s Jason Voorhees ($350), A Nightmare on Elm Street‘s Freddy Krueger ($350), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre‘s Leatherface ($350), Child’s Play‘s Chucky ($130), The Conjuring‘s Annabelle ($150) and The Nun ($250), and Stranger Things‘ Demogorgon ($600).

The new additions are up for pre-order now and are expected to ship in August/September to arrive in time for Halloween.

The post ‘Killer Klowns, ‘Beetlejuice,’ ‘Ghostbusters,’ Mothman, More Animatronics from HalloweenCostumes.com appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Serving as a prequel to Andy Muschietti’s IT films, the nine-episode series will float down to HBO Max in October.

San Diego Comic Con attendees will be treated to an exclusive look at footage from the first episode on July 26 at 9:15pm in the San Diego Convention Center’s Room 6DE. Andy and Barbara Muschietti will be on hand to present, and free ice cream will be served during the event.

Pennywise-inspired pedicabs will be offering free rides while brand ambassadors hand out chilling sweets throughout the San Diego Convention Center, Gaslamp Quarter, and Harbor areas on July 25-26.

Based on Mike Hanlon’s interludes from Stephen King’s 1986 novel, which document catastrophic events from the Maine town’s past, “IT: Welcome to Derry” kicks off in 1962 in the time leading up to the events of It: Chapter One.

Muschietti, who directs multiple episodes of the series, has teased that second and third seasons, if ordered by HBO, would take place in 1935 and 1908, respectively.

Taylour Paige (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F), Jovan Adepo (“The Stand”), Chris Chalk (“Gotham”), James Remar (“Dexter”), Madeleine Stowe (“Revenge”), and Stephen Rider (“Daredevil”) will star in the upcoming series, with Bill Skarsgård returning as Pennywise the Clown.

Alixandra Fuchs (Boogeyman Pop), Kimberly Guerrero (“Reservation Dogs”), Dorian Grey (Star Trek: Discovery), Thomas Mitchell (Spiral: From the Book of Saw), BJ Harrison (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”), Peter Outerbridge (Saw VI), Shane Marriott (“Fargo”), Chad Rook (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), Joshua Odjick (The Long Walk), Rudy Mancuso (The Flash), and Morningstar Angeline (“Echo”) round out the cast.

Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift), who wrote the teleplay for the first episode, and Brad Caleb Kane (“Crystal Lake”) serve as co-showrunners.

The post Go Back to Where ‘It’ All Began with ‘Welcome to Derry’ Poster appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Topics include new trailers for HBO Max’s Welcome to Derry and Lionsgate’s The Long Walk, a depressing quote or two from Stephen King in the press, the hype and context surrounding King’s latest book Never Flinch, Mike Flanagan‘s Carrie for Amazon, Emilio Estevez’s not-so-bold Maximum Overdrive sequel idea, and more feelings surrounding Darren Aronofsky’s Cujo.

Stream the episode below and stay tuned for the event of the season: The Summer of The Stand, which sees your Losers revisiting the magnum opus all summer long across June to August. For further adventures, join the Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. You can also unlock hundreds of hours of content in The Barrens (Patreon).

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Patreon | Store

The post Stephen King News Roundup: On ‘Welcome to Derry’, ‘The Long Walk’, ‘Never Flinch’, and Sad King Quotes [The Losers’ Club Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The nine episode HBO series will serve as a prequel to Stephen King’s horror classic, and yes, Bill Skarsgård will be making his return as the iconic villain Pennywise the Clown.

“Welcome to Derry” is being positioned as a true continuation of Andy Muschietti’s IT movies, telling a brand new story that’s been pulled from the pages of King’s classic novel.

Andy Muschietti will direct multiple episodes of the original series.

“Welcome to Derry” kicks off its story in 1962 in the time leading up to the events of It: Chapter One (2017). The series is based on Mike Hanlon’s interludes from King’s book, which document “catastrophic events” from Derry, Maine’s past. Muschietti has teased that second and third seasons, if ordered by HBO, would take place in 1935 and 1908, respectively.

Taylour Paige (Zola), Jovan Adepo (“Watchmen”), Chris Chalk (“Perry Mason”), James Remar (Oppenheimer), Madeleine Stowe (Revenge) and Stephen Rider (Daredevil) will star in the upcoming series, with Bill Skarsgård returning as Pennywise the Clown.

