It by Stephen King

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They were just kids when they stumbled upon the hidden horror of their hometown. Now, as adults, none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them all back to Derry, Maine, to face the nightmare without end, and the evil without a name.

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1957–58

In October 1957, the town of Derry, Maine, has been flooded by autumn storms, awakening an evil entity, known only as "It", a shape-shifting monster that targets children, and lives in the sewers. As the storm abates, six-year old George "Georgie" Denbrough chases a paper boat, made with the help of his brother William (also known as Big Bill, Stuttering Bill, or simply Bill), along a gutter current until the boat is swept into a storm drain. Georgie attempts to retrieve the boat and encounters Pennywise, a seemingly friendly clown standing in the sewer. The clown entices George with sensations of a circus carried into the sewer by the floods, and offers to return the lost boat. When George attempts to retrieve the boat, Pennywise rips his arm off, killing him instantly. When the neighbors hear George's scream, they run outside to see what the matter is, but only find a one-armed George, with Pennywise nowhere to be found.

Eight months later in June 1958, on the last day of school, Ben Hanscom flees from local bullies Henry Bowers, Belch Huggins, and Victor Criss. Ben escapes into the Barrens, a weedy jungle through which runs the Kenduskeag Stream, where he meets and befriends Bill Denbrough (George's brother) and Eddie Kaspbrak. As a summer project, Bill and Eddie were attempting unsuccessfully to dam the Kenduskeag. Ben has a natural inclination toward architecture, and helps the other boys complete the dam. Through Bill and Eddie, Ben also befriends Richie Tozier, a wisecracking boy known for his dubious "Voices", and Stan Uris, a straight-laced Jewish boyscout. In early July, the five of them, along with their new friend Beverly Marsh, save Mike Hanlon, the only black child in Derry, from being beaten by Henry Bowers and his gang. A few days after fending off the bullies, Mike officially joins their group. The children establish themselves as the "Losers Club." All are outcasts, emphasized by their unhappy home lives and the torments they have endured from bullies like the Bowers gang: Ben because of his weight, Bill because of his stutter, Eddie because of his physical frailty, Richie because of his smart mouth and thick glasses, Stan because of his Jewish ancestry, Mike because he is black, and Beverly because of her poverty and gender. As their friendships mature, they realize that they also share common encounters with It.

Bill describes to the group how, while lamenting his dead brother George in his room, he had opened the boy's photo album to see a picture of George come alive. Ben reveals that he had encountered a Mummy the previous January, while walking home from school. Richie eluded Henry and his friends in town and, when he sat down beside a statue of Paul Bunyan it became possessed and attacked him, almost killing him. Richie is unique amongst the group because he doesn't tell his account to the others and firmly believes it to have been a dream. Eddie recounts being attacked by a diseased creature which he calls a leper, at an abandoned house. Beverly tells of hearing voices of dead children coming from her bathroom sink drain, followed by a gruesome gout of blood bursting from the pipes; her father and mother see nothing. In an early depiction of the Losers' strength when united, Beverly is unable to clean the blood herself until she enlists the help of Ben, Eddie, and Stan. After cleaning up the blood, Stan describes his encounter with the water-logged corpses of children when he became trapped in the town's Standpipe while birdwatching, which he somehow fends off by shouting out the names of birds. Richie initially scoffs at the stories, and Bill encourages him to view the photo album back in George's room. After both boys discover in the album pictures of Pennywise, one of which comes to life, Richie recalls his own encounter with a Werewolf. Determined to avenge his brother, Bill steals his father's Walther handgun and goes with Richie to the abandoned house, 29 Neibolt Street. At the house the boys are attacked by It, each perceiving a different form of the creature: Bill sees It as Pennywise and Richie sees It as a Werewolf. Both barely escape with their lives on Bill’s enormous and talismanic Schwinn bicycle, Silver. Mike then retells his encounter with an enormous bird, which he had fended off by throwing a chunk of tile in its eye.

