Poll a bunch of your friends on Facebook about their favorite scary book, as I did, and they might just vote Stephen King’s IT the scariest book they ever read. They can’t bear the sight of a balloon anymore. The tinkly music of an ice-cream truck sets them shaking. A trip through Bangor, Maine becomes an exercise in avoiding looking at the Standpipe. They can’t walk past a storm drain without a stab of fear. If they ever could stand clowns, they can’t after reading this novel.
So: what makes this book so scary? Why does it resonate with so many readers?
Well, you know, besides the fact that the story is about an ancient evil that manifests as a clown, scares kids to death, and then devours their bodies.
Oh good, you followed the jump. Let me assure you right now that this will be a clown-free post.
Moving on:
For millions of years, It dwelt under Derry, awaiting the arrival of humans, which It somehow knew would occur. Once people settled over Its resting place, It adopted a cycle of hibernating for long periods and waking approximately every 30 years. Its awakening is always marked by a great act of violence, and another great act of violence ends Its spree and sends It back into hibernation. —from the Stephen King Wiki
While I would most definitely call IT a horror story, there’s also quite a lot of drama. Stephen King truly is a master storyteller. He’s got that touch, that certain narrative something that keeps you engrossed in whatever tale he’s telling. He has a talent for creating very real characters, too, which is necessary for a horror novel to work. After all, why would you be vicariously terrified with and for characters you don’t care about? Maybe that’s a reason this novel is memorable to so many people. They connected with the protagonists, and the characters’ terror was the reader’s own.
Or it could have been the nearly cinematic blood-n-guts scenes. IT has plenty of those. There are a few…odd moments which might not appeal to everyone, and quite a lot of philosophizing near the climax, but there’s plenty of mounting threat and action all the same. The book is full of gruesome, disturbing scenes of the sort King is great at, and he always knows just when to spring them. As I type this I am thinking of the scene with the old fridge, in the dump…with the flies…*shudder*
But you know, I think lots of credit for the nightmares goes to this gentleman right here:
As far as most people are concerned, IT is about Pennywise the Clown. And Tim Curry was the one who brought Pennywise to life. Curry portrayed the dancing homicidal clown in the ABC miniseries that aired in 1990. Quite frankly, his performance was the most memorable thing about the adaptation. I mean, really. That voice. That insane stare. That makeup.
Anyway, IT is a modern horror classic. It’s got a supernatural evil force, it’s got a believable world that gets invaded by said evil, it’s got a group of sympathetic characters, it’s got mounting horror and rising stakes all the way through.
It’s got a clown.
If you want to be unnerved, unsettled, grossed out, and all-around freaked this Halloween, try reading IT. And if you’re feeling really brave, watch the miniseries. It’ll make you feel all those same things, but for different reasons. You’ll probably also laugh a lot more.
–Marie
CPL Readers Corner 