Alixandra Fuchs (Hatfields & McCoys), Kimberly Guerrero (The English), Dorian Grey (Star Trek: Discovery), Thomas Mitchell (Gangland Undercover), BJ Harrison (Family Law), Peter Outerbridge (Saw VI), Shane Marriott (Fargo), Chad Rook (Billy the Kid), Joshua Odjick (Little Bird), Rudy Mancuso (The Flash) and Morningstar Angeline (Echo) also star.

Produced by HBO and Warner Bros. Television, developed for television by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs, “Welcome to Derry” is based on the novel IT by Stephen King. Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti (through their Double Dream production company), Jason Fuchs, Brad Caleb Kane, David Coatsworth, Bill Skarsgård, Shelley Meals, Roy Lee, and Dan Lin are executive producers. Jason Fuchs, who wrote the teleplay for the first episode, and Brad Caleb Kane serve as co-showrunners on the project.

Watch the official teaser trailer for “IT: Welcome to Derry” below.

The post ‘Welcome to Derry’ Trailer Heads to 1962 and Brings Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise Back to Life appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

While you wait, check out a short teaser for the teaser below.

The nine episode series will serve as a prequel to Stephen King’s horror classic.

Andy Muschietti & Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs are leading the upcoming Pennywise prequel project from Warner Bros. Television. The plan? A three-season horror story.

“Welcome to Derry” will kick off its story in 1962 in the time leading up to the events of It: Chapter One (2017). From there, the planned second and third seasons will jump back in time and take place in their own distinct decades. The series is based on Mike Hanlon’s interludes from King’s book, which document “catastrophic events” from Derry, Maine’s past.

And when bad shit happens in Derry, well, Pennywise is never far behind…

If the first season of “Welcome to Derry” ends up being a hit for Max, the second season would jump back in time to 1935, while the planned third season would take place in 1908.

Look for “Welcome to Derry” on HBO as well as on HBO Max later this year.

And yes, the series will feature Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Clown!

The official teaser trailer for IT: WELCOME TO DERRY will release tomorrow, May 20. pic.twitter.com/0LeBTlj6Fj

— Bloody Disgusting (@BDisgusting) May 19, 2025

The post Official Teaser Trailer for ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Will Release Tomorrow! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Join Losers Randall Colburn, Michael Roffman, McKenzie Gerber, and Rachel Reeves as they discuss the new rules of the dead, the book’s ties to King’s Dominion (it’s a big one — and quite possibly the sharpest zag in any of his recent works), and whether or not the twist works or flops or thuds. Note: This episode was recorded in Spring of 2021 and is being republished as they continue their chronological read-through.

Stream the unpredictable chat below and stay tuned next week when the Losers return to The Stacks to share the latest headlines and recommends in Horror literature. For further adventures, join the Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. You can also unlock hundreds of hours of content in The Barrens (Patreon).

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Patreon | Store

The post Stephen King’s Hard Case Crime Novel ‘Later’ Has a Wild ‘It’ Connection [The Losers’ Club Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The nine episode series will serve as a prequel to Stephen King’s horror classic, IT.

Check out the images below along with new teaser art for the series up above.

Andy Muschietti & Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs are leading the upcoming Pennywise prequel project from Warner Bros. Television. The plan? A three-season horror story.

“Welcome to Derry” will kick off its story in 1962 in the time leading up to the events of It: Chapter One (2017). From there, the planned second and third seasons will jump back in time and take place in their own distinct decades. The series is based on Mike Hanlon’s interludes from King’s book, which document “catastrophic events” from Derry, Maine’s past.

And when bad shit happens in Derry, well, Pennywise is never far behind…

If the first season of “Welcome to Derry” ends up being a hit for Max, the second season would jump back in time to 1935, while the planned third season would take place in 1908.

Look for “Welcome to Derry” on HBO as well as on Max later this year.

The post New Images Preview ‘Welcome to Derry’ Ahead of the Pennywise Prequel’s 2025 Premiere appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Mike Flanagan also has plans to tackle new adaptations of The Dark Tower and Carrie for Amazon, and A24 is developing Stephen King’s Fairy Tale into a 10-episode series, to name just a handful of new movies and series on the way in 2026 and beyond. 

