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Pennywise (Tim Curry) from the It TV movie

It is a creature invented by Stephen King for his horror novel by the same name. It is better known under the guise of the evil clown Pennywise. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... It, original hardcover dustjacket (1986) IT is a horror novel by Stephen King, published in 1986. ... Image File history File links Pennywiseclown. ... Image File history File links Pennywiseclown. ... Tim Curry 2005 Timothy James Curry (born April 19, 1946 in Grappenhall, a district of the town Warrington, Cheshire England) is an English actor, vocalist and composer perhaps best known for his role as mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). ... The 1990 miniseries IT stars Tim Curry, Richard Thomas, John Ritter, Annette OToole, Harry Anderson, Dennis Christopher, Richard Masur, and Tim Reid. ... Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author best known for his enormously popular horror novels. ... Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle or horrify the reader. ... It, original hardcover dustjacket (1986) IT is a horror novel by Stephen King, published in 1986. ... The image of the evil clown is a recent development in American popular culture in which the playful trope of the clown is rendered as disturbing through the use of horror elements and dark humor. ...

It apparently originated in a void containing and surrounding the Universe, a place referred to in the novel as the Macroverse. (The void could be the Todash darkness mentioned in The Dark Tower.) 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 it is christened "It" by the group of children who later confront it. Its natural enemy is "the Turtle" another macroverse dweller who, eons ago, vomited up our Universe and possibly others. The Turtle is based on other World Turtle stories, such as the Discworld's Great A'Tuin. (The Turtle also is mentioned in King's own series, The Dark Tower.) The book suggests that It, along with the Turtle, are the creations of a separate, unknowable Creator referred to as "the Other" (although probably intended as a reference to God when first written, this can now be seen to refer to King himself, in light of King's self-referential authorship of the Dark Tower Series. Gan, the "god" of the IT/DT/Stand Universe, is also a probable "culprit" of the Turtle creation.) The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. ... The Dark Tower painting by Michael Whelan The Dark Tower is a fantasy fiction, science fantasy, horror, and western themed series of novels by the American writer Stephen King. ... Suborders Cryptodira Pleurodira See text for families. ... Turtles all the way down refers to an infinite regression myth about the nature of the universe (see Cosmology). ... The Discworld is the setting for all of Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of novels. ... Great ATuin is the fictional giant star turtle in the Discworld universe, who travels through space, carrying the four giant elephants (named Berilia, Tubul, Great TPhon, and Jerakeen) who in turn carry the Discworld. ... The Dark Tower painting by Michael Whelan The Dark Tower is a fantasy fiction, science fantasy, horror, and western themed series of novels by the American writer Stephen King. ... The creator god is the divine being that created the universe, according to various traditions and faiths. ...

In Its natural habitat, It is a creature made of orange "deadlights"; coming face to face with these lights drives any living being instantly insane. When It enters our universe, though, its natural form is that of a massive spider, fifteen feet high. It arrived in our world in a massive, cataclysmic event similar to an asteroid impact, although the entry seems to have been into our space-time rather than merely into the atmosphere of Earth. It landed in the place that would, in time, become Derry, Maine. INSANE is a proprietary INteractive Streaming ANimation Engine developped by LucasArts. ... Suborders Araneomorphae Mesothelae Mygalomorphae See the taxonomy section for families Spiders are invertebrate animals that produce silk, and have eight legs and no wings. ... An asteroid is a small, solid object in our Solar System, orbiting the Sun. ... Derry, Maine is a fictional town used by Stephen King as the setting for a number of his novels, novellas, and short stories. ...

For millions of years It dwelt under Derry, awaiting the arrival of humans, which It somehow knew would someday come. 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 an act of great violence, and another great act of violence ends Its spree and sends It back into hibernation: Violence refers to acts of aggression and abuse which causes or intends to cause criminal injury or harm to persons, and (to a lesser extent) animals and property. ... Hibernation is a state of regulated hypothermia, lasting several days or weeks, that allows animals to conserve energy during the winter. ...

• 1905-1906: It awoke when a lumberjack named Claude Heroux murdered a number of men in a bar with a huge axe. It returned to hibernation when the Kitchener Ironworks exploded, killing many children engaged in an Easter egg hunt.
• 1930-1931: 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.

It is speculated in the novel that these events are actually caused by It, who influences or gains control of the people involved. The librarian Michael Hanlon, the character who does a great deal of research on It, learns by interviewing eyewitnesses that a clown named Pennywise (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 Kitchner Ironworks in 1958, was always present at each event. In the intervening periods between each pair of events, a series of child murders occurs, 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 more likely explanation is that It is capable of using its influence to prevent outsiders from interfering. 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Lumberjack is the traditional name of a person, almost always a man, who makes his living cutting down trees. ... Easter eggs, also known as Spring eggs[1] in the United States, are specially decorated eggs given out to celebrate the Easter holiday or springtime. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Gangsters are members of a professional crime organization, i. ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ... An African American is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Army (from French armée) can, in some countries, refer to any armed force. ... Clubbing, also known as a disco A nightclub (often shortened to club) is an entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. ... The Librarian, a 1556 painting by Giuseppe Arcimboldo A librarian is a person who develops procedures for organizing information and provides services which assist and instruct people in the most efficient and effective ways to identify, locate, access, and use information and resources (articles, books, magazines, etc. ... A clown today is one of various types of comedic performers, on stage, television, in the circus and rodeo. ...

