IT: Welcome to Derry (2025) – The Evil Didn’t Start with Pennywise. It Started with Derry.

Before there was a clown, there was a curse

IT: Welcome to Derry (2025) is a chilling prequel that dives deep beneath the cursed streets of Stephen King’s most haunted town to explore the horrifying origins of the nightmare that would one day become Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Set decades before the events of IT (2017–2019), this series sheds new, bloodier light on the terrifying cycles of fear, violence, and disappearance that have long plagued the small Maine town.

The story unfolds in the 1960s, during a time of political unrest, racial tension, and social division—perfect fuel for the kind of fear Pennywise feeds on. When children start vanishing and townspeople begin acting strange, a small group of misfits and outsiders begin to uncover a terrifying pattern buried in Derry’s past—one that connects local legends, bizarre town rituals, and a malevolent presence that has haunted Derry since its founding.

Among the ensemble is a young librarian with a dark family secret, a Vietnam vet struggling with PTSD, and a teenage girl whose dreams are stalked by a grinning figure with glowing eyes. As the mystery deepens, they begin to realize that the clown isn’t just a monster—it’s a manifestation, one that shapeshifts through generations, feeding off the town’s fear, silence, and trauma.

And beneath it all, in the endless tunnels and sewers below Derry, something ancient stirs. Not yet the Pennywise we know—but something worse. Something learning. Growing. Waiting.

With rich 1960s atmosphere, slow-burn psychological terror, and disturbing nods to the deeper lore of King’s universe, IT: Welcome to Derry isn’t just about horror—it’s about the rot at the heart of a town that smiles on the surface… and screams underneath.