But that doesn’t mean 2025 will take it easy on the King adaptations.

The year is packed with adaptations in film and series form. Here are six upcoming Stephen King adaptations arriving in 2025.

The Monkey – April 4 (PVOD), June 24 (Blu-ray)

In case you missed this raucous movie in theaters, writer-director Oz Perkins‘ zany adaptation of King’s short story from 1985’s Skeleton Crew came to PVOD this week before releasing on Blu-ray in June. The gory horror-comedy unleashes a series of outrageous deaths that tear a family apart when twin brothers discover a mysterious wind-up monkey in the attic. With brisk storytelling efficiency and a playful spirit, The Monkey delivers a Stephen King adaptation like no other. Perkins pushes back against logic in favor of entertaining midnight madness, and death has never been funnier or gorier as a result. Theo James pulls double duty as the central twins, but the film also stars Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy. It’s NOW AVAILABLE on PVOD at home. (If you’re looking to watch at home, be sure to check out this giveaway!)

The Life of Chuck – June 6 (Theaters)

The modern king of King adaptations, Mike Flanagan, leaves horror behind in favor of a life-affirming movie based on King‘s novella from his 2020 collection If It Bleeds. It’s a genre-bending story that explores the life of Charles Krantz in three chapters, serving as a celebration of our existence and mortality. It’s the type of sugary-sweet story that plays like a warm hug and one that works best when operating on an intimate level. Tom Hiddleston stars in the title role, but the ensemble cast is stacked with frequent Flanagan collaborators, including but not limited to Annalise Basso, Samantha Sloyan, Jacob Tremblay, Kate Siegel, and Mark Hamill.

The Long Walk – September 12 (Theaters)

Constantine and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes director Francis Lawrence helms this adaptation of King’s 1979 dystopian novel, penned by Strange Darling filmmaker J.T. Mollner, about a group of teen boys sent on an annual death march contest. Their ruthless trek must be nonstop and under strict rules until only one of them is left standing. The story tells of a 16-year-old walker named Raymond Garraty and the teens – some good, some bad, some mysterious – in his orbit. King penned The Long Walk under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson will lead the ensemble that also includes stars Charlie Plummer (Spontaneous), Joshua Odjick (Welcome to Derry), Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Rabbit), Judy Greer (Halloween 2018, Cursed), Mark Hamill (The Life of Chuck, “The Fall of the House of Usher”), and more. 

The Running Man – November 7 (Theaters)

Production has wrapped on The Running Man from director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), and Paramount is set to release the newest adaptation of King‘s 1982 novel just in time for the holidays. Glen Powell stars as Ben Richards, a desperate man who participates in a violent reality show in which hunters try to kill him in order to win enough money to save his gravely ill daughter. It’s safe to assume that we can expect a very different adaptation from the 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Katy O’Brian, Daniel Ezra, Karl Glusman, Josh Brolin, Lee Pace, Jayme Lawson, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, William H. Macy, David Zayas, Sean Hayes, and Colman Domingo also star.

IT: Welcome to Derry – 2025 TBD

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

HBO returns to the world of Stephen King’s horror classic IT with the nine episode prequel series expected to arrive this year. Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise the Clown, with the series’ story kicking off in 1962 to explore the time leading up to the events of It: Chapter One (2017). Andy Muschietti & Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs are on board the Pennywise prequel, with Muschietti directing several episodes. More specifically, the series will tell the stories of Mike Hanlon’s writings, interludes and interviews that highlight the festering presence of Pennywise in the small Maine town. Taylour Paige (Zola), Jovan Adepo (“Watchmen”), Chris Chalk (“Perry Mason”), James Remar (Oppenheimer), Madeleine Stowe (Revenge) and Stephen Rider (Daredevil) also star in the upcoming IT prequel. The inaugural season will be the first of three planned seasons.