The Losers are not the only persons to encounter It; various children vanish to be found dead and mutilated days, weeks, or months later, if they turn up at all. The Losers determine to destroy the supernatural being and seek out means to that end. After some research in the town library, Bill discovers an ancient spell known as the Ritual of Chüd, in which a shapeshifting monster called a "talus" and a human shaman lock tongues and tell jokes; the first to laugh is devoured by the other. Bill believes this ritual will allow them to defeat and kill It. While the seven are building an underground clubhouse in the Barrens in mid-July, Mike Hanlon brought his father's photo album and shows it to them all. The group discovers that Pennywise has existed for at least centuries in the Derry area. In one photograph, Pennywise again appears and threatens to kill them all, appearing to them all as their worst fears. The Losers are demoralized and uncertain how to proceed. Ben gives them the idea to perform an Indian "smoke-hole" ritual to receive spiritual guidance from whatever forces stand against "It". They use their now completed underground club house and green wood to cause a blinding smoke, forcing most of the Losers into fresh air. Richie and Mike are the only two to withstand the smoke, and witness a vision of It arriving on Earth in prehistoric times. When the visions end, the Losers express still further doubt over their ability to battle the monster.

A few days after the smoke-hole ritual, Eddie goes to a pharmacy to pick up his asthma medicine. The pharmacist reveals that the medicine is actually a placebo, and Eddie is not actually sick; his "asthma" is an invention of Eddie's mother Sonya Kaspbrak. Eddie leaves disbelieving, and, on the way home, is attacked by Henry, Victor, Belch, and a psychopathic boy named Patrick Hockstetter. The bullies break Eddie's arm and spit in his face in retaliation for the rock fight. Eddie convalesces in the hospital, and though the other Losers attempt to visit him, they are sent away by Eddie's overprotective mother. Mrs. Kaspbrak is cast as an unwitting agent of It, the creature attempting to use her maternal concern to split the Losers. Eddie stands up to his mother for the first time, and earns a small amount of autonomy from her ministrations.

As Eddie recovers, Beverly stumbles across the Bowers gang (including Patrick) in the landfill, literally with their pants down, lighting farts for fun. She hides behind a junked car, afraid they will see and attack her, and waits for the gang to depart. After Belch and Victor leave, Patrick (who, in a back-story, is revealed to have murdered his baby brother) masturbates Henry, and offers him oral sex. In response, Henry threatens to reveal Patrick's secret: besides killing his brother (of which Henry knows nothing), Patrick has been trapping animals in an abandoned refrigerator and leaving them to suffocate. After Henry leaves, Patrick decides to dispose of the animal corpses, but when he opens the refrigerator, he is attacked by It in the form of dozens of winged leeches, his worst fear. Before he loses consciousness, It appears in the form of a man with a melting face and drags him to It's lair. Patrick wakes up as It begins to feed on him. After Beverly's escape, the Losers (sans Eddie) return to the refrigerator and discover a message from It written in Patrick's blood, warning them to stop before It kills them, which sends Bill into a fit of maniacal rage. At Bill's pleading, the others agree to help him.

After Eddie is released from the hospital, Ben makes two slugs out of silver, believing the cinematic convention that silver will kill monsters. The group test fires slingshots and determine Beverly to be the best shot, and so the slugs are put into her care. The Losers return to 29 Neibolt Street and enter the house, its interior made magically huge and vertiginous by It. In a run-down bathroom It attacks the Losers in its Werewolf form, primarily focusing its efforts on Bill, hoping to destroy the head of the Losers. After It injures Ben, Beverly injures It with one slug, but loses the other; however, the Losers chase It away by convincing It that a final slug is ready to be released upon it. The Losers realize that their united belief is the strongest weapon against It.

In August, It turns to Henry Bowers, whose sanity had been eroding throughout the summer, as It's minion. It provides Henry with a switchblade, with which the boy promptly murders his crazy, abusive father. Henry recruits the unsuspecting Victor and Belch and takes them into the Barrens, where they drive the Losers into the sewers. Under Derry, It attacks the Bowers gang in the form of Frankenstein's monster, decapitating Victor and ripping half of Belch's face off, though Henry escapes. Wandering aimlessly for hours in the sewers, Henry ultimately falls into the Canal and drifts back into the Kenduskeag, where he falls unconscious for several hours. When he comes to, Henry returns home to find the police there waiting for him; as it turns out, It has framed Henry for most of the people that It killed both before and during the summer of 1958 (including Henry, Victor, and Belch).

