The novel is set in the fictional town of Derry, Maine, where a malevolent, shape-shifting, child-killing monster (referred to simply as "It") lurks in the sewers and storm-drains. In 1957, the creature kills George Denbrough, the younger brother of Bill Denbrough (the novel's central protagonist). In 1958, Bill, along with his six friends Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier, Mike Hanlon and Stan Uris (who call themselves the Losers' Club) each have horrifying encounters with the creature, which takes on the shape of their biggest fears (but Its most prominent form is that of a sadistic, balloon-wielding clown called Pennywise). They are also being terrorized by the neighbourhood bully, Henry Bowers, which only strengthens their bond. The Losers decide to hunt down the creature and destroy it. They eventually track It down and in the ensuing enormous battle of wills (known as the Ritual of Chud), hurt It badly. After defeating "It" the kids proceed to have sex with Beverly as a way to solidify their bond. Stan makes each of the Losers promise that if It ever comes back, they'll confront it again.
The narrative jumps forward to 1985, where murders are once again taking place in Derry. Mike Hanlon, the only one of the Losers who has remained in Derry, is convinced that the creature has returned and calls each of the Losers, reminding them of the promise they made as children. Each of the six other Losers have gone on to success and wealth, but had completely forgotten about their childhood trauma. They all return except for Stan Uris (who kills himself after receiving Mike's phone call) and begin piecing together their hazy memories. They also each have encounters with It.
It decides to use Henry Bowers (who had followed the Losers and also encountered It in 1958), who is now committed to the Juniper Hills Asylum, to help kill the Losers. Bowers tracks them down and seriously hurts Mike. The five remaining friends then make their way into the sewers once again to confront and destroy the creature for the final time.
[edit] It
It apparently originated in a void containing and surrounding the Universe, a place referred to in the novel as the "Macroverse". Its real name (if indeed It has one) is unknown—although at several points in the novel, It claims its true name to be Robert Gray—and is christened It by the group of children who later confront it. Likewise, It's true form is never truly comprehended. Its final form in the physical realm is that of an enormous spider, but even this is only the closest the human mind can get to approximating It's actual physical form. It's natural form exists in a realm beyond the physical, which It calls its "deadlights." Bill comes dangerously close to seeing the deadlights, but successfully defeats It before this happens. As such, the deadlights are never seen, and It's true form outside the physical realm is never revealed. Coming face to face with the deadlights drives any living being instantly insane (a common H.P. Lovecraft device).
It's natural enemy is "The Turtle," another ancient Macroverse dweller who, eons ago, vomited up our Universe and possibly others while having a bout of indigestion. The Turtle shows up again in King's own series The Dark Tower. The book suggests that It, along with the Turtle, are themselves creations of a separate, omnipotent creator referred to as "the Other". The Turtle and It are eternal enemies (creation versus consumption). It arrived in our world in a massive, cataclysmic event similar to an asteroid impact, in the place that would, in time, become Derry, Maine.
For millions of years It dwelt under Derry, awaiting the arrival of humans, which It somehow knew would happen. Once people settled over Its resting place, It adopted a cycle of hibernating for long periods and waking approximately every twenty-seven 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:
1715 – 1716: It awoke.
1740 – 1743: It awoke and started a three-year reign of terror that culminated with the disappearance of over 300 settlers from Derry Township, much like the Roanoke Island mystery.
1769 – 1770: It awoke.
1851: It awoke when a man named John Markson poisoned his family, then committed suicide by eating a white-nightshade mushroom, causing an excruciating death.
1876 – 1879: It awoke, then went back into hibernation after a group of lumberjacks were found murdered near the Kenduskeag.
1904 – 1906: It awoke when a lumberjack named Claude Heroux murdered a number of men in a bar with an axe. Heroux was promptly pursued by a mob of townsfolk and hanged. It returned to hibernation when the Kitchener Ironworks exploded, killing 108 people, 88 of them children engaged in an Easter egg hunt.
1929 – 1930: It awoke when a group of Derry citizens gunned down a group of gangsters known as the Bradley Gang. It returned to hibernation when the Maine Legion of White Decency, a Northern counterpart to the Ku Klux Klan, burned down an African-American army nightclub which was called "The Black Spot".