The Institute – 2025 TBD

An adaptation of King’s 2019 novel will arrive in the form of a streaming television series from MGM+, likely to arrive sometime this year. The first image, above, was unveiled in December 2024, with news that King himself had come on board as executive producer, further reinforcing expectations for a 2025 premiere. The eight-episode series from creator/producer Benjamin Cavell (Justified, The Stand) follows 12-year-old genius Luke Ellis as he’s kidnapped and brought to The Institute, a facility full of children who all got there the same way he did, and who are all possessed of unusual abilities. Ben Barnes (Shadow and Bone) stars as Tim Jamieson, a former officer looking for a fresh start only to find himself on a collision path with Luke. Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), Simone Miller (Run The Burbs) and Jason Diaz (Vampire Academy) also star.

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Rebeca Puebla‘s Doctor Sleep artwork is inspired by the first edition cover of The Shining by Dave Christensen. The 12×18 giclee print is limited to 140 for $50.

“It has been incredible and a real challenge for me to make this Doctor Sleep poster trying to emulate the cover of the original The Shining book,” Puebla said. “I really love this movie as it reflects, in a wonderful way, the spooky continuation of Danny Torrance’s life and the rest of dark and amazing characters created by Stephen King.”

“Mike Flanagan‘s Doctor Sleep had huge shoes to fill as a sequel to one of the greatest books and horror films ever made, both mediums often in opposition of each other. In the spirit of the book vs. film debate, Rebeca Puebla’s poster takes inspiration from Flanagan by paying homage to both … connecting the film adaptation to Dave Christensen’s haunting, original cover art for Stephen King’s The Shining,” added Mondo Senior Art Director Josh Manderville.

Elvisdead‘s spine-chilling glimpse into the sewer at Tim Curry as Pennywise in IT is a six-color print print.  Priced at $80, it measures 24×36 and is limited to 165.

“Like Predator and RoboCop, IT with Tim Curry is part of my cinematic and artistic DNA,” said Elvisdead. “I modestly set myself the task of creating a never-before-seen scene from the film, a disturbing, sticky image, to convey the emotional shock I felt when I first saw the film at the age of 11.”

“Never has a clown been as otherworldly frightening as Pennywise, lurking in the dark, preying on the helpless. Elvisdead pulled no punches in depicting everything about Tim Curry’s Pennywise that kept (keeps) me awake at night … and far away from storm drains,” commented Manderville.

Both prints are expected to ship in August.

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As per tradition, the Losers use a March-Madness style Bracket to narrow down the competitors to a grand champion. Who will reign king? Billy Nolan? Patrick Hockstetter? Henry Bowers? Or maybe even Big Jim Rennie? You’ll have to tune in and see. For more of these kind of bracket episodes, join The Barrens: patreon.com/thebarrens.

Stream the episode below and return later this week when the Losers return to Hollywood King to catch up on the latest headlines. For further adventures, join the Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. You can also unlock hundreds of hours of content in The Barrens (Patreon).

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The only thing certain in this unpredictable world is that every one of us will eventually die. No matter who we are, where we live, or what circumstances we’re born into, we will all one day reach our inevitable end. What we’re not guaranteed is the way we’ll go out. Perhaps in a quiet deathbed at a ripe old age or a grisly accident shortly after our birth, there’s no way to know how our precious lives will eventually wink out.

Oz Perkins explores this nihilistic idea in his horror comedy The Monkey. Inspired by Stephen King’s iconic short story, the tiny hand of this titular toy descends on an equally innocent drum unleashing jovial music and unthinkable carnage. Gruesome and grisly death scenes abound each time someone winds up the key. With each sequence more unhinged than the last, Perkins delights in creating these macabre fatalities.

Perhaps he’s taking inspiration from King himself? After all, The Master of Horror has no shortage of bizarre and upsetting deaths filling the pages of his massive catalogue. For fifty years, he’s written about every conceivable type of exit, each one a gruesome reminder that the spectre of oblivion is always nearby, just waiting to pounce in surprising ways.

Death by Station Wagon in “Mile 81”

While King is known for writing about vehicular killers, his short story “Mile 81” may just feature the most bizarre—and most deadly—example. On a bright summer day, a nondescript station wagon pulls onto the side of a Maine turnpike. With the passenger door standing ajar, the wagon is caked with alien handprints and mud so thick, it’s impossible to see inside. A passing good samaritan pulls over to help and immediately regrets this altruistic decision. As he places his hand on the open door, sharp pain explodes through his body and the thing that looks like a station wagon begins chewing through the bones in his hand. The poor man is pulled into this vehicle-shaped mouth that contracts and pulses as it swallows its victim. A seemingly endless series of drivers stop to help, falling prey to the venus fly trap-like creature as their cars form a line on the turnpike’s shoulder. There are many dangers lining the roads in King’s vast catalogue, but this sinister wagon may be one of the strangest.

