I don’t know, maybe it’s an “age” thing. Out of the blue last week I felt compelled to read (re-read, actually) Stephen King’s 1986 humongous horror classic, It. I had read the book 25-30 years ago, so why bother? Still, I put it on my Kindle and read all 1,174 pages…took me the better part of the week. And it didn’t end there.
“WE ALL FLOAT DOWN HERE”
If you’re into horror you’ve likely read the book and/or seen the 1990 TV mini-series or the 2017 and 2019 feature films, so I won’t go into any great detail on the multi-layered storyline. For the uninitiated, the story takes place in the fictional town of Derry, Maine and involves an evil entity that awakens every 27 years to perform horrible acts of murder and mayhem. It can take any form It wishes, and can create vivid illusions. Since It likes to feed on children, Its primary form is that of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Decades ago, what kid could resist a clown? (I believe this story subsequently soured both kids and adults on clowns.)
In the late 1950s the Losers Club consists of six boys and one girl, ages 11-12, all put upon by town bullies. Worse, they are tormented by Pennywise, but ultimately, they manage to kill It…so they think. They make a blood oath that, should It ever return, they would reunite in Derry to do battle again. This, of course, happens, so back they come 27 years later from various parts of the country, all but one, who commits suicide rather than face the horror again. Sounds like a fun story, eh?
WAS I A BAD PARENT?
So after finishing this enormous tome I decided to revisit both the mini-series and the feature films. (A glutton for punishment, maybe?) The award-winning mini-series consisted of two episodes totaling three hours. Given the censorship constraints at that time, the copious blood and gore of King’s novel were minimal. Still, the scares were plentiful. As an open-minded parent I let my three daughters watch horror movies with me, and to this day they say that It was the scariest one of all (even scarier than Pumpkinhead). At least they all turned out to be great women.
As for the more recent It and It: Chapter Two, all bets were off. The combined run time was five hours, plenty of time to transfer the bloodiest and goriest scenes from the novel to the silver screen. So did that turn anyone off? The total box-office gross for the two films was over $1.1 billion (with a “b”)! And this, over three decades after the release of the novel. Still, I would not have let my kids watch this version if they were little.
Anyway, I’m over It now. So what’s next? Maybe The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings novels, then the six movies? Actually, been there done that. 😊
Well, there’s always “The Stand.” (One of my favorites.) And the two mini-series made from it, if you have the time. This month I’ve revisited the entire collection of Sherlock Holmes, but damned if I don’t see and hear Jeremy Brett as I read. I’ll have to do it your way, and now go back and watch Brett’s collection to see if it really is as good as I thought it was back then. And no, you weren’t a bad parent. Kids handle this stuff better than we give them credit for, as you learned. Horror for kids is like sugar for ants at a picnic. They love it. As always, Mike, a great piece, and a good trigger for curiosity. Thank you.
Thank you, Mark. I’m on a James Bond kick at present. Always good to hear from you.
In Bangor, Maine, where I now live, there’s a thriving business offering “Stephen King Tours.” Since the town of Derry in the book is really Bangor, a lot of locales from It are featured, including the Standpipe, the Paul Bunyan statue, the Barrens, etc. Maybe my favorite King book.
Thanks, Moondog. Any writer who can hold a reader’s rapt attention for nearly 1,200 pages has done a heck of a job. So Derry, which is “near” Bangor, is actually Bangor. In my novel, DEMON SHADOWS, the fictional town of Stillwell is “near” Truckee. Yep, Stillwell IS Truckee.