Stephen King’s It is one of those classic horror novels that everyone knows. That’s why I wanted to write this It Book Review. Clown? The book’s got it. Red balloon? Oh yeah. Sewers? You know it! But how many of us have actually sat down and read this beast? I personally, while being a big fan of horror books, have avoided this one for years. Clocking in at over 1,150 pages, it’s certainly not a casual read. To be honest, I feel like a lot of this book could have been condensed. But at its core, It is a great story about friendship, childhood, and facing our fears. After all, the true monster of It is not the clown. It’s each character’s own deepest fear.
The actual story switches between present-day (the adults) and 25 years ago (the children). It focuses on Bill Denbrough whose brother was killed on a particularly rainy day by a killer clown who seems to live in the sewers of Derry, Maine. Since that day, he and his friends have all had frightening encounters with the clown. Each time It appears as different people or things. The group of children eventually disbands and they go their separate ways. But they must reunite as adults to destroy It once and for all by revisiting the horrors that happened to them so many years ago. Horrors that they had long forgotten about.
Trust me when I say that while this book is (in my opinion) not nearly as scary as The Shining or ‘Salem’s Lot, I definitely didn’t want to read this after dark. And overall, while there are better horror novels by Stephen King, this book is truly a classic. There were points where I wondered how King’s mind could concoct such sick, twisted parts of the story. But I think that despite these parts, it was a great tale about the strength of friendship and love. So if you’re ready for a long, long, looong tale, give it a go! And remember that the only thing to fear is fear itself.
Rating: 4/5
Editors Note: Thank you, Alex, for this IT Book Review! It’s always great to see new content from the Things I Fear Community! Alex has previously written “Fear of Scary Movies” as well. I recommend checking that post out too! You can see the complete collection of Community-submitted posts by clicking here!
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