Death by Toy in “Chattery Teeth”

King’s third short story collection, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, is filled with bizarre and nonsensical fatalities, but the most curious involves a wind up toy similar to the Monkey itself. When stopping at a roadside convenience store, travelling salesman Bill Hogan finds himself drawn to the titular novelty item’s unusual size and hefty weight. Though he quickly forgets about this impulsive new purchase, the metal teeth soon become a surprising savior. When a hitchhiker attempts to rob the kindly man, Bill flips his van, leaving them stranded in an approaching dust storm. Before the hitchhiker can take further action, the teeth roar to life and begin chattering away on his crotch and face. As Bill loses consciousness, he sees the strangely sentient toy drag the young man’s body off into the desert where he’ll eventually be found covered in bloody bites. Bill stumbles upon the teeth again nine months later and vows to keep them close by as a source of unexpected protection. This intriguing story and oddly cathartic death exemplifies King’s knack for finding sheer terror in unexpected places and causing us to rethink the mundane elements of our everyday lives.

Death by Leeches in It

The Master of Horror has always been terrified of leeches. The horrifying scene in Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me (adapted from the 1982 novella The Body) in which the boys emerge from a forest pond covered with these blood-sucking worms was inspired by a real-life event from King’s own past. But common sense tells us that if we simply avoid freshwater pools, we should be fine, right? Not if you live in Derry, Maine. After a day of lighting farts in the town’s dump, budding psychopath Patrick Hockstetter visits the abandoned fridge he uses to torture small animals. But seconds after opening the door, he’s swarmed by a horde of flying leeches, each attaching to his skin and sucking his blood. The titular shapeshifting monster has transformed itself into these gruesome pests to claim the life of another child. Of course, Patrick had previously smothered his infant brother several years before so, although certainly horrific, this gruesome demise feels like one murderous monster eliminating another.

Death by Garbage Disposal in Firestarter

One of the most upsetting deaths in King’s 1980 sci-fi classic has nothing to do with fire at all. Charlie McGee may have been born with pyrokinesis, but her father has a somehow more sinister talent. After taking part in a college experiment gone dreadfully wrong, Andy McGee now possesses the power of mental domination. He’s able to “push” people into doing his bidding with intense thought and concentration. Unfortunately, these external intrusive thoughts sometimes cause a dangerous phenomenon known as a “ripple.” When Andy pushes his way into a mind, the victim sometimes finds himself fixated on an obscure memory or inconsequential object until it slowly tears his consciousness apart. After being pushed, Dr. Herman Pynchot cannot stop thinking about an incident in his fraternity kitchen and begins to equate sexual excitement with his garbage disposal. When he can no longer bear these uncontrollable thoughts, he dresses in fine lingerie and jams his arm down into the appliance’s gnashing gears. Anyone with a trash compactor of their own has likely imagined this horrifying end, but King expands on the gruesome details. Not only does Dr. Pynchot die of blood loss and shock, when removed from the sink, what remains of his bloody arm resembles a freshly sharpened pencil.

Death by Gardening in Under the Dome

While many fatal accidents occur when the dome comes down on Chester’s Mill, perhaps the most devastating departure plays out in the Evans’ vegetable garden. This mysterious forcefield descends in a flash around the idyllic burg, severing anything that happens to stand in its way. A deer is decapitated while munching on grass across the town line and a woodchuck is cut cleanly in half. Myra Evans suffers a similar fate when she reaches for a squash growing just a foot outside this invisible border. With her right hand now severed in neighboring Motton, Myra cradles the stump and calls to her terrified husband for help. Despite a makeshift tourniquet, he’s unable to stop the gushing blood and Myra bleeds to death on the kitchen floor, becoming one of the first casualties of the aptly named “Dome Day.” Of course considering what happens to those still trapped inside the translucent prison, this relatively quick and painless exit could be considered a blessing in disguise.

