IT: Why Stephen King Made Pennywise Into A Clown

IT’s preferred form is that of Pennywise, the Dancing Clown, who terrorized children not only in the novel but also those who read the book, but why did Stephen King decide to make Pennywise a clown? Stephen King’s debut as a horror author happened in 1974 with the novel Carrie, but he became a widely-known name three years later thanks to The Shining. While King has written a variety of novels, all with his own style of narrative and horror elements, one of his most popular books is the 1986 novel IT, which introduced a very peculiar and dangerous monster.

IT follows a group of friends self-named “The Losers Club”, who come across an evil, shape-shifting entity living in the sewers of their hometown (Derry, Maine). This creature takes the shape of its target’s biggest fears, which is why it usually goes after children, as their fears are less complex than those of adults. However, and as mentioned above, IT usually takes the shape of a clown named Pennywise, who haunted the Losers Club when they were kids and when they were adults and returned to Derry, 27 years after their first encounter with IT. But of all monsters and creatures IT could choose to transform into, why is a clown its favorite disguise?

In the novel, IT takes many shapes, such as a werewolf and a leper, but none of the Losers has a fear of clowns, unlike in the 2017 movie version, where Richie Tozier says that he’s scared of clowns. IT used that to its advantage, and when the Losers entered the house on Neibolt Street, IT locked Richie in a room full of different clown toys, including one referencing Tim Curry’s version from the 1990 miniseries adaptation. Making Pennywise IT’s go-to form wasn’t a random decision from King, who initially envisioned the creature as a troll like the one in the story “Three Billy Goats Gruff”, but later changed it to a clown as he realized that children hate clowns more than trolls.

Speaking to an audience in Hamburg back in 2013 (via Dread Central), King explained that, when he was working on the novel that would become IT, he wanted to write a very long book that had “all of the monsters in it”. While looking at all the monsters he could include, such as classic ones like a vampire, a werewolf, and a mummy, he thought there had to be one “binding, horrible, nasty, gross, creature kind of thing” that no one wants to see and when you do, you are overcome with fear, and realized that the answer was “clowns”. King added that when ABC approached him with the plan of making an IT miniseries with Tim Curry as Pennywise, he thought it was a “strange idea”, though very effective as he scared generations of viewers who are now truly afraid of clowns, but “clowns are scary for children to start with”.

Changing IT from being a troll to a clown was a very smart decision, and the creature is now associated with the image of clowns. Of course, this had consequences outside the book pages, with real-life clowns blaming King and the novel (and later the TV miniseries and the movies, too) for affecting their job, while others took it a bit too seriously and began to dress up as “evil clowns” to terrorize people in different parts of the U.S. Stephen King was right about clowns being scary for children, and thanks to IT, they are now scary for adults as well.

About The Author

Adrienne Tyler
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Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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