The Losers press deeper into the sewers and confront It in the form of a giant Eye, which Eddie defeats using his asthma inhaler, believing it to be battery acid. Finally the Losers enter Its lair, a chamber deep below the heart of Derry. The creature appears as a giant Spider. Bill enters Its mind through the Ritual of Chüd and comes to a darkness beyond the universe, where Its true form resides. With the help of a galaxy-spawning entity called the Turtle, Bill defeats It and the monster retreats, grievously wounded. The Losers decide that It has been destroyed and attempt to leave the sewers, but find themselves lost. As the Losers panic in the dark, their mystical bond begins to fray. In order to restore the bond so that they may return to the surface, Beverly has sexual intercourse with each of the boys.

The Losers finally escape from the sewers, emerging at sunset. Stan cuts their palms with a shard of a Coke bottle and the seven make a blood oath to return to Derry if It ever resurfaces.

1984–85

In July 1984, two homosexual youths named Adrian Mellon and Don Hagarty are assaulted and Adrian is thrown off a bridge by three homophobic bullies. They are arrested for murder when Adrian's mutilated corpse is found, though one of the murderers (as well as Mellon’s own boyfriend) claims that he saw a clown kill Adrian underneath the bridge. When a string of violent child-killings hits Derry following Adrian's death, Mike, now the town’s librarian and the only one of the Losers’ Club to remain in Derry, calls up his six friends on the night of May 28, 1985 and reminds them of their childhood promise to return. Bill is now a well-known writer of horror novels (after King's own self), living in England and married to an actress called Audra; Beverly is in the fashion industry and very successful but married to an abusive man called Tom Rogan; Eddie runs a limousine rental company and is married to a woman exactly like his mother named Myra; Richie is a professional comedian with a radio show and talk show; Ben is now thin and a successful architect; Stan is an accountant married to a woman called Patty. Five of them return to Derry with only the dimmest awareness of why they are doing so, having almost completely blocked out virtually every aspect of their childhood (most notably their encounter with It). Stan, who it is implied still remembers the entire thing (or at least does when Mike contacts him) commits suicide in fear and dread of another encounter with It by slitting his wrists while in the bathtub, and writing IT on the wall with his dying strength.

The remaining Losers’ Club meets at a Chinese restaurant for lunch on May 30, where, after a long meal and stories from the intervening years, Mike enlightens them to the apparent nature of It, gleaned from a large amount of research he has done himself: It awakens once roughly every twenty-seven years for twelve to sixteen months at a time to feed on children before going into slumber again. He suggests that, due directly to their intervention in the summer of 1958, they injured It so badly that the cycle, which usually came to an end in the winter months of the year, stopped abruptly and prematurely in August. The group holds a vote in which they decide to kill It once and for all. Mike suggests that before deciding what exactly to do, each Loser takes a walk around Derry to become re-acquainted with their childhood home and meet up at the library later, and also decides not to tell them anymore and allow them to remember what occurred on their own, fearing that they may commit suicide as Stan had done if they discover what happened before they are ready to remember it all. As they finish the meal, their fortune cookies are revealed to have a multitude of disgusting things inside of them, such as a huge cricket and a human eye, courtesy of It.

While walking around Derry, many of the Losers witness manifestations of It. Ben goes to the library, his favorite place in Derry as a child, and sees It, both as Pennywise and as Count Dracula, who warns him to leave the city by nightfall. Eddie goes to an old baseball field and is attacked by It in the form of the leper that attacked him on Neibolt Street and as zombies of several of It's 1958 victims. Beverly goes back to her father's house and is greeted warmly by a kindly old woman named Mrs. Kersh who turns out to be the daughter of IT, who first appears in her true form of a witch of the sort from the tale of Hansel and Gretel, and then IT attacks first in the form of her father, who It claims died five years before, and then as Pennywise. Richie goes to a statue of Paul Bunyan and It appears to him there after Richie recalls that It tried to kill him in the form of the statue. The four all escape danger. Bill, while not seeing It, meets a kid who challenges him to ride his skateboard. Bill goes to an abandoned second-hand shop, and also finds his old childhood bike there, remembering how it saved his and Richie’s lives. He purchases it and takes it to Mike’s home to fix it up.