Death by Vending Machine in Maximum Overdrive

This 1986 cult classic is known for two things: its King’s sole directorial turn and it begins with a string of unbelievable deaths. The world-famous author opens the film with a brief cameo in which an ATM calls him an asshole followed by a drawbridge opening on its own. Cars, vans, and trucks filled with watermelon all topple down the steepening slope crashing into anyone not able to get out of the way. As machines come to life all across the US, more brutal and bizarre accidents are yet to come. A coach attempts to buy sodas for his little league team when the strangely malfunctioning vending machine begins shooting out heavy cans. Hoping to save their dying leader, the young players wind up becoming the disaster’s next victims. Some fall to the carbonated rockets while others manage to escape the assault only to be felled by a driverless steamroller bursting through the gates. It’s a smorgasbord of strange fatalities targeting a piece of American iconography and an endearingly ridiculous reminder that no matter who we are or how innocent we appear, death may befall us at any time.

Death by Self-Cannibalism in “Survivor Type”

Amidst a sea of hideous ends, King’s most grisly death occurs in the same short story collection in which “The Monkey” resides. “Survivor Type” is based on a series of journal entries from mob-connected surgeon Richard Pine who attempts to smuggle heroin onto a doomed cruise ship. As the boat sinks off the shore of a deserted island, Richard finds himself stranded with only the water, sewing kit, and first aid supplies he found in the lifeboat. After fracturing his ankle, Richard amputates the wounded appendage and finds an unexpected solution to his growing hunger. Dipping into his stash of heroin, the doctor begins slicing off and eating more and more of his body while slowly losing his grip on reality. We leave Dr. Pine on an ominous note with little left of his dwindling frame. He’s already eaten both of his legs and most recently dined on his own severed earlobes. The last line of this harrowing journal sees him rave about something that tastes like lady fingers, implying which piece he’s most recently cleaved off. Though we don’t see Richard’s inevitable demise, the final image of a grinning corpse gleefully eating his own left hand remains one of the most disturbing images in King’s vast catalogue.

The Monkey is now playing in theaters everywhere. Get tickets now and enter to win an exclusive 1/50 resin sculpt made from the original Monkey. 

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Andy Muschietti & Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs are leading the upcoming Pennywise prequel project from Warner Bros. Television, and Muschietti reveals in a new chat with Radio TU this week that the current hope is for “Welcome to Derry” to span three seasons.

Of course, that all depends on how successful the first season is when it debuts later this year, but it sounds like the team has already mapped out the skeleton of the three-season tale.

“Welcome to Derry” will kick off its story in 1962 in the time leading up to the events of It: Chapter One (2017). From there, Muschietti teases in his chat with Radio TU, the planned second and third seasons will jump back in time and take place in their own distinct decades.

Muschietti, who of course directed both IT and IT Chapter 2, explains: “It’s a story that’s based on the interludes of the book. The interludes are basically chapters that reflect Mike Hanlon’s research. They’re fragments of his research. For 27 years, it’s the guy trying to figure out what it is, what did it, who did it, who saw it, and all that stuff.”

“So they talk about catastrophic events from the past, like the fire in the Black Spot…. the massacre of the Bradley Gang, a gang of bank robbers in the ’30s… and the explosion of the Kitchener Ironworks,” the filmmaker continues. “Every time [Pennywise] comes out of hibernation, there is a catastrophic event that happens at the beginning of that cycle.

“We are basing the three seasons of this series on each of these catastrophic events.”

Muschietti further teases, “There’s a reason why the story is told backwards. So the first season is 1962, the second season is 1935, and the third season is 1908.”

He also notes that Warner Bros. is happy with how the first season of “Welcome to Derry” turned out, and they’re “very interested in making the second season as soon as possible.”

The series will air on HBO in addition to streaming on Max. Stay tuned for a premiere date.

https://www.youtube.com/live/Tugk5mzMHqM?si=8I_N4rcrtgn1Faqr

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Andy Muschietti & Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs are on board the Pennywise prequel project from Warner Bros. Television, with Muschietti set to direct several episodes.

