IT

Book • 1986 • Horror  

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Synopsis

IT is a 1986 horror novel by Stephen King about a shape-shifting, ancient evil entity that preys on the children of Derry, Maine, appearing as their worst fears, most famously as the clown Pennywise. The story follows a group of seven children, the "Losers' Club," who confront the creature as kids in the 1950s and are called back as adults 27 years later to fight it again when the killings resume. The novel explores themes of friendship, memory, and the loss of innocence, and has been adapted into an acclaimed, highly rated, television miniseries, a critically and commercially successful two-part film series, and an HBO prequel TV series.
Chapter

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Both
Yes
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Your Triggers
Does the dog die?
1 supporters
Yes
95
No
10
10
There is a drawn-out, graphic, and brutal death of a dog. Could be considered animal torture, very upsetting.
aftermathsos
5 comments | Add comment
Needs More Answers
Is trypophobic content shown?
40 supporters
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Yes
2
No
0
Is an LGBT+ person outed?
38 supporters
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Yes
0
No
2
Is someone choked?
34 supporters
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Yes
0
No
1
Yes
0
No
1
Are any hands damaged?
33 supporters
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Yes
1
No
1
Are there dislocations?
30 supporters
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Yes
0
No
1
Is someone stabbed?
30 supporters
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Yes
0
No
1
Is there aphobia?
26 supporters
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Yes
0
No
2
Are there bedbugs?
25 supporters
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Yes
0
No
2
Abandonment
Is an animal abandoned?
166 supporters
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Yes
0
No
4
Is a child abandoned by a parent?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
3
No
1
Abuse
Yes
32
No
3
3
Beverly is gaslighted by her father
lillianm
1 comment | Add comment
Is someone abused with a belt?
37 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
2
Yes
6
No
1
Is someone stalked?
1 supporters
Yes
37
No
0
5
Beverly's abusive husband follows her to Derry
lillianm
1 comment | Add comment
Is there domestic violence?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
44
No
0
1
If you consider us, the readers as the viewer, yes. If not, no.
hfotwth
1 comment | Add comment
Is a child abused?
1 supporters
Yes
66
No
0
4
Not a spoiler but a major theme: this book (and film) is about how adults turned a blind eye to the suffering of children in the town. This level of negligence can be considered abuse. There is also abuse of Beverly in the 2017 film.
aftermathsos
7 comments | Add comment
Are there abusive parents?
1 supporters
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Yes
10
No
0
Yes
5
No
0
Addiction
Is there addiction?
32 supporters
Add comment
Yes
17
No
8
Yes
30
No
1
Does someone abuse alcohol?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
34
No
3
Animal
Are animals abused?
315 supporters
Yes
50
No
0
4
Yes, very brutal poisoning of a dog.
aftermathsos
2 comments | Add comment
Does an animal die?
(besides a dog, cat or horse)
272 supporters
Yes
58
No
3
6
It’s described that Patrick puts pets in a refrigerator until they die it’s pretty brutal
bylerisreddie
2 comments | Add comment
Does a pet die?
269 supporters
Yes
11
No
0
1
Several pets are killed, notably Mike’s dog
Werezolft
1 comment | Add comment
Were animals harmed in the making?
228 supporters
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Yes
1
No
5
Yes
0
No
28
Is there a dead animal?
195 supporters
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Yes
24
No
1
Does a horse die?
166 supporters
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Yes
3
No
36
Is an animal sad?
155 supporters
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Yes
3
No
0
Are rabbits harmed?
126 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Are there spiders?
75 supporters
Yes
49
No
1
2
It’s real physical form is a giant spider
invadermac
2 comments | Add comment
Does a dragon die?
55 supporters
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Yes
2
No
36
Are there bugs?
53 supporters
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Yes
40
No
0
Are there snakes?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
20
No
7
Does a cat die?
1 supporters
Yes
37
No
22
3
Patrick Hofstetter takes pets, including cats, from his neighbors yards and puts them in an abandoned refrigerator during winter to freeze/starve.
PeterBrittingham
2 comments | Add comment
Assault
Is someone drugged?
44 supporters
Add comment
Yes
4
No
1
Is someone held under water?
40 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
2
Does a woman get slapped?
37 supporters
Add comment
Yes
5
No
0
Yes
11
No
0
2
Not only beaten up, downright tortured. A bully cuts another child with a knife.
Pantalones
2 comments | Add comment
Is someone restrained?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
6
No
0
Is someone sexually assaulted?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
35
No
1
1
I can´t recall anyone being raped...