Unknown to the Losers, three other people are also converging on Derry: Bill's worried wife, Audra Phillips; Beverly's abusive husband, Tom Rogan; and Henry Bowers, who is driven by It to escape the mental institution where he resides and get revenge on the Losers.

The Losers meet at Mike’s library after closing time and reminisce about the summer of 1958. Afterwards, the Losers leave for their hotel rooms. Mike stays at the Library a little longer and is confronted by Henry. After Mike informs Henry that It will most likely kill him after he kills the Losers, they fight and Henry stabs him in the leg, hitting his femoral artery. Mike badly injures Henry with a letter opener, but Henry is able to escape, and Mike, using his belt as a tourniquet, calls the hospital and successfully gets help, despite Pennywise's attempts to block him. Henry, with the guidance of It (in the form of Belch’s reanimated corpse), and transported by the cursed car Christine, goes to the hotel and attacks Eddie. Henry successfully breaks in to Eddie’s room, but Eddie manages to disarm Henry, gouge out his right eye with a broken bottle, then stab him in the hand. Henry knocks Eddie back and Eddie breaks his arm in the same place that Henry had broken it before. Henry then falls on him and is impaled on the bottle, finally dying.

Meanwhile, It appears to Tom and orders him to capture Audra. Tom brings Audra to It's lair under the city. Upon perceiving It in true form, "the deadlights" (bright orange lights that can hypnotize, and even kill people, if exposed to them long enough) Audra becomes catatonic and Tom drops dead in shock. Bill, Ben, Beverly, Richie, and Eddie, after calling the library and finding out that Mike may be near death and understanding that the town, which is essentially under the control of It, will not help them, realize that they are being forced into another confrontation with It. They descend into the sewers.

While in the sewers, the remaining Losers use their strength as a group to send energy to a hospitalized Mike, who fights off a nurse that is under the control of It. Later, deep within the sewers, It appears as George but Bill overcomes the illusion. They reach It’s lair again. Bill and Richie engage It in the Ritual of Chüd again, but Bill realizes that "the Turtle cannot help them" due to It killing the Turtle by feeding the Turtle galaxies and letting it choke to death. Richie rescues Bill from the deadlights and manages to severely injure It. Eddie helps them and saves their lives, but he is killed in the process. Beverly stays with Eddie and the traumatized Audra, who has been woven into a giant spider web by It’s Spider form. Ben starts destroying the eggs that It had lain. Bill and Richie follow It deeper into the cavern and attack It. Bill crushes Its heart between his hands, finally killing It. At the same time a storm sweeps through Derry and the downtown area collapses. Later, Michael, writing in a journal, concludes that Derry is finally dying.

The novel ends with the various Losers returning home and forgetting about It, Derry and each other all over again. As a sign that It really is dead and a watchman is no longer needed, Mike’s memory of the events of the book also begin to fade, much to his relief. Bill is the last to leave Derry. Before he goes, he takes Audra, who is still catatonic, for a ride on Silver, hoping that they can beat her catatonia the same way he and Richie beat It in 1958. They succeed, and the story concludes with Bill musing over his forgotten childhood.