“Welcome to Derry” will kick off its story in 1962 in the time leading up to the events of It: Chapter One (2017). The series is also said to include the origin story of Pennywise the Clown.

“This is a book we love a lot, and we felt that there was still a lot of story to be covered,” Andy and Barbara Muschietti tell EW. “It’s so rich with characters and events, we thought we would do justice to the book and the fans by going back into this world.”

They continue, “Specifically, we are telling the stories of the interludes, writings by Mike Hanlon based on his investigation that includes interviews he conducts with the older people in the town. In Welcome to Derry, we touch on the usual themes that were talked about in the movie — friendship, loss, the power of unified belief — but this story focuses also on the use of fear as a weapon, which is one of the things that is also relevant to our times.”

Andy Muschietti is directing four of the season’s nine episodes, EW notes.

See more and learn more over on Entertainment Weekly.

Taylour Paige (Zola), Jovan Adepo (“Watchmen”), Chris Chalk (“Perry Mason”), James Remar (Oppenheimer), Madeleine Stowe (Revenge) and Stephen Rider (Daredevil) will star in the upcoming series, with Bill Skarsgård returning as Pennywise the Clown.

Alixandra Fuchs (Hatfields & McCoys), Kimberly Guerrero (The English), Dorian Grey (Star Trek: Discovery), Thomas Mitchell (Gangland Undercover), BJ Harrison (Family Law), Peter Outerbridge (Saw VI), Shane Marriott (Fargo), Chad Rook (Billy the Kid), Joshua Odjick (Little Bird), Rudy Mancuso (The Flash) and Morningstar Angeline (Echo) also star.

The series will air on HBO in addition to streaming on Max.

Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Max

Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Max

Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Max

Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Max

Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Max

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Kane will serve as the series’ creator, showrunner, writer and executive producer.

To refresh your memory, Peacock had given the project a straight-to-series order in 2022, with “Crystal Lake” being described as an “expanded prequel” to the original Friday the 13th franchise featuring both Jason Voorhees and his mother, Pamela. Additionally, Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice) and Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry, Carrie) were set to direct episodes, with the budget ballooning to around $10 million per episode. With eight episodes in total planned for the first season, it would’ve cost A24 roughly $85 million to bring the series to life, with additional seasons being planned by the studio.

Expect the direction to change completely now that a new showrunner is in place.

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Watch a short bit of brand new teaser footage below…

Taylour Paige (Zola), Jovan Adepo (“Watchmen”), Chris Chalk (“Perry Mason”), James Remar (Oppenheimer), Madeleine Stowe (Revenge) and Stephen Rider (Daredevil) will star in the upcoming series, with Bill Skarsgård returning as Pennywise the Clown.

Alixandra Fuchs (Hatfields & McCoys), Kimberly Guerrero (The English), Dorian Grey (Star Trek: Discovery), Thomas Mitchell (Gangland Undercover), BJ Harrison (Family Law), Peter Outerbridge (Saw VI), Shane Marriott (Fargo), Chad Rook (Billy the Kid), Joshua Odjick (Little Bird), Rudy Mancuso (The Flash) and Morningstar Angeline (Echo) also star.

“Welcome to Derry” will begin in the 1960s in the time leading up to the events of It: Part One (2017). The series is also said to include the origin story of Pennywise the Clown.

Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs are on board the Pennywise prequel project from Warner Bros. Television, with Muschietti set to direct several episodes.

The series will air on HBO in addition to streaming on Max.

This ain’t America. This is Derry.

Watch new teaser footage for IT prequel series Welcome to Derry, coming soon to HBO & MAX. pic.twitter.com/54ZE1YqK4P

— Bloody Disgusting (@BDisgusting) August 5, 2024

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And with modern media like The Shivering Truth and Robert Morgan’s Stopmotion reminding us that animation can convey terror just as easily as cartoony laughs, we’ve decided to come up with a list celebrating six of the scariest stop-motion effects in horror.

For the purposes of this list, we’ll be considering any film that utilizes stop-motion to bring a character to life, be it as a brief photo-realistic special effect or traditional animation.

As usual, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite animated effects if you think we missed a particularly frightening example of stop-motion horror.

