10 Creepy Details You Probably Forgot About Stephen King’s IT

The new TV series is making fans notice a significant drop in quality compared to the original movies. However, the films It and It Chapter Two were both huge hits, successfully bringing Stephen King’s story back into the spotlight after a period of popularity in the early 90s. Pennywise the Clown continues to be one of King’s most terrifying creations, and Bill Skarsgård’s portrayal of the character has truly elevated the horror.

While Pennywise the clown is definitely a major source of fear in Stephen King’s It and its adaptations, the town of Derry itself is also unsettling, as the recent TV series shows. Interestingly, some parts of the story are creepy without being outright frightening. Because of this, even dedicated fans might have overlooked some of the most disturbing moments.

The Deadlights and Pennywise’s Evil God Status

Pennywise often appears as a clown, but it’s a much more dangerous creature than that suggests. It changes its form to prey on people’s deepest fears, and its true appearance is beyond human understanding. Looking into its ‘Deadlights’ can drive people insane – the movies only show brief, unsettling hints of what they actually look like.

A closer look at the novel and its background reveals that It isn’t just a powerful monster – it’s a fundamental, god-like force of nature, far exceeding anything else in Stephen King’s stories. It possesses a wide array of frightening powers, many of which aren’t shown in the movie adaptation. It’s not simply a killer clown or the ghost of a murderer; it’s something completely beyond human understanding, which makes it even more terrifying.

Beverly’s Father Displays a Creepy Obsession with Her

While It focuses on a supernatural evil, the story also explores the horrors people can inflict on each other, particularly through the character of Beverly’s father, Alvin Marsh. He embodies the human side of the novel’s terror, and his behavior towards Beverly is disturbing. Both the book and the 1990 miniseries depict their relationship as controlling and abusive, with Alvin showing an unsettling and inappropriate attraction to his daughter.

Each member of the Losers’ Club faces personal hardships, but Beverly’s home life is particularly disturbing. The 2017 film effectively portrays the suffocating fear she feels around her father, Alvin, making it clear his feelings are driven by inappropriate desire, not affection. Unlike the supernatural threat of Pennywise, Alvin represents a frighteningly real and unsettling kind of evil.

Fans Were Glad the Movies Removed the Sewer Scene

Beverly Marsh faced arguably the most difficult experiences of anyone in It. Beyond the unsettling advances from her father, her struggles continued to worsen throughout the story. Like her friends, she was haunted by fear and nightmares, but her experiences were particularly disturbing. The book culminates with the Losers’ Club finally defeating It using the Ritual of Chüd, and then trying to find their way home through the sewers.

Okay, so as a huge fan, I was really thrown by the scene where Beverly sleeps with each of the Losers. It felt… weird, honestly. The book tries to frame it as a way for them to reconnect and grow up, but it just didn’t land for me. Considering these characters are still kids at heart, and we’ve been following their journeys for so long, it felt really out of place and honestly, pretty disturbing. There’s a lot to unpack symbolically, sure, but the way it’s written just doesn’t feel right.

Pennywise’s Spider Form Had Actually Laid Eggs

The recent It movies hinted at Pennywise’s spider-like nature by showing a clown-spider creature in a final attempt to beat the Losers’ Club, but the heroes simply laughed and won. Neither the movies nor the miniseries explored this idea further. However, Stephen King’s original novel revealed a hidden detail: while Pennywise often appears as a male figure, his true form is much more closely tied to a giant spider.

The discovery of a cluster of eggs during the Losers’ Club’s encounter confirms that Pennywise is female, adding another layer of horror to the story. The idea that this already terrifying creature was secretly reproducing makes It even more frightening, and the thought of multiple Pennywise creatures haunting Derry for generations is truly nightmarish.

Few Remember Patrick Hockstetter’s Creepiness

Similar to Alvin Marsh, Patrick Hockstetter represents pure human cruelty, but as a child. Being a bit older and bigger than the Losers’ Club gives him all the justification he needs to pick on them. However, Patrick’s actions were far worse than simple bullying; when he was five years old, he intentionally killed his baby brother, hoping to get his mother’s attention. His father suspected Patrick was responsible, but couldn’t bring himself to believe his son was a murderer.

