Stephen King’s The Institute & IT: Welcome to Derry’s Connect to The Shining

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In 2025, only two TV series based on the works of Stephen King will be released, and interestingly, they share a common storyline.

Fans of Stephen King often find that his books are subtly connected, with hidden details and references linking them together. While each of his popular novels usually tells a complete story on its own, these small connections hint at a larger, shared universe within his writing.

Even though the two Stephen King TV shows released in 2025 are different adaptations, streaming on separate platforms, they share a surprising connection.

The Institute & It: Welcome To Derry Subtly Tie Into Stephen King’s The Shining

A television series based on Stephen King’s novel, The Institute, premiered on MGM+ earlier in the year. The show centers around children with special powers, like the ability to read minds or move objects with their minds. The protagonist, Luke, can even see into the future.

As a longtime Stephen King fan, I’ve noticed a fascinating connection running through his work. Like in The Shining, many characters in The Institute seem to share similar psychic abilities – what King often calls ‘the shine.’ It’s not just those two books either; we even see this power pop up in IT: Welcome to Derry. It really feels like King has built a connected universe where these abilities exist on a sort of continuum, linking characters across different stories. It’s a neat detail that adds another layer to his already complex world.

Dick Hallorann, a character who appears in both Stephen King’s IT: Welcome to Derry and Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining, possesses psychic abilities in both versions of the story. Just like in The Shining, the HBO series IT also portrays Hallorann as having clairvoyance.

You know, I always found it fascinating how versatile the actor who plays Hallorann is. Most people remember him as the calm, collected chef at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, but did you know he’s also a military man in Welcome to Derry? He’s actually part of the team tracking down Pennywise! And it’s not just a different role, either – in The Shining, his character’s special ability lets him recognize that Danny Torrance has ‘the shine’ too. It’s great to see that ability come back into play in Doctor Sleep as well; it really connects the two films in a cool way.

In Welcome to Derry, the military asks him to use his abilities to locate Pennywise, but it’s clear he has his own secret agenda. Both The Institute and IT: Welcome to Derry include characters with a special ability called the “shine,” which strongly links them to Stephen King’s The Shining.

The Institute & It: Welcome To Derry Have Other Undeniable Thematic Parallels

Chris Reardon / ©MGM+ / Courtesy Everett Collection

Though The Institute and IT: Welcome to Derry are structured very differently as stories, they explore similar ideas. Both novels are set in small towns and feature secret government experiments.

The experiments pose the greatest risk to the town’s children, as they are the most susceptible to harm. Both the military operation depicted in IT: Welcome to Derry and the actions of a government organization called The Institute – featured in the MGM+ series – specifically target children. In IT, the operation risks unleashing the terrifying Pennywise upon them, while The Institute abducts children with the goal of turning them into weapons.

As a big fan of both, what really struck me about IT: Welcome to Derry and The Institute is how the adults in power, thinking they’re doing what’s best for everyone, completely overlook the danger to children. It’s heartbreaking to watch these kids forced to grow up too fast and lose their innocence because of that adult negligence. While IT is definitely a much more terrifying experience, the similarities between the two stories are so strong that they really complement each other – I think they’re perfect to watch back-to-back.

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2025-11-03 06:38