Key themes
- Childhood fear and adult forgetting — and what Derry makes you forget
- The Losers' Club and the specific bond of the outsider group
- Evil as something that feeds on fear — and what courage does to it
About this book
A group of friends face a shape-shifting evil in their home town, then again as adults; a doorstop of fear and friendship.
Published in 1986, It became one of King's bestselling novels and has sold over 30 million copies. It was adapted into a television miniseries in 1990 and two films in 2017-19. King has said he wanted it to be the ultimate monster story — everything terrifying in one book.
Discussion questions
- The novel alternates between 1958 and 1985. What does this structure achieve — and what does the adult forgetting of what happened in childhood say about how we process fear and trauma?
- Pennywise takes the shape of what each child fears most. How does King develop this — and what does a shapeshifter say about the nature of evil?
- The Losers' Club is united by outsider status — each member is bullied or excluded. How does King develop the group bond — and what does belonging do for each character?
- The novel is very long — over 1,100 pages. Does King justify the length — and is there a leaner version inside it?
- It is horror as literature. What does King do that earns serious attention — and what do literary critics who dismiss horror miss?
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