1957 – 1958: It awoke when several people were murdered in Derry, most well known being George Denbrough. It then met its match when the Losers forced It to return to an early hibernation when wounded by the young Bill Denbrough in the first Ritual of Chüd.
1984 – 1985: It awoke when three young homophobic bullies beat up a young gay couple, Adrian Mellon and Don Hagerty, throwing Mellon off a bridge. It was finally destroyed in the second Ritual of Chüd by the adult Bill Denbrough and Richie Tozier.
It is speculated in the novel that these events are actually caused by It, which somehow influences or gains control of the people involved. Mike Hanlon, one of the Losers, and a character who does a great deal of research on It, learns by interviewing eyewitnesses that a clown (Its favorite form) or some unlikely creature, like the giant bird seen by Mike's father Will in 1931, and later by Mike himself at the remains of the Kitchener Ironworks in 1958, was always present at each event.
In the intervening periods between each pair of events, a series of child murders occur, which are never solved. The book's surface explanation as to why these murders are never reported on the national news is that location matters to a news story—a series of murders, no matter how gruesome, don't get reported if they happen in a small town. However, the book's implied reason for why the atrocities go unnoticed is far more sinister: It won't let them. As such, It has control over Derry and is able to selectively dictate the town's history; horrors and atrocities are largely ignored so that It will remain free of scrutiny. Bill Denbrough, one of the book's main characters, is sure that this is either because It is a part of Derry, or because Derry is part of It. This possibility is reinforced at the end of the novel, when the town is practically destroyed by a massive flood as It is finally vanquished.
It finally meets its match in 1958 when, as murders begin happening afresh, a group of children, calling themselves the Losers and led by Bill Denbrough, manage to deduce It's existence. This is mainly because Bill's younger brother, George, was It's first victim of the latest killing cycle, in 1957. They learn that It can take many forms, but it usually assumes the form of whatever the person confronting it fears the most. The kids go after It and are able to wound it severely with silver slingshot slugs by letting It turn into a werewolf in an old abandoned house it frequents; their belief that silver hurts evil creatures allows the slugs to seriously hurt It.
It can attack any creature if it believes in it all, which is why It attacks children. However, in order to attack nonbelievers or influence other events It will manipulate humans it refers to as "dogsbodies". It attempts to kill them by manipulating a highly unstable schoolyard bully named Henry Bowers. Pursuing the Losers into the sewers, Bowers' two friends are killed by It and Bowers himself flees in terror. He is later committed to a mental hospital after Henry confesses to the child murders. The hospital, Juniper Hill, is also mentioned in the short story "Suffer the Little Children" in the collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes, and in the novels The Tommyknockers, Insomnia and Needful Things. In The Tommyknockers, It is also glimpsed (in its guise as Pennywise) by a character traveling through Derry.
It has several facets in common with Ungoliant from Tolkien's Silmarillion, including the spider shape and the use of an evil form of light. There were also implications at the end of the novel that It was on the verge of producing a host of offspring when It was destroyed. The "eggs" are destroyed, but the book leaves it unclear if any were spared. The only reason that It was able to be killed was because when It came here millions of years ago it assumed a physical form. While It still had some kind of connection to its deadlights, it had a body and anything that has one can be killed.
In the King novel Dreamcatcher, It is referenced when Jonesy and Mr. Gray reach the place in Derry that used to be called Standpipe Hill. Instead of the Derry reservoir (known as the Standpipe), there is only a memorial to those who died in the flood of 1985 and "to the children—ALL the children" from Bill. At the bottom of this memorial is a graffito that states "Pennywise Lives." Also, the character Bob Gray in Dreamcatcher, the alien who takes over the main character Gary "Jonesy" Jones' body, shares his name with Robert Gray (which Pennywise often refers to as his "real name"). It is interesting to note that when he interrogates Jonesy, he asks "Who is Pennywise?"
[edit] The Losers' Club
The seven Losers are the children who are united by their unhappy lives, their misery at being the victims of bullying by Henry Bowers and their eventual struggle to overcome the eponymous 'It'. They are clearly characters in the King tradition of sympathetic, plausible heroes who find themselves caught up in an evil they can not quite comprehend but with which they must battle.
