HBO has done what Netflix didn’t and dropped a surprise episode of one of their most popular horror shows. IT: Welcome to Derry has gone where many fans hoped Stranger Things would (but didn’t) and expanded its story with a new episode that builds the mythology of Stephen King’s shape-shifting villain and gives everyone a Halloween treat while they wait for the next season arriving in late 2027 or 2028.
Entitled “A Story of Derry,” the new entry in the saga of IT takes the franchise back hundreds of the years, taking a 29-minute diversion into the story told in Episode 4 about why IT is unable to leave the town of Derry. The episode opens with at title card revealing that the story told in the series is not the whole truth about IT’s discovery in the land that Derry was built on. It opens with, “Generations ago, when the Kollu first preyed on our people, we left warnings for those who would come after. But we hid the truth inside a gentler tale, one our children could carry. This is the story we do not teach. This is the part we left out.”
IT's a surprise Halloween treat.
Catch this never-before-seen special exploring the origins of IT in Derry. #AStoryOfDerry is streaming now on HBO Max. 
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While this special episode does not feature any hint of Bill Skårsgard’s demonic clown Pennywise, there are plenty of other references and hints to the world Stephen King created, including a glimpse at the cosmic being Maturin, the “Turtle” that has been battling the force of evil that is IT for millennia, which has been one of the hardest parts of King’s original novel to convey on screen. The story does give those needing their fix of Derry a new insight into IT’s past, including a new look at the creation of the dagger that IT is terrified of and the Shokopiwath tribe who were there in the beginning, which adds a nice bit of worldbuilding before the long wait for Season 2. A Story of Derry stars Kimberly Guerrero, Kiawentiio, Morningstar Angeline, Isabel Deroy-Olson, Michael Podemski-Bedard, Thosh Collins, and Zahn McClarnon and is streaming now on HBO Max.
The record breaking viewership of IT: Welcome to Derry‘s debut season made it almost impossible for HBO to not renew the show for a new round of terror. Even before that, it was made clear by showrunner Brad Caleb Kane – who has since found more success with Friday the 13th prequel series Crystal Lake – that the plan for the show spanned at least three seasons. However, in a clever twist, those future seasons each take place before the previous one, meaning that if the series ends unexpectedly, there are no real cliffhangers left open and no questions unanswered. Season 1 took place in 1962, period of Pennywise’s reign of terror before the events of IT: Chapter One. Season 2 jumps back 27 years to 1935, bringing Pennywise to the Great Depression and the events briefly explored by King in his novel.
This period of Derry’s history is going to be unlike anything that has been previously seen on screen, with a time jump back to the era of fascist regimes, the beginnings of World War II, the rise of authoritarianism, and the biggest economic collapse in history. In King’s world, it was also the time of the Bradley Gang massacre, an event that saw a gang of bank robbers being taken down by the evil entity that has Derry in its grasp. Kane has teased that this season will give audiences a whole new “gangster” iteration of Pennywise that has never been seen before. Fans of the series previously complained of there not being enough Pennywise in the opening episodes of Season 1, so how they will take this new version of the classic monster is yet to be seen. Either way, there is still at least a year to wait for that, so why not stop by on A Story of Derry in the meantime and get reacquainted with one of the most cursed towns in King’s library.
Have you seen A Story of Derry? Are you excited for more Pennywise to come? Let us know in the comments.