The closest to rape is Bev briefly mentioning one of her bf who almost raped her but there is no more info to it.
Tom is a total creep and relationship including sex with him is very unhealthy but no rape.
Patrick touches Henry inappropriately without the last one totally understanding what is going on.

But no rape as in a person violently forces the other person into a sexual act.
Oksana
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
2
No
1
Yes
9
No
0
1
Not pedophilia per say but a leper monster suggest a b*****b to Eddie.

And you can see one teenage boy touching the d**k of the other without the latter fulling understanding what is going on I believe.
Oksana
2 comments | Add comment
Is rape mentioned?
1 supporters
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Yes
4
No
0
Bodily Harm
Is there excessive gore?
143 supporters
Add comment
Yes
5
No
2
Is someone tortured?
130 supporters
Yes
30
No
3
1
Not physically but could be psychologically by the clown
BridgetCraghill
1 comment | Add comment
Is there genital trauma/mutilation?
121 supporters
Add comment
Yes
2
No
7
Is there finger/toe mutilation?
85 supporters
Add comment
Yes
9
No
18
Does a head get squashed?
82 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
21
Yes
19
No
17
1
Tom's teeth are damaged in the fight with Bev.
BiblioAnon
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
26
No
2
1
One chapter features a character remembering a fire at a nightclub. King describes the burning of several victims in detail.
Anonymous
1 comment | Add comment
Is there decapitation?
70 supporters
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Yes
1
No
2
Is there throat mutilation?
62 supporters
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Yes
0
No
3
Is there cannibalism?
59 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
15
Is someone crushed to death?
58 supporters
Add comment
Yes
3
No
0
Is there shaving/cutting?
57 supporters
Add comment
Yes
34
No
2
Is someone buried alive?
55 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
15
Is there amputation?
53 supporters
Yes
19
No
5
4
Not really, but a character does die by getting his arm torn off
Jay_isnt_cool
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
26
No
1
1
A character has frequent panic attacks that he mistakes for asthma
AndyLikesFrenchToast
2 comments | Add comment
Is there Achilles Tendon injury?
44 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Yes
48
No
0
1
Eddie breaks his arm twice.
BiblioAnon
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
7
No
22
4
That is in the 2017 Movie, not the book
TheDreammweaver
3 comments | Add comment
Does someone fall down stairs?
23 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
4
Yes
21
No
7
1
No one falls to their death in the book
2 comments | Add comment
Does someone become unconscious?
12 supporters
Add comment
Yes
5
No
0
Yes
27
No
6
1
One character's fears are all about his eyes so there are some very gory eye scenes
byler_stan
1 comment | Add comment
Does someone asphyxiate?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
3
Is there body horror?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
5
No
0
Is there a hanging?
1 supporters
Yes
7
No
18
1
There are brief mentions of town lynching victims in one of the interludes and another key figure is lynched by hanging after he has committed murder.
BiblioAnon
1 comment | Add comment
Children
Is a minor sexualized?
139 supporters
Yes
20
No
0
3
There is a scene in which the characters perform intercourse??
EllaDrawswell
2 comments | Add comment
Is an infant abducted?
40 supporters
Add comment
Yes
5
No
1
Does a kid die?
1 supporters
Yes
67
No
0
2
Pennywise’s main food is eating children.
LFAF1
1 comment | Add comment
Death
Does a non-human character die?
59 supporters
Add comment
Yes
6
No
0
Does a major character die?
40 supporters
Add comment
Yes
4
No
0
Does someone die?
27 supporters
Add comment
Yes
8
No
0
Does someone sacrifice themselves?
19 supporters
Add comment
Yes
3
No
1
Disability
Is the r-slur used?
42 supporters
Add comment
Yes
12
No
0
Drugs/Alcohol
Does someone overdose?
27 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Family
Is a child's toy destroyed?
42 supporters
Add comment
Yes
8
No
4
Yes
5
No
0
2
A boy's younger brother is brutally murdered by Pennywise.
Pantalones
1 comment | Add comment
Does someone cheat?
30 supporters
Add comment
Yes
27
No
0
Is someone kidnapped?
19 supporters
Add comment
Yes
22
No
0
Does a parent die?
1 supporters
Yes
49
No
2
1
Yes! One of the kids kill their own parent.
skyleighkitty666