Characters edit see section history

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William "Stuttering Bill" Denbrough: One of the main characters and leader of the kids who fought It. He grew up with a bad stutter that earned him the name "Stuttering Bill." As an adult, Bill lost his stutter and became a successful horror author. He lives in England with his wife Audra Philipps.
Richard "Richie" Tozier AKA Trasmouth: "Trashmouth" is the one in the group who is always doing impersonations and cracking jokes which come in handy in the battle against It. Grows up to be a hot-shot disc-jockey in California who does impressions and funny voices.
Stan "the Man" Uris: Stan the Man is the bookish one in the group. Is picked on sometimes, as a kid, for being Jewish. The first one to receive the call to come back to Derry from Mike. He grew up to be very successful with his own accounting business.
Eddie Kaspbrak: Eddie is the most physically weak in the group. Has an overbearing and overly-protective mother who bullies Eddie into submission by convincing him he is ill and needs her constant care. Grows up to own his own limo service and marries a woman who eerily resembles his mother. Carries a asthma inhaler.
Ben Hanscom: Architect and one of the kids who fought It. As an adult Mike calls upon him to fight It again. He has to struggle through his memories and make a choice to stand or run.
Miss Beverly Marsh: Only girl among the Losers, a very attractive redheaded girl coming from the poorer parts of Derry. Becomes a beautiful fashion mogul in Chicago, married to her abusive husband, Tom Rogan.
Michael "Mike" Hanlon: The only African American in the group and the only one who stayed in Derry, in which he is the town librarian. remembers what happened in 1958. He acts as a watchman and calls the others when things start getting wrong in 1985.
Pennywise the Dancing Clown / IT / The Deadlights / Paul Gray: Commonly made appearances as a clown but has the ability to change appearances to what the victim fears most.
Audra Denbrough: Bill Denbrough's wife.
George "Georgie" Denbrough: Bill's younger brother, one of Pennywise's victims. Is killed in 1958 by Pennywise at six while playing in the rainy streets with a paper boat.
MR. HENRY BOWERS: Son of crazy Butch Bowers. Plays the bully in Derry and does everything he can to hurt the kids in The Losers. Got under IT's influence and lived in a mental institute after 1958.
Edward L Corcoran: A young victim of IT, killed in 1958.
Victor Criss: Hung around with Henry. One of three main bullies who routinely attacked members of the "losers" club
Tom by-God Rogan: Bev's abusive husband. Resembles Beverly's father all the way to the brutal beatings he administers to keep her under his control. He attempts to regain control of Bev when she does leave him, regardless of the consequences.
Arlene Hanscom: Ben Hamscom's mother
Patrick Hockstetter: A mentally unstable flunkie of Henry Bower's gang.
Mr. Keene: The proprietor of the town's drugstore when the Losers were kids.
Ricky Lee: The barkeep of the bar Ben visits in Nebraska before he goes back to Derry.
Victor Criss: One of Henry Bowers' side hands in bullying.
Kay McCall: A friend of Beverly's in Chicago. Helps Beverly away from her abusive husband and on her way to Derry.
Butch Bowers: Henry Bowers' father. A farmer in Derry and abusive in ways to Henry.
Dorsey Corcoran: Victim of It.
Myra Kaspbrak: Eddie's obese and motherly wife.
Frederick Cowan: Victim of It.
Andrew Rademacher: Top official of Derry police dept in 1985.
Mrs. Douglas: The librarian of the Derry Children's Library in the 50's.
it: it a classic take but modernized on the classic horrifica of the clown and its somewhat horrific past and description ( it about a psychotic killer clown) that hides in the strangest place and kills when your guards down
Claude Heroux: A mystical character, who was from a union member core that was murdered but he survived and toke revenge on their behalf.
Adrian Mellon: The first victim of "It" in the second round of Derry murders.
Avery Hockstetter: Patrick Hockstetter's infant brother. Smothered by Patrick when Avery changes how things are done in the family.
Reginald Huggins AKA Belch: Known as Belch, he is another of Henry Bowers' sidekicks in bullying.
Barney Morrison: Add a description of this character.
Stugley Grenier
Kitty Donahue
Davey Hartwell
Patrick Caudy
Anne Stuart
Ruth Blum
Bobby Russell
Don Hagarty: Adrian Mellon's boyfriend.
Ralph Foster
Hank Ballard
Paul Hughes
John Koontz: Guard at Juniper Hill
Maggie Tozier: Richie Tozier's mother.
Biff Marlow
Mr. Fazio
Dick Hallorann: One of the guys who escaped the fire at the Blackspot. One of the primary characters in The Shining.
Mrs. Dumont
Mr. Brockhill
Sally Mueller: One of the stuck up girls in Ben & Beverly's 5th grade class.
Mr. Ross
Mrs. Portleigh
Horst Mueller
Miss Davies
Broderick Crawford
Mr. Gedreau
Patricia Uris: Stan's mother.
Steven Johnson
Maureen Nell
Sharon Denbrough: Bill and Georgie's mother.
Paul Revere
Branson Buddinger
Alfred Zitner
Bob Tanner
Boogers Taliendo
Vincent Caruso Taliendo
Tim Henley
Sandy Ives
Carl Kitchener
Major Fuller
Mr. Braddock
Alfie Naugler
Christopher Philip Unwin
Sonia Kaspbrak
Laurie Ann Winterbarger
Richard Borton
Mike Rosenblatt
Jimmy Donlin
Mrs. Doyon
Clarence Clemons
Dr. Hale
Sam Chacowicz
Tom Boutillier
Arlen Weston
Carole Danner
Richard P. Macklin
Benny Beaulieu
Horst Winterbarger
Lars Theramenius
Father Ashley O'Brian
Philly Loubird
Delia Castleman
Kinky Briefcase
Raymond Fogarty
Jessica
Aloysius Nell
Tony Tracker
Trev Dawson
Harold Earl
Alvin Marsh: Beverly's violent father.
Lal Machen
Charles Avarino
Jeffrey Reeves
Mrs. Starrett
Mark Lamonica
John Webber Garton
Harold Gardener
Richard Dawson
Mr. McKibbon
Matthew Clements
Tommy Vicananza
Andrew Keene
Mandy Fazio
Zack Denbrough: Bill and Georgie's father.
Jimmy Cullum
Betty Ripsom
Cheryl Tarrent
Elmer Curtie
Alan Snopes
Wentworth Tozier
Butch Carrington
Dan Matthews
Bob Gautier
Rose
Dave Gardener
Floyd Calderwood
Marcia Fadden
Jonesy
JOHN BARLEYCORN
Moose Sadler
Calvin Clark
Mrs. Kersh
Phil Tracker
Greta Bowie
Cheryl Lamonica
Al Bradley
Aunt Jean
Sarge Wilson
Frank Machen
Steven Bishoff Dubay
Veronica Grogan
William Mueller
Sheriff Sullivan
Jake Pinnette
Rena Davenport
Joe Tammerly
Susan Browne
Bradley Donovan
Mr. Chips
Jerry Bellwood
Jimmy Gordon
Foxy Foxworth
Egbert Thoroughgood
Monica Macklin
Mike O'Hara
Elfrida Marsh
Russ Handor
Carol Feeny
Neil Sedaka
John Feury
Gregory Cole
Gresham Arnold
El Katook
Amsel Bickford
Kenny Borton
Henry Whitsun
Humphrey Bogart
Miss Scawlett
George Bradley
Black
Webby Garton
Mikey
Andrea Bertoly
Mr. Engstrom
Martin Devereaux
Marie Hauser
Carl Roone
Eddie King
Andy Criss
Freddie Firestone
Albert Carson
George Brannock
Ike
Jesus Malloy
Peter Gordon
Mrs. Van Prett
Traynor
Dewey Conroy
Joe Conklin
Ruby
Cal Conklin
Bewie
Norbert Keene
William Hanlon
Dolores Claiborne
George . . . George
MR. ROBERT GRAY
Ben . . . Beverly
VINCENT MARVIN GAYE
mica
Juh Juh-Georgie
Ruh-Ruh-Richie
Joe Palooka
Mr. Fogarty: Guard at Juniper Hill
Steve Covall
Stanley Uris