An important thing about It is that the things It does or is responsible for are never noticed or, if they are, acted on by bystanders. Bill Denbrough, another major character, is sure that this is either because It is a part of Derry, or because Derry is part of It.

It finally meets its match in 1958 when, in light of a new rash of murders, a group of children, calling themselves the Losers' Club and led by Bill Denbrough, manage to deduce Its existence. This is mainly because Bill's younger brother, George, was Its first victim 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 after luring them to It, in the form of Pennywise the Clown. The kids go after It and wound It severely with silver slingshot slugs in an old abandoned house It frequents. It attempts to kill them by driving insane a highly unstable schoolyard bully named Henry Bowers, but they track It to its lair in the sewers under Derry. Pursuing them, Bowers's two friends are killed by It and Bowers himself flees in terror. He is later committed to a mental hospital. The hospital, Juniper Hill, is also mentioned in the short story "Suffer the Little Children" in the collection "Nightmares and Dreamscapes", and in the book "Needful Things". 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Fear (disambiguation). ... General Name, Symbol, Number silver, Ag, 47 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 5, d Appearance lustrous white metal Atomic mass 107. ... Simple slingshot A slingshot, also called a shanghai or a catapult (not to be confused with either the catapult siege engine or shepherds sling) is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. ... It has been suggested that Workplace bullying be merged into this article or section. ... Sewers transport wastewater from buildings to treatment facilities. ... A psychiatric hospital (also called a mental hospital or asylum) is a hospital specializing in the treatment of persons with mental illness. ... Suffer the Little Children is a short horror story by Stephen King, published as part of the Nightmares and Dreamscapes collection. ... Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993) is a short story collection by Stephen King. ... Needful Things is a horror novel written by Stephen King in 1991. ...

The Losers discover Its true form and Bill, looking into Its eyes, is transported out of his body and into the void of the universe - It intends to bring him face to face with the deadlights. On the way, Bill meets the Turtle. Before being brought out of the universe to the deadlights, Bill uses all his mental powers to escape back into his body. He seriously wounds It, but It manages to flee before the kids can kill it totally. They make a pact to return to Derry should the murders begin again. An out-of-body experience (OBE) typically involves a sensation of floating outside of ones body and, in some cases, seeing ones physical body from outside oneself (autoscopy). ... A pact is a formal agreement, usually between two or more nations. ...

They do, in 1985, and Mike Hanlon (the only one to stay behind in Derry) calls them to come back again. One, Stanley Uris, commits suicide by slitting his wrists in the bathtub, but the rest return, even though they remember very little of what they did in 1958. They eventually return to the sewers and discover what Stan Uris had been the only one to realize before - It is female and, what's more, pregnant. Bill's out-of-body experience occurs again, but this time he is aided by his friend Richie Tozier, who joins him in the void and whose skill at voice imitation wounds It greatly. Another, Eddie Kaspbrak, dies of blood loss fighting It after his arm is torn off. Bill and Richie return to Earth, and It flees, leaving a trail of eggs behind. Ben Hanscom, another of the Losers, tries to destroy all the eggs while Bill and Richie confront It. Bill, given power by the creator of It and the Turtle, smashes into Its internal cavity and crushes Its heart, killing It. This article is about the year. ... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life. ... The mirror of the Roman Goddess Venus is often used to represent the female sex. ... A pregnant woman Pregnancy is the process by which a mammalian female carries a live offspring from conception until it develops to the point where the offspring is capable of living outside the womb. ... An out-of-body experience (OBE) typically involves a sensation of floating outside of ones body and, in some cases, seeing ones physical body from outside oneself (autoscopy). ... Exsanguination is the fatal process of total blood loss. ... An average Whooping Crane egg is 102 mm long, and weighs 208 grams In some animals, an egg (Latin ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. ... The heart and lungs, from an older edition of Grays Anatomy. ...

Postscript

Note: This postcript appears only in the books The Tommyknockers and Dreamcatcher. Neither the book It nor the movie adaptation contains the following information.
But even this seemingly final destruction may not have been enough to completely eradicate It. Later, one of the residents of Haven, ME, who along with the entire town was being transformed into the reincarnation of a long dead extraterrestrial race, while driving through Derry thought he saw the form of a clown watching him from a sewer. Years later, Gary Jones, who was a child living in Derry when the Losers' Club returned as adults, revisited his hometown while possessed by an alien entity - named coincidentally Mr. Gray - (different alien from the ones who invaded Haven) and found a statue dedicated to all the child victims of It, erected by the Losers. On the base of this statue, written in the clown's signature red paint, were the words "PENNYWISE LIVES". The Tommyknockers is a novel by horror novelist Stephen King. ... Dreamcatcher. ... It, original hardcover dustjacket (1986) IT is a horror novel by Stephen King, published in 1986. ...