1 comment | Add comment
Fear
Are there razors?
S.A.F.E. ALTERNATIVES® (1-800-DONTCUT)
29 supporters
Yes
6
No
1
1
A character kills himself by slitting his wrists
2 comments | Add comment
Is someone possessed?
23 supporters
Add comment
Yes
25
No
1
Are there clowns?
18 supporters
Yes
88
No
2
6
There are clowns.
coxj
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
19
No
8
3
There is a scene in a bath, but I don't know if that counts.
Jay_isnt_cool
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
38
No
4
1
Most of the time you can sort of tell in a book when a scare is coming up, but there are abrupt and disturbing scenes in the It novel.
killjxy
1 comment | Add comment
Are there ghosts?
1 supporters
Yes
33
No
5
1
No ghosts as in spooky transparent shiny things, but IT puts on masks aka takes the image of different things including dead people.
Oksana
2 comments | Add comment
Gross
Is there defecation?
60 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Does someone wet/soil themselves?
33 supporters
Add comment
Yes
10
No
3
Is there farting?
20 supporters
Add comment
Yes
3
No
1
Does someone spit?
19 supporters
Add comment
Yes
33
No
2
Yes
0
No
18
2
It's a book
MikeyRose
1 comment | Add comment
Does someone vomit?
1 supporters
Yes
47
No
0
3
Obviously you can’t see it so if you are sensitive to the subject then skip over (even though it’s not graphic) the first couple of lines when Richie’s part starts on page 60 and also it may be done somewhere else in the book but the book is 1153 pages long and I’m not currently re-reading it so.... not that I remember. If there is, then it shouldn’t be too graphic because I would have probably been triggered by it. Uhhh yeah... Safe readings 😄
HorrorLaughs
2 comments | Add comment
Is someone eaten?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
5
No
0
Large-scale Violence
Are there 9/11 depictions?
7 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Law Enforcement
Is there copaganda?
53 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
LGBTQ+
Is there deadnaming or birthnaming?
49 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
4
Is there bisexual cheating?
33 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
3
Yes
0
No
3
Yes
0
No
5
1
Well Henry and some other characters are quite homophobic but no trans characters in the book!
Oksana
1 comment | Add comment
Medical
Is there a mental institution scene?
42 supporters
Add comment
Yes
35
No
5
Is electro-therapy used?
35 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
29
Yes
34
No
7
1
several of the main characters' parents are depicted or described as passing away due to cancer during the book's time skip.
Anonymous
2 comments | Add comment
Are needles/syringes used?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
27
No
1
Is there a hospital scene?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
34
No
1
Mental Health
2
There is references to shaming an overweight child
BridgetCraghill
3 comments | Add comment
Is autism misrepresented?
51 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Is there misophonia?
50 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Is a mentally ill person violent?
48 supporters
Add comment
Yes
10
No
0
Does someone suffer from PTSD?
39 supporters
Add comment
Yes
11
No
0
Is reality unstable or unhinged?
38 supporters
Add comment
Yes
3
No
0
Is there body dysmorphia?
34 supporters
Add comment
Yes
28
No
11
Is there a claustrophobic scene?
34 supporters
Add comment
Yes
25
No
1
Is there D.I.D. misrepresentation?
31 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
4
Yes
34
No
2
5
It's implied that someone's asthma attacks may actually be anxiety attacks
lillianm
1 comment | Add comment
Is there ABA therapy?
23 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
4
Yes
61
No
0
Is there autism specific abuse?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
11
Yes
38
No
2
1
Kind of, they slice their hand in a way of creating a pact.
BridgetCraghill
1 comment | Add comment
0
Idk if this counts, but Bill does say it, more as an over exaggeration when writing a letter to his university professor
Megy
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
6
No
1
Noxious
Are there flashing lights or images?
63 supporters
Add comment
Yes
2
No
29
Are there sudden loud noises?
56 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Does a baby cry?
28 supporters
Add comment
Yes
4
No
1
Is there obscene language/gestures?
14 supporters
Add comment
Yes
6
No
0
Yes
1
No
40
22
It’s a book.
alansmithee
1 comment | Add comment
Paranoia
1