With that out of the way, onto the list…

6. Pennywise – It (1990)

Modern television shows often boast blockbuster budgets and film-quality special effects in order to compete with theatrical releases, but the made-for-TV productions of the 90s taught us to manage expectations when it came to bringing supernatural monsters to life on the small screen.

And while we all remember Tim Curry’s performance as the real highlight of 1990’s It mini-series (as we should, with the actor basically carrying the experience on his sexy shoulders), he was aided by a series of clever special effects meant to show off the evil clown’s shape-shifting powers. Personally, I think the creepiest of these effects was the brief use of a stop-motion puppet during the series’ infamous shower scene, where Pennywise reshapes himself to travel through a drain.

Visually, the mini-series isn’t on the same level as the Andy Muschietti adaptations, but the eerie nature of the animation here cements the stop-motion Tim Curry puppet as a memorable moment in claymation history.

5. The Mysterious Stranger – The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985)

A criminally underseen classic, Will Vinton’s animated celebration of Mark Twain’s life and imagination is by no means a horror film, but this mostly wholesome experience briefly makes an unexpected detour into disturbing territory when the filmmakers decide to reference Twain’s The Mysterious Stranger – also known as The Chronicle of Young Satan.

Featuring trippy animation and impressive facial work, this single disturbing sequence has largely outshined the rest of the film with its bizarre portrayal of Lucifer and the folly of humankind. That’s why it’s become a staple of scary video compilations everywhere, with some online users even claiming that the scene is so unsettling that the movie must be cursed.

4. Otik – Little Otik (2000)

More of an art-house fairy tale than a proper genre film, Jan Švankmajer’s experimental fable differs from the other live-action movies on this list due to the simple fact that its special effects aren’t actually trying to emulate reality.

Telling the story of a childless couple that adopts a humanoid-looking tree stump only to have to deal with the consequences of the creature’s insatiable hunger, Little Otik makes excellent use of jerky animation to enhance the film’s atmosphere. There’s an unmistakable otherworldly vibe here that could only have been accomplished through stop-motion craftsmanship, and I wish we’d see this kind of thing pop up in more movies.

3. Full-Body Werewolves – The Howling (1981)

Joe Dante’s classic creature feature may have been overshadowed by the other famous werewolf movie from 1981, but that doesn’t make its groundbreaking special effects any less impressive. While Rick Baker and his team were only tasked with bringing a single werewolf to life in John Landis’ film, Rob Bottin had a whole tribe to deal with, making the results that much more impressive.

Of course, the eeriest of the flick’s creative decisions has to be the use of stop-motion in all of the wide shots featuring the werewolves’ full bodies. The technique could easily have felt cartoony and out of place, but there’s something appropriately off-putting about the monsters’ unnatural movements here – which is why The Howling makes it onto this list.

2. T-800 Endoskeleton – The Terminator (1984)

We may take the T-800’s iconic skeletal design for granted these days, but that explosive moment in the original Terminator where it’s revealed that Schwarzenegger’s robotic endoskeleton survived the tanker explosion must have been one hell of a twist back in ’84. And while Arnold’s robotic performance and the gnarly gore effects accompanying it are simply legendary, I think the film’s scariest moments were achieved in an animation studio.

Another case of a filmmaker using stop-motion to bring monstrous wide-shots to life, uncanny frame-by-frame puppetry was the perfect choice to set up the antagonist’s desperate final form. In fact, I’d argue the stop-motion version of the iconic robot is its scariest iteration across the entire franchise, with only the messy Terminator Salvation coming close to competing with its grimy charms.

1. Cthulhu – The Call of Cthulhu (2005)

From Antrum to Late Night with the Devil, I’m a sucker for faux retro cinema, which is why I can’t help but bring up Andrew Leman’s silent Lovecraft adaptation, The Call of Cthulhu. Championed by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, this ambitious indie production presents itself as a 1920s adaptation of the short story of the same name, utilizing period-accurate visuals as it brings Lovecraft’s most iconic creation to life.

Granted, the puppet looks a little goofy in clear lighting, but the narrative build-up to the great old one’s reveal makes it an incredibly unnerving moment, especially when you consider that we’re only really watching an insane sailor’s recollection of these events – not necessarily what actually occurred. And like some of the other movies on this list, the creature’s unnatural movements only add to the eldritch horror.

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