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Quotes edit see section history

“Once you get into cosmological shit like this, you got to throw away the instruction manual”
The Other
“My dad told me he killed Christ, so I thought he'd be old enough to buy me some beer.”
Richie Tozier
“"Oh yes, we all float - and when you're down here, you'll float too!"”
Pennywise
“'I don't understand this at all. I don't understand any of this. Why does a story have to be socio-anything? Politics... culture... history... aren't those natural ingredients in any story, if it's told well? I mean...' He looks around, sees hostile eyes, and realizes dimly that they see this as some sort of attack. Maybe it even is. They are thinking, he realizes, that maybe there is a sexist death merchant in their midst. 'I mean... can't you guys just let a story be a story?'”
Bill Denbrough

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Maybe that’s why God made us kids first and built us close to the ground, because He knows you got to fall down a lot and bleed a lot before you learn that one simple lesson. You pay for what you get, you own what you pay for . . . and sooner or later whatever you own comes back home to you. ”
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Maybe, he thought, there aren’t any such things as good friends or bad friends—maybe there are just friends, people who stand by you when you’re hurt and who help you feel not so lonely. Maybe they’re always worth being scared for, and hoping for, and living for. Maybe worth dying for, too, if that’s what has to be. No good friends. No bad friends. Only people you want, need to be with; people who build their houses in your heart.
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if life teaches anything at all, it teaches that there are so many happy endings that the man who believes there is no God needs his rationality called into serious question.
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Apparebat eidolon senex. —Pliny
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But God favors drunks, small children, and the cataclysmically stoned;
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It’s instinct, babe . . . and I guess I believe instinct’s the iron skeleton under all our ideas of free will.
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ONE IDEA LIGHTS A THOUSAND CANDLES. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
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“Quaeque ipsa miserrima vidi, Et quorum pars magna fui. ” —Virgil
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“If you find a footnote, ” a library-science prof once told a class of which I was a part, “step on its head and kill it before it can breed. ”
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