Yes pennywise constantly watches the kids, especially when they’re playing in the barrens
1 comment | Add comment
Is the fourth wall broken?
15 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
5
Pregnancy
Is a baby stillborn?
53 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Does someone miscarry?
44 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
27
Does a pregnant person die?
37 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
20
Are there abortions?
27 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
22
Are there babies or unborn children?
21 supporters
Add comment
Yes
2
No
3
Is there childbirth?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
21
Prejudice
Yes
32
No
1
0
Well Henry and some other characters are quite homophobic, often say homo and other colourful equivalents and there is a whole violent scene of two gays being attacked and hurt so...
Oksana
1 comment | Add comment
Are there "Man in a dress" jokes?
55 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Yes
86
No
0
10
Yes, the first described victim is a gay man. A main character who is heavily coded to be gay also dies.
Anonymous
4 comments | Add comment
Is there hate speech?
42 supporters
Yes
52
No
0
7
Gay couple is berated and killed
Alexhazlett
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
24
No
0
2
There are many instances of the n-word and other related slurs. They appear in multiple chapters and are used heavily by one of the main antagonists.
BiblioAnon
1 comment | Add comment
0
The kids use antisemitic jokes on Stan, but it’s note hateful
invadermac
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
37
11
Survives the entire book.
alansmithee
2 comments | Add comment
1
The gay characters are misrepresented which is particularly homophobic since they get gay bashed and one of them is murdered. Given the time the book was written, they aren't horrifically misrepresented, but it's for sure a triggering read today.
jdpamv
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
48
No
0
7
Young Ben is bullied for his weight by the secondary antagonist
alansmithee
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
14
No
2
Race
Is there blackface?
47 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Relationships
Is there a large age gap?
45 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
3
Sex
Is there bestiality?
119 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
4
Are there incestuous relationships?
National Sexual Assault Hotline 800.656.4673
100 supporters
Yes
31
No
4
1
Implication that one character's father attempted or intended to molest her but did not
lillianm
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
51
No
0
2
There is a child orgie scene
Eslyea
2 comments | Add comment
Are there nude scenes?
68 supporters
Add comment
Yes
6
No
0
0
Everyone wants Bev :´)
Oksana
1 comment | Add comment
Is there BDSM?
37 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
2
4
Putting it very bluntly, there is a child orgy. All characters involved are minors about the same age, 12 or so years old. Multiple boys have sex with one girl.
Pantalones
3 comments | Add comment
Sexism
Yes
6
No
2
Sickness
Does someone have a stroke?
22 supporters
Add comment
Yes
3
No
0
Is there dementia/Alzheimer's?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Social
Are there anti-abortion themes?
44 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Yes
1
No
3
0
Occasional homeless wander in the town, it is discussed in some detail.
Oksana
1 comment | Add comment
Are there fat suits?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Spoiler
Are there end credit scenes?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
2
Yes
20
No
10
3
the ending is sad
byler_stan
1 comment | Add comment
Is Santa (et al) spoiled?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
2
No
28
Vehicular
Yes
2
No
21
1
It is mentioned that bill was hit by a car when he was 3
IsabelSaunders
1 comment | Add comment
Does a car crash?
34 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
19
Does a plane crash?
23 supporters
Add comment
Yes
2
No
28
Does a car honk or tires screech?
16 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Violence
Is there blood/gore?
82 supporters
Add comment
Yes
43
No
0
Yes
9
No
14
1
There is a flashback scene that involves a shoot out between a gang and the police/citizens of Derry
TrashKat
2 comments | Add comment
Is there a nuclear explosion?
17 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
25
Does someone drown?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
25
No
3