IT is a horror novel by Stephen King. It is one of his longest at over a thousand pages. Considered one of King's most visceral, gory works, it deals with themes which would eventually become King staples: the power of memory, childhood trauma and the ugliness lurking behind a happy, small-town facade.
The novel is the story of seven friends from the fictional town of Derry, Maine, and is told with the narrative alternating between two different time periods.
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Plot
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
In 1958, when they are eleven years old, the seven self-proclaimed “Losers” are united in seeking refuge from a gang of bullies led by Henry Bowers. The children discover the existence of a child-murdering, shape-changing monster (which they call “It”). Its appearance (about once every 27 years) always brings with it a series of horrifying events: a racist arson attack, a homophobic murder, and most importantly, the mutilation and killing of George Denbrough, the six-year-old brother of Bill Denbrough, the leader figure of the Losers.
IT appears in many forms, often taking the shape of its prey's worst fear, but usually as a clown called Pennywise. The children make a pact to return and fight IT again if IT returns. All but one later move away from Derry and forget about the events, but one of the children, town librarian Mike Hanlon, remains and calls them in 1985, when child killings begin to happen again. Only five of the other Losers return to Derry to finish killing the monster. The sixth, Stanley Uris, is dead, having committed suicide rather than face the ancient terror.
All except Mike have gone on to success and wealth (which is a side-effect of the confrontation with IT), though the stamp of their unhappy childhoods is evident: none of them has children. Beverley Marsh, the only female in the group, is married to an abusive lout just like her father. Bill Denbrough, now a successful horror writer, has married a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Bev. Eddie Kaspbrak (whose asthma is psychosomatic) married a morbidly obese, neurotic woman resembling his mother, which he explains right before they enter ITs bone-strewn lair.
Henry Bowers, the bully who once made their lives hell as kids, is also around; he was committed to an insane asylum nearly thirty years ago, and is goaded by IT into escaping and returning to Derry to settle a few old scores. The book turns to all-out fantasy at the end as the details of ITs origins and its ties to Derry, Maine are revealed. Throughout the novel the Losers Club uses rituals, movie plot devices (i.e. silver bullets) and an ancient magic to defeat IT.
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Reaction
IT was a best-selling book and has become a favorite among his fans.
The book is one of King's most unsettling, since the titular character is a child killing, shape-changing monster (King apparently wanted to create a character that was “all the old monsters from the movies rolled into one.”) While unmistakably one of his more overtly horrific books, the end of the story sees it veer into fantasy territory, which King would revisit with his Dark Tower series. However, It is without question one of King's most fully realized and genuinely moving (scary and poignant) novels.
IT was filmed as a TV movie in 1990.
The American punk band Pennywise took its name and icon from the character in It.
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