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THE HORROR OF DERRY
...a definition of haunt as a noun, and it's the one that really scares me:
A feeding place for animals. Like the animals that beat up Adrian Mellon
and then threw him over the bridge? Like the animal that was waiting
underneath the bridge? A feeding place for animals. What's feeding in Derry?
What's feeding on Derry?
- Mike Hanlon, It


The horror that lies at the heart of Derry dates back to its beginning. Even on it's best days the shadow of something unspeakable lies over the town, and every 27 years or so the creature that casts that shadow swoops down to feed. In 1929 and 1930 the Black Spot was burned down by the Maine Legion of White Decency; in 1906 the Kitchener Ironworks exploded; Pennywise the Dancing Clown shows up in 1957 and again in 1984.

"...and the clown looked back. I saw its eyes,
and all at once I understood who it was."
"Who was it, Don?" Harold Gardener asked softly.
"It was Derry," ... "It was this town."
- Don Hagarty during his questioning by the
police after Adrian Melon's death, It

The creature introduces himself to the Losers individually during both interludes, plucking fears from their minds to use against them. In 1958 Mike sees It as a huge bird with the soul of Rodan; Eddie as a leper reminiscent of a diseased hobo he'd had a run in with earlier. Richie sees It in the form of a towering Paul Bunyon statue and The Teenage Werewolf; Ben as Pennywise. Beverly hears Its voice in a drain that erupts blood and Stan sees It as the drowned boys of the Standpipe; Bill as a bleeding picture of Georgie and as Pennywise.

A reviewer might comment that these introductions go a long way toward fleshing out the characters. As readers we know that they are are Its way of testing their strength before they come together.


Readers Comments



It has been quite a few years since I read the book, I was still a teenager at the time I read it first and I had this definite idea that IT was a prehistoric animal that had been there for as long as Derry existed. There seemed to be a part in the book where Stephen recalled Derry's past and the accidents that had happened that were unexplained...making us assume IT had struck hundreds of years back. The notion that IT is a prehistoric creature that somehow is like a chameleon, changing shape whenever it wants to, is very much in my mind. Of course when I saw the movie I was really disappointed because nothing looked like I had envisioned any of it to be and nowhere near as scary as the book. Glen Fiorine

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Carrie Norfleet hillarynorfleet@chartermi.net
last revised on April 22, 1999
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