William 'Bill' Denbrough: Also known as "Big Bill", and "Stuttering Bill" because of his bad stutter. His brother George was killed by It in 1957. Bill feels slightly guilty of the murder, because he'd been the one who sent George outside to play, where he died. Ever since George died, his parents have partially ignored him. He is the most determined and resourceful of the Losers, and is the one who, both in 1958 and 1985, confronts It in the Ritual of Chüd and eventually destroys It. As with other King characters Jack Torrance, Paul Sheldon, Ben Mears, Bobbi Anderson, Thaddeus Beaumont, Mike Noonan and numerous others, in 1985, Bill is a successful writer.
Benjamin 'Ben' Hanscom: Dubbed "Haystack" by Richie after the professional wrestler Haystacks Calhoun. Because of his weight, he has become a frequent victim of Henry Bowers, who once carved an H into his chest. He also develops an intense crush on Beverly Marsh. In later life, he becomes a successful architect and loses his excess weight. His building skills become useful to the Losers, from making a small silver bullet to an underground clubhouse where Mike and Richie have a vision of It's cosmic crash into the site which would later become Derry, Maine.
Beverly Marsh: The only female in the group, Beverly is from the poorest part of Derry and has an abusive father who beats her regularly. She is a redhead who chain-smokes (her husband disapproves of her smoking and uses it as an excuse to beat her). She develops a crush on Bill Denbrough and her skill with a slingshot is a key factor in battling It. As an adult, she becomes a successful fashion designer, but is married to an abusive husband, who sees her as a sex object. After a brief reunion with Bill, she subsequently departs Derry with Ben following the death of her husband (who was nearly used by It to kill the Losers).
Richard 'Richie' Tozier: Known as "Trashmouth", Richie is the Losers' most lighthearted member, always cracking jokes and doing impersonations, which prove very powerful weapons against It. He is "too intelligent for his own good", and channels his boredom in hyper-active wisecracking, to the point of being self-destructive (his flippant remark to Henry Bowers leads to his almost getting beaten up by Henry and his friends). His childhood trauma stemmed from his rapid-fire insults being compulsive and almost subconsciously triggered. He is the most devoted to keeping the group together, as he sees 7 as a magical number, and believes the group should have no more, no less. In later life, he is a successful disc jockey. Like Ben, he has a crush on Beverly, though it isn't crucial to the plot.
Eddie Kaspbrak: Eddie is a frail hypochondriac whose asthma is psychosomatic. He has a worrying, domineering mother who, ever since his father died, has used Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy to bully him into caring for her. Eddie has a bad eyesight and is easily the most physically fragile member of the group. Richie calls him "Eds", which he hates. He is a Methodist. When Henry and his friends break his arm and his mother tries to prevent the Losers from visiting Eddie in the hospital, he finally stands up to his mother and tells her that he is no longer the helpless kid she thinks he is. He eventually runs a successful limousine business, but is married to a woman very similar to his mother. He is eventually killed by It in the final struggle after using his inhaler to wound It, making him the only direct adult victim of It (all others were killed indirectly). He also finds the strength to defend himself from Henry Bowers, eventually killing him with a broken bottle.
Michael 'Mike' Hanlon: Mike is the last to join the Losers, when he is racially persecuted by Henry Bowers. The Losers fight back against Bowers in a massive rock fight. Mike is the only one of the Losers to stay behind in Derry, and he is the town librarian who beckons the others back when the killings begin again in 1985. His father kept an album filled with photos which were important to Derry's history, including several of Pennywise, the Dancing Clown. Through the knowledge he acquires of Derry, and It, he becomes an amateur historian of the town.
Stanley Uris: Also known as "Stan the Man". Stan is a skeptical, bookish Jewish member of the group (Uris does, however, admit that his family take a relaxed approach their faith, rather than practising it devoutly). Logic, order and cleanliness are deeply ingrained in his psyche. He is the least willing to accept that It actually exists, and relies on logic more than anything else. Stan, much like Mike, is racially persecuted by Henry. As a kid, his main hobby was birdwatching. He later becomes a partner in a large Atlanta-based accounting firm. However, he commits suicide upon receiving Mike's phone call, rather than return to Derry to face the ancient terror, despite taking a blood oath.
