Beyond IT: All of Pennywise’s Appearances in Other Stephen King Stories

One of the quiet joys of reading Stephen King’s works is realizing that almost all of them occupy a shared reality. Some of it comes with his characters — supporting figures in particular — who jump from novel to novel, but it also entails places, situations and similar Easter eggs referencing earlier works. TV and movie adaptations of his books make note of it from time to time — particularly the Castle Rock TV series, which was predicated on the interconnectivity of it all — but most are concerned with telling their own stories rather than acknowledging others. King’s writing, on the other hand, is very different, with numerous cross-references directing readers to other works. Unless the apocalypse is involved, most of his works seem to take place in the same universe.

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That extends to Pennywise, one of King’s most celebrated creations and the go-to pop culture source for demonic clowns everywhere. The monster first graced the pages of King’s opus It and benefited from two brilliant Pennywise performances in a pair of adaptions: Tim Curry’s in the 1990 ABC miniseries and Bill Skarsgård in the two-part movie adaptation from 2017 and 2019. With the prequel series Welcome to Derry on the way — covering the origins of Pennywise and his early incursions in the titular Maine town — it’s worth noting the number of times he’s been mentioned in other King works. A brief list of each one follows — omitting It for obvious reasons — arranged in order of publication. Interestingly enough, none of them involved Pennywise directly: only second-hand references.

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“Gray Matter” (1973): One of King’s earliest published works concerned an entirely different kind of monster: a man turning into a giant blob after ingesting a bad can of beer. But in the midst of it, one of the characters relates an apocryphal story about a giant spider discovered in the sewers, as big as a dog and feeding on cats and similar small animals. The description matches Pennywise’s true form and habitat, and while it’s unlikely King had the story planned out that early, it suggests the beginning of the creative process that would eventually become It.

The Tommyknockers (1987): One of the first novels King published after It involved a crashed alien spaceship slowly transforming the residents of a nearby town into monsters. Its protagonist, Tommy Jacobs, ventures into Derry at one point but is actively hallucinating and imagines he sees a clown leering at him from a sewer grate. It’s an obvious nod to Pennywise, though the hero’s unreliable mental state suggests that it could all be in his head.

Insomnia (1994): King’s novel about sleeplessness and the unsettling things it uncovers is set in Derry, and references to the events of It are peppered through the text. The creatures in Insomnia serve the Crimson King, the primary antagonist in King’s Dark Tower series, and it is suggested that Pennywise shares their background. They may even be the same entity since both feature “Deadlights” that Insomnia makes reference to as well.

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Tim Curry as Pennywise on the 1990 It miniseries

Dreamcatcher (2001): Like The Tommyknockers, Dreamcatcher involves an incursion from outer space and has little to do with Pennywise. It does take place near Derry, however, and directly mentions the events of It. One of its protagonists, Jonesy, states that the Derry murders were explained away as a serial killer who liked to dress as a clown. The town also contains a plaque to the Losers’ Club, which has been vandalized with the tag “Pennywise Lives!”

11/22/63 (2011): King’s time-travel thriller involves a portal from the modern era to 1958, where a pair of friends travel in an effort to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. In the process, they return to the Derry of the past and interact with Losers Club members Beverly Marsh and Richie Tozier, who are in the midst of their summer-long battle with Pennywise.

Elevation (2018): Elevation is set in another of King’s noted towns — Castle Rock — but still finds a way to slip in reference to Pennywise. The high school’s Halloween dance features a local band named Big Top, which changes its name to Pennywise and the Clowns for the night.