It

Article written by Joshua Ehiosun

C2 certified writer.

‘It’ is a book that projects the lives of 7 children across a span of 27 years. The novel shows the strife of weak bullied children trying to fight an ancient and evil entity that feeds off the fear of its prey. With the monster tilted towards luring and killing children, the group of seven known as the Losers club fight the monster, and just when they thought it was all over, the evil awakens 27 years later. Keeping to their promise to return if an incident of such happens again, the band of now six, comprising Bill, the leader of the losers club and a stutterer, Ben, Bev, Richie, Eddie, and Mike, face the evil once again. They fight against all odds to try and kill it forever.

Key Facts about It

• Title: ‘It.’
• Book Inspiration: Stephen King stated his inspiration to write ‘It’ was the Norwegian children’s story called ‘Three Billy Goats Gruff.’
• When/Where written: Stephen King got the idea of ‘It’ in 1978 and started writing in 1980.
• Published: ‘It’ was first published on September 15, 1986, by Viking.
• Literary Period: Post-modernist/Contemporary Period.
• Point of View: Third person.
• Total Number of Pages: 1,138.
• Genre: Horror, Thriller, Coming of age, Dark fantasy.
• Setting: Derry.
• Climax: The climax of the novel appears when Bill faces the monster in its true form finally.
• Antagonist: It (Pennywise), Henry Bowers.

Stephen King and It

Though the idea for his dark fantasy horror story came from a children’s story, Stephen King was able to craft a book that showed the strife of children fighting a force more evil and powerful than anything in the known universe. Stephen King had initially thought of his book idea in 1978 but started writing the book as his 22nd in 1980.

‘It’ begins with the main protagonist Bill as he sets out on a path of revenge against the entity that killed his brother, George after his hand had been ripped off by it. Teaming up with a group of six other children Stan, Eddie, Beverly, Mike, Ben, and Richie, they set out to investigate and find the source of the evil entity that had been terrorizing Derry for centuries.

The club of Losers, as they called themselves, discovered that the evil they were facing had numerous forms and fed off the fear of others, which they call the entity It. They discovered It was an ancient entity that was as old as the universe itself—teaming up with the help of another ancient entity, a turtle, Bill and his friends fought off It, defeating him. They then made a promise to go back to Derry if anything should come up again.

Twenty-seven years later, a gay man gets killed by what was described as a clown by one of the suspected culprits. Mike, who was still in Derry, calls the losers club to keep up to their promise and fight the evil that had awakened after sleeping for more than two decades. Fulfilling their promise, Bill and the rest of the group, without Stan set out to complete the mission they had started 27 years ago; to kill Pennywise finally.

Books Related to It

Because of its terrific description of detailed events, its gruel scenes, and its villain, Stephen King’s book ‘It’ has sealed its place in the world of horror and dark fantasy. Stephen King was able to input many elements synonymous with the horror stories from other books. From the strife of a group of weak people to defeat a greater evil to the prevalence of courage and love over evil, many horror novels have a similar style to Stephen King’s ‘It.’

Books that have shown their similarity to Stephen King’s ‘It’ include horror books like ‘The Exorcist’ by William Peter Blatty, ‘The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter, Part 2)’ by Thomas Harris, and ‘The Amityville Horror’ by Jay Anson.

The book ‘The Exorcist’ was published before ‘It’ in 1971 and had a similar story to ‘It.’ ‘The Exorcist’ narrates the story of two priests trying to fight an entity that was powerful and eviler than they ever imagined. ‘The Amityville Horror’ also follows the same storyline as Stephen King’s ‘It’ and ‘The Exorcist,’ it was published in 1977. ‘The Amityville Horror’ follows the story of a family moving into a house so haunted the entity followed them even after they left the house.

Stephen King also managed to create a universe with his books where he linked stories together. The idea leads to the mentions of Pennywise and details of ‘It’ in his later books. Stephen King’s books ‘The Tommyknockers,’ ‘Dreamcatcher,’ and ‘11/22/63,’ referred to Pennywise, the villain in ‘It,’ details of Derry, and characters from ‘It.’

The Lasting Impact of It