[edit] Secondary Characters
George Denbrough: The first character introduced in the book, George is Bill's younger brother. He is a stereotypical child, innocent and curious. He is killed by It as Pennywise, ripping off his arm. George's death is the first in the fall of 1957, and it is what drives Bill to defeat It for the rest of the book. Although in 1958, It threatens to appear to Bill as George, It never does until 1985, in the sewers. When Bill sees It as George, he works through his grief and overcomes It's ruse. It could be argued that George, although featured very little, is one of the book's most important characters.
Henry Bowers: A bully who torments the Losers, in childhood, and in adulthood. His father was an alcoholic, who claimed to have fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima, even going so far as to buy a katana from a bartender. Although this may be true, as many adults are World War II veterans, Oscar "Butch" Bowers is portrayed as insane, blaming the Hanlon family for all his problems. As a child he chased the Losers into the sewers with Vic Criss and Belch Huggins. The latter two died and Henry became insane and was incarcerated in an asylum after being accused of killing his father and being held responsible for the murders in Derry. Years later he is driven by It to try to kill the Losers. He fails to do so and was killed by Eddie Kaspbrak with a broken bottle after wounding Mike.
Audra Phillips: Bill Denbrough's wife in 1985, Audra is a famous English actress. She and Bill have an occasional working relationship, in 1985 she is starring in a film that he wrote. When Bill leaves for Derry, he strongly urges Audra to remain in England, and although she agrees, she leaves the next day to follow him. When she makes it to Derry, It uses Tom Rogan to capture her, and uses her as bait to lure Bill Denbrough. When the Losers defeat It once and for all they rescue Audra, but she is in a deep coma. The book ends with Bill using the last of his childhood to bring her out of the coma. Audra has a strong physical resemblance to the adult Beverly Rogan.
Tom Rogan: The abusive husband of Beverly Marsh. Tom has a very predatory view of women, and he thrives on the control he has over his vulnerable wife. When Beverly tries to leave for Derry, he refuses to let her, whipping her. Tom is surprised when the normally docile Beverly fights back, and almost kills him, before leaving for Derry. Tom, desperate to find his wife, beats one of her friends until he finds out that Beverly is in Derry. Tom goes to Derry with the intent to kill Beverly, and possibly her "writer friend" Bill Denbrough, whom Tom assumes she is sleeping with. When he gets there, It uses Tom to capture Audra Phillips and bring her to It's lair under the city. Upon seeing It in It's true form, Tom drops dead in shock.
Patrick Hockstetter: A psychopath who captured and killed animals. When he was 5, he suffocated his own brother with his pillow as he was resting. He believes he is the only 'real' human. Evidence from the text shows he's either gay or bisexual, as he tries to have oral sex with Henry. Henry, afraid Patrick would tell people, said he would tell everyone about his refrigerator, where he watches the animals die slowly. He is eaten by It after being attacked by flying leeches, the only thing he was afraid of. The name Patrick Hockstetter is reused in Stephen King's novel Firestarter. The fact that he was killed by It in his childhood, however, suggests that this is not the same person.
Reginald "Belch" Huggins: One of Henry's friends, he helps tormenting the Losers as well. He is always with Vic and Henry in the novel. He and Vic are killed by It in the sewers when It takes the form of Frankenstein's monster.
Victor Criss: Henry's friend. He along with Belch follow the losers into the sewers where they are killed. Victor sometimes worries about Henry's way of 'punishing' the Losers and is aware that Henry, throughout his childhood, is going slowly insane. His head is ripped off by It, posing as Frankenstein's Monster.
Eddie Corcoran: A boy who lives in Derry. His younger brother Dorsey is killed by his abusive stepfather with a Scotti recoilless hammer. Although he did not know his stepfather killed Dorsey, he suspects it. Eventually he runs away to escape his stepfather. He is killed by It (first taking the form of Dorsey, then the Creature from the Black Lagoon) by decapitation. His stepfather is framed for his murder and kills himself many years later. Eddie is the only child who is actually shown getting killed by the monster other than George Denbrough and Patrick Hockstetter.
Moose Sandler a semi mentally retarded high school student sometimes seen with Henry's gang tormenting Mike Hanlon.His name comes from the chacter from the Archie comic.