As Patrick grew older, his cruelty worsened, culminating in the torture and murder of defenseless animals – he trapped them inside an old, broken refrigerator. This behavior is a strong indicator of someone who would likely become a serial killer, but Patrick’s life ended before that could happen. In both the novel and the film It Chapter Two, his death feels like a fitting punishment: in the book, he’s haunted by creatures resembling leeches that live in refrigerators, while in the movie, he’s attacked by the vengeful spirits of children he had harmed.

Pennywise Takes on a Variety of Morbid Forms

Pennywise the clown and its giant spider form are terrifying, but the creature can also transform into many other frightening shapes that some viewers might not remember. To create the perfect nightmare for each person, Pennywise expertly uses illusions and shapeshifting to become almost anything imaginable. Throughout the story, it’s appeared as deceased individuals, traditional horror monsters, people suffering from diseases, horribly injured bodies, decaying corpses, and even as evil versions of people who are still alive.

Pennywise is a truly terrifying villain because he expertly exploits people’s deepest fears. Few things are scarier than turning your own imagination against you, and Pennywise makes each nightmare feel intensely personal. He doesn’t just attack his victims; he relishes building their fear before finally defeating them, which explains why he’s such a memorable and evil character.

Georgie’s Death Is Much More Gory in the Novel

The 2017 film It begins with a sweet and charming scene: young Georgie playfully chases a paper boat in the rain, encouraged by his brother Bill. This quickly turns terrifying when Pennywise the clown appears from a storm drain. While Georgie doesn’t realize the danger, the audience knows something awful is about to happen. In the movie, Pennywise grabs him and pulls him into the sewer, a shocking moment that, while scary, isn’t as intensely detailed as the description in the original novel.

The moment Pennywise revealed its terrifying form, it grabbed George’s arm with a strong, unsettling grip. George twisted his head away from the darkness and began to scream as rain poured down. The book describes him struggling and yelling in the street until a terrible tearing sound signaled the end of his life. Instead of completely taking George, Pennywise simply left him to die, bleeding in the gutter.

Adult Characters Are Largely Unable to Perceive IT

The scariest thing about Derry isn’t just the horrors that happen there, but the fact that the adults don’t seem to notice them. Over the years, many children have disappeared and terrible events have shaken the town, yet the adults just seem to accept it, or ignore it. It’s a familiar idea in horror that adults are less likely to believe in the supernatural, but in It, this becomes a widespread refusal to even acknowledge what’s happening.

It’s as if the adults in town are strangely numb, possibly due to the lingering effects of Pennywise’s mysterious powers. By ignoring anything unusual, they become immune to It’s terrifying attacks, which ironically helps It survive. This indifference also sadly mirrors how real-life abuse and bullying often go unnoticed and unaddressed.

The Ritual of Chüd Remains an Ominous Mystery

Stephen King often includes mysteries in his stories, and the Ritual of Chüd is one of his most unusual. The novel presents it as a ceremony originating in the Himalayas, with a hinted-at mystical history that remains largely unexplained. Bill Denborough performs the ritual with guidance, and the combined strength of the Losers’ Club’s feelings makes It reveal its vulnerability. Ultimately, the heroes defeat Pennywise by confronting him with hope and love.

The movies depict the Ritual of Chüd as having origins in Native American practices. While it’s the only thing shown that can defeat Pennywise, viewers are unsure how it actually works. It’s unclear whether the ritual is a genuine, historical tradition, or if it’s simply a representation of the strength of childhood innocence against an age-old evil. Different explanations within the story make things even more confusing.

The Town of Derry Feels Complicit in IT’s Crimes

Stephen King portrays the town of Derry as a place where decay and genuine human connection exist side-by-side. While Derry seems like a typical small American town, it also highlights the harshness of official systems and a loss of compassion in adults. Beyond the monsters and frightening events, Derry’s problems run deeper – they’re built into the town’s very structure.

The movie It Chapter Two directly shows this idea when the grown-up Losers come back to their hometown and notice how stuck in the past it feels. It’s as if Pennywise’s evil influence spreads much further than just the sewers he hides in. Derry has seen so many terrible events and mysterious deaths that viewers have started to suspect there’s something even deeper and stranger going on in the town.

2025-11-18 04:14