Derry Home Hospital
West Broad
Town House
Kansas Street
Main Street
Old Cape
Kenduskeag
Neibolt Street
West Broadway
New York
Black Spot
Bassey Park
Aladdin
Lower Main Street
Portland
New England
Mellon
Boston
Memorial Park
Derry Town House
California
Barrens
America
Chicago
City Center
Atlanta
London
Newport
Up-mile Hill
Kissing Bridge
Nebraska
Hagarty
Jackson Street
Derry Public Library
Augusta
Derry Park
Massachusetts
Omaha
Juniper Hill: A private institution for the mentally insane in Augusta

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First Sentence edit see section history

The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years-if it ever did end-began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Part 1: The Shadow Before
1. After the Flood (1957)
2. After the Festival (1984)
3. Six Phone Calls (1985)

Derry: The First Interlude

Part 2: June of 1958
4. Ben Hanscom Takes a Fall
5. Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil - 1
6. One of the Missing: A Tale from the Summer of '58
7. The Dam in the Barrens
8. Georgie's Room and the House on Neibolt Street
9. Cleaning up

Derry: The Second Interlude

Part 3: Grownups
10. The reunion
11. Walking Tours
12. Three Uninvited Guests

Derry: The Third Interlude

Part 4: July of 1958
13. The Apocalyptic Rockfight
14. The Album
15. The Smoke-hole
16. Eddie's Bad break
17. Another One of the Missing: The Death of Patrick Hockstetter
18. The Bullseye

Derry: The Forth Interlude

Part 5: The Ritual Of Chud
19. In the Watches of the Night
20. The Circle Closes
21. Under the City
22. The Ritual of Chud
23. Out

Derry: The last Interlude

Epilogue: Bill Denbrough Beats the devil - 2

Glossary edit see section history

Macroverse: The void outside the universe which is connected to every smaller universe, home of The Turtle, The Deadlights, and The Other.

Errata edit see section history

Zero

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 155 of 194 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2010). (authoritative list)

This is book 1 of 10 in Publishers Weekly Bestselling Novels In 1986. (authoritative list)

This is book 163 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2011). (authoritative list)

This book is in Significant Speculative Fiction (Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror). (community list)

This is book 150 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2010). (authoritative list)

This is book 71 of 97 in Waterstone's Top 100 Books of the 20th Century. (authoritative list)

This is book 84 of 98 in Modern Library's 100 Best Novels: Reader's List. (authoritative list)

This is book 163 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2011). (authoritative list)

This is book 22 of 99 in NPR's Top 100 Killer Thriller. (community list)

This is book 9 of 24 in Dark Tower Universe. (universe)

This is book 100 of 121 in Whitcoulls Top 100 (2012). (authoritative list)

This is book 144 of 200 in BBC 'Big Read' Top 200 Novels, 2003. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

Stephen King (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Signet
Country: United States
Publication Date: 1986
ISBN: 0450411435
Page Count: 1116

Awards edit see section history

August Derleth Award (1987)
BBC's Big Read (April 2003, #144)
Locus Fantasy Award (Finalist, 1987)
World Fantasy Award (Finalist, 1987: Novel)

Classification edit see section history

Library of Congress: PS3561.I483 I8 1986
Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

Although each child is different (I read this in 7th grade), I would say that this, like other Stephen King books, is geared toward an adult audience.

Subjects edit see section history

Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( K ) › King, Stephen
Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Horror

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

Stephenking.com: Offical website of Stephen King

Movie Connections edit see section history

It (IMDb)

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books Influenced by This Book edit see section history

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history

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It (1986) (edit title/settings)

by Stephen King (Author) (edit contributors)