31 Days of Horror

I was hoping to begin a 31 Days of Horror series to keep this page alive, and as with everyone existing in the hellscape that is 2026, life happened. So today you’ll get two movie selections, though both are part of the same story. For this series I also will include accompanying reading material.
Days 1 and 2: It Chapters One (2017) and Two (2019)

Small confession: Though it ran when I was in my twenties, I have never seen the television miniseries starring Tim Curry as Pennywise. This has less to do with its quality than my own inertia. I’m sure I’ll get around to a viewing. That said, It Chapter One is a groundbreaking adaptation of the first half of Stephen King’s mammoth kitchen-sink novel, one of the genuine touchstones of modern horror despite some…let’s call it problematic material. You know the story: the town of Derry, Maine faces the torments of a creature every twenty-seven years, this time taking the form Pennywise the Clown. A group of outcast children who call themselves the Losers’ Club confronts their own fears as they attempt to stop it.
Bill Skarsgård stars as Pennywise, an automatic standout, as is the young cast. Andy Muschietti directs with a good eye for how kids behave and delivers some incredible set pieces (the death of Georgie is worth the price of admission alone), and screenwriters Chase Palmer, Cary Joji Fukunaga, and Gary Dauberman manage to reign in the sprawling story by maintaining the focus on the Losers’ Club as children. They also set their adaptation in the 1980s, presumably the same publishing year as the novel, which allows the picture to tie in to the nostalgia that drew audiences to Stranger Things.
It Chapter Two is a more middling affair. Despite a strong cast (which includes stars James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, and Isaiah Mustafa) and a few good scares (especially the scene where Beverly, played by Chastain, visits her old family home and is attached by Mrs. Kersh), it lacks the energy of the first, and the adult Losers are drawn too broadly. Even still, there are small pleasures, as when Bill Denbrough (McAvoy) purchases his old child bicycle from an antique shop where the owner (played by King) dismissively tells him he didn’t like the ending of his latest book.

Days 1 and 2: It Chapters One (2017) and Two (2019)

Small confession: Though it ran when I was in my twenties, I have never seen the television miniseries starring Tim Curry as Pennywise. This has less to do with its quality than my own inertia. I’m sure I’ll get around to a viewing. That said, It Chapter One is a groundbreaking adaptation of the first half of Stephen King’s mammoth kitchen-sink novel, one of the genuine touchstones of modern horror despite some…let’s call it problematic material. You know the story: the town of Derry, Maine faces the torments of a creature every twenty-seven years, this time taking the form Pennywise the Clown. A group of outcast children who call themselves the Losers’ Club confronts their own fears as they attempt to stop it.
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Bill Skarsgård stars as Pennywise, an automatic standout, as is the young cast. Andy Muschietti directs with a good eye for how kids behave and delivers some incredible set pieces (the death of Georgie is worth the price of admission alone), and screenwriters Chase Palmer, Cary Joji Fukunaga, and Gary Dauberman manage to reign in the sprawling story by maintaining the focus on the Losers’ Club as children. They also set their adaptation in the 1980s, presumably the same publishing year as the novel, which allows the picture to tie in to the nostalgia that drew audiences to Stranger Things.
It Chapter Two is a more middling affair. Despite a strong cast (which includes stars James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, and Isaiah Mustafa) and a few good scares (especially the scene where Beverly, played by Chastain, visits her old family home and is attached by Mrs. Kersh), it lacks the energy of the first, and the adult Losers are drawn too broadly. Even still, there are small pleasures, as when Bill Denbrough (McAvoy) purchases his old child bicycle from an antique shop where the owner (played by King) dismissively tells him he didn’t like the ending of his latest book.

For Further Reading: Boy’s Life by Robert R. McCammon and Of Foster Homes and Flies by Chad Lutzke

McCammon’s novel, while not exactly horror, remains the gold standard of the coming-of-age tale, while Chad Lutzke’s novella identifies the harrowing tragedies of growing up.