I was asked a few times while reading this monster of a book if it was scary and I think that all depends on the reader. What’s scary to you? Are Bees scary? Are Spiders scary? heights? Claustrophobia? Murders? Ghosts? Birds? Clowns?
Sure all these things can be scary depending on the person and I think that’s how you should look at horror books. Horror fiction is so much more than goosebumps and gore, just like Romance fiction is so much more then smut and love. Themes are an important under current in all books and IT by Stephen King was much more then a cheap jump scare or creepy clown.
Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real.
They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made twenty-eight years ago calls them reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that terrifying summer return as they prepare to once again battle the monster lurking in Derry’s sewers.
It is about 7 kids, 7 kids who have witnessed people being murdered and killed all over town, 7 kids who all find in each other as outcast and grow to love each other. 7 Kids who trust each other enough to confide that they’ve all witnessed a clown in a silver jump suite and orange pom poms try to lure them away to kill them, 7 kids who are now adults and it’s happening all over again.
It haunts Derry, It lives in the sewers and comes every 27 years, It feeds of children’s fears and limbs. That’s all I’d really like to say about the plot, I mean evil monster killing and decapitating a boat load of people is basically all you need to know right?
Lets talk about the writing style:
It’s flawless, faultless, and had me reading in awe and how smooth the whole thing unfolded.
There’s two timelines, the 7 kids now grown, no memories of what happened 27 years ago but when a phone call awakens them and old scars appear they slowly remember what they did to It all that time ago. Mixed in to the memories is a flawless transition of those 7 kids setting out to on their first journey, finding each other and unpuzzling the thing that’s lurking in Derry.
Now as for the scare factors
It’s there, it has clowns with razor sharp teeth, Werewolves and mummies, it has everything you could ever be scared of: Voices out of the drains, that creepy feeling you get walking into an attic waiting for a hand to grab your ankle, dead kids, bloated bodies. BUT what I really want to point out is even with all these factors this is a story of friendship and the power it has.
Friendship between self proclaimed losers, no real talents except their love for each other and determinations to stop It.
“Maybe 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.”
Bill who lost his little brother and has a stutter, Richie the ADHD who doesn’t know when to shut up to save his life… literally, Eddie with a hypochondriac mother, Stan who just wants to watch birds and not get mud on his clothes, Ben who’s overweight and lonely, Bev a poor girl with no friends and an abusive father, Mike the one black kid in a very small, very white town.
Together they’re stronger than anything It can throw at them but will they be able to keep that childhood bond now that they’re adults and have lost some of the magic childhood brings.
I guess to conclude all I can really say is this book is worth every single page and I’d gladly read another 1000 pages if King decided they were needed.
Have you read It? What did you think? Is it on your TBR because that page count is just as scary as the content?
I haven’t watch the old movie yet but I’m super excited to see how they manage to condense this into a 2 hour film and I LOVED the trailer.
adoptabookaus.com 
I’ve never dared to read horror bc I’m such a scaredy-cat. But I realise I’m more scared when creepy music is going on– not the actual scene. Maybe I could read some classic horror, after all!
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Music definitely amps up my nerves too XD I think the great things with books is it’s your imagination so it can kinda dull the scares depending on how scary you imagine the characters to be or how descriptive it is.
If you do pick up a horror I hope you like it 🙂
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I agree with what you say about whether something is scary or not. It just depends – some people can’t stand clowns or haunted houses, some (like me) are freaked out by scary noises in the dark.. ‘It’ certainly has a lot of variety when it comes to the scare factor!
I love most of King’s book and adore his writing, but ‘It’ never really did it for me, which was mostly due to the fact that I couldn’t stand the main character and I have to admit – it was just too long.. I got bored in the middle. I think it’s the only King I did not finish, so I am very lucky still and will keep reading his books! 🙂
Oh, and I am definitely going to watch the movie!
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Disliking the mc would be a problem XD I mean there are a lot of POV’s but it’s a really character driven story so you kinda need to be in it with them to get into it properly.
Shame you didnt like it but we cant win em all! I cant wait for the movie, the actors look amazing!
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Excelllent post!! I always wondered what makes people associate some books with horror but theyre not scary ? But like you mentioned very well it depends on people 😉 Definitely reading this in the future !
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I hope you love It Trang! It’s a huge book though so I won’t blame you if it’s not on your immediate tbr XD There’s horror elements in a lot of books and I think some people associate it with gore and murder but that’s in thrillers too so it’s all a bit of a blurred line in the end.
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Great review! I’m really glad to hear you enjoyed this book. I think I am definitely a case of finding the page count scary, although I think I would probably find the content scary too, because I find clowns ridiculously creepy. Although I’m certain I would be more scared of a book about spiders, because they are my greatest fear. I have been debating whether to read It for a while now, but it sounds like I need to – you’re very convincing haha 🙂
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haahah! I’m glad I could convince you XD Really it’s not going to be for everyone just because it is SUPER wordy but I liked that about it. I put off reading this for like 8 years because of the page count, I’m so happy I finally read it though, I’m excited for the movie 😀
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Haha, yeah I think Stephen King is generally quite a wordy writer. I read a book of his ‘short’ stories’ and all of them were like 250+ pages long… I really enjoyed them though. I’m definitely going to read the book, although I may be too much of a wimp to watch the movie!
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Totally agree with what you said re: horror books being “scary”. The only horror books I’ve been scared by are ones that play on themes that already scare me and it’s definitely more a feeling of “unease” rather than being scared.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one!!! I refuse to read it because clowns (although the size maybe scares me even more 😂) but it’s good to hear there were a lot more underlying themes. I really want to read more King!
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Like even illuminae has horror elements but it’s labeled sci fi books are all a weird wonderful mix of all at times xD
The size is so scary I had it on my TBR for like 8+years but I’m so proud I actually finished it!
Unease always freaks me out more then jump scares or gore, I was freaked out all the time by Medium but can go and read evil clowns all day long XD
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I found the book more scary listening to the audio book than reading it myself
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OOooh! I’ll have to keep that in mind, I love audios esp ones that add to the atmosphere of the book. That must have been one long listen xD
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Well written! The novel IT has been on my reading list for a while but I keep getting distracting with other books.
When I was a kid, I watch the original movie and loved it, I found it so, so creepy. The new movie is amazing and I loved how they adapted such a large novel. I like your point on the friendship theme, that’s so true in the movie. Your post definitely makes me want to read the novel more!
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I love Stephen King and IT is my favorite of his novels. I don’t remember being terrified of the book. It didn’t make not want to read but I felt a little creeped out in certain parts. I do know I had a nightmare about Pennywise though.
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Oh the part where georgie is going down into the cellar and feels things touching him is one of my biggest fears so that was my main ahh moment 😆 King writes so much more then scares and I think that’s what make It so good 😊 So glad you love it too!
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Let me ask you something. The last part of the book where Mike Hanlon is writing about them all forgetting their encounter with IT and even each other. Didn’t that make you real sad?
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It did but I also thought it was fitting, Mike and Bill slowly forgetting each other and the words fading on the paper was so sad.
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It’s my favorite book! I read it for the first time around age 16. I wasn’t scared of clowns before then…
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