I had not read Stephen King’s IT in a long time. IT and its main disguise as Pennywise is not something one forgets though. And with the movie adaptation coming up, I thought it a good time to face down my fear of clowns and re-read the 2nd longest book by the horror writer.
I soon realized that Pennywise is only a cameo player in the travails of The Loser’s Club of Derry. Henry Bower’s and his roving gang of bullies cause more mayhem and broken bones over the course of the book to our heroes. King does a great job of structure with the book. Laying out the events leading to the first major encounter in the 1950’s between Bill, Beverly, Ben, Richie, Mike, Eddie and Stan, interspersed with the special (and deadly) history of the Derry Township that IT had caused. Plus the return of the older versions in the 80’s to do final battle and end the killing once and for all. To weave those threads throughout 1000+ pages of book without the action flagging is a tremendous feat.
Though there are jolts enough in the book, I was more scared by Pet Sematary and The Shining in book form as the ordinary takes evil form as opposed to the hibernating and shape-shifting IT. And considering the age of the kids I was surpirsed that I also didn’t remember the sex scene at the very end of the book. Overall, IT and The Stand work King territory well. There is a reason why they keep wanting to film his books.
For beers, let’s start with Maine’s best known brewery, Allagash and their Ghoulschip Wild Ale. A sour pumpkin ale blend to set the sour mood. Then move on to the Maple Beast from Rockingham Brewery in Derry (New Hampshire). After sitting in a chair reading for so long, you might have achy bones. So finish with Krieky Bones from the BarrelWorks crew of Firestone Walker.
Then make sure to steer clear of the house on Nieboldt Street.