Real-life crimes that inspired Pennywise

Stephen King’s 1986 horror novel it has had multiple vastly different adaptations while continuing to focus on the fear of his terrifying clown, and not everyone knows that it was a real-life Pennywise who inspired this monster. While the story contains various themes of the paranormal, supernatural and even science-fiction, the real-life inspiration that influenced King’s creation of Pennywise remains the most terrifying. The novel was initially adapted into a made-for-television miniseries, and in 2017 and 2019, Andy Muschietti took on the task of re-adapting the novel for theatrical release.

Both found success among King fans. Staying true to the source material, both follow the “Losers Club” as children and adults as they battle an evil clown known as Pennywise, who is killing children in the town of Derry, Maine. While King writes the novel, the influences of his environment and the headlines plastered all over news stations impact the creature. A shape-shifting clown from another dimension is scary enough. however, The real-life influences that created him are even more disturbing and add an unnerving depth to the familiar horror icon Pennywise.

The John Wayne Gacy murders

The serial killer murdered at least 33 young men and boys

John Wayne Gacy was a notorious serial killer and sex offender who often dressed as a clown. He regularly performed at children’s hospitals in his clown costume under the name “Pogo the Clown” or “Patches the Clown.” On December 21, 1978, Gassi was arrested and convicted of 33 murders. He was sentenced to death on March 13, 1980, and executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994. it Character Pennywise may be based on the serial killer.

Although there is some debate as to whether Gacy truly influenced the creation of Pennywise, the two are eerily similar, as both dress as clowns and target children. When Gacy was convicted of his murders in 1980, King must have started writing it. Whether it was a conscious influence or not is unknown, but real-life horror often bleeds into fiction, especially when reality is far more gruesome.

Undoubtedly, these Gassi’s murder caused a tremendous amount of fear in the hearts of AmericansAnd that Fenivice was introduced, he further perpetuated the need to frighten the people behind white colors and red smiles.

The 1980s “stranger danger” panic

Families fear child abductors

Another influence behind the it Roman was the “stranger danger” panic of the 80s. During the 1980s, a new wave of public fear permeated society. When the epidemic of child murders and kidnappings is higher than belief, the “stranger danger” panic formed. Former President Ronald Reagan began the campaign for increased criminal penalties for anyone who tried or harmed children. During the Reagan administration, family values ​​and safety were at the epicenter of his political platform. With the threat of Gassi and other child killers, the stranger danger panic grew In strictness.

When clowns do their face paint, rainbow suits and wigs, they are almost unrecognizable. Because of this fact, all true clans soon become strangers. With so many children’s birthday parties featuring performances by these actors, the fear of a murderous stranger such as John Wayne Gacy was an all too real threat to American society. Various moments in King’s novel point to the stranger danger panic as a partial influence on the book, as the kids who interact with Pennywise often see him as nothing but an innocent party clown.

What other characters inspired Stephen King’s Pennywise

Ronald McDonald is also an inspiration

While Gacy provided the foundation for the horrors that Pennywise would inflict, Ronald McDonald was the model for his appearance. In various interviews, Stephen King has referred to Ronald McDonald as a trustworthy character that children know and love, making him someone they can trust. By modeling an untrustworthy horror creature after a beloved children’s icon, it created an uneasy divide of who or what can be a source of comfort or terror for children. This does not mean that Ronald McDonald was the main source of inspiration for the novel, but his iconic look inspired the appearance of Pennywise.

A real crime inspired a scene in It: Chapter 2

Three teenagers killed a gay man in Maine in 1984

There was also a true crime inspiration for the movie It: Chapter 2. However, while the Pennywise inspirations came from Stephen King himself, the inspiration for this crime was something that King knew about close as it happened in Maine. There is a scene early on It: Chapter 2 Where a gay man named Adrian Mellon is at the carnival in Derry when a group of large teenagers surround and attack him. The man had nothing to do with any of these teens, but they still felt the need to try to kill him for no reason other than his sexuality..

The teenagers are responsible for his death, but they did not kill him. The man was washing up after being thrown over a bridge, and Pennywise was waiting to finish him off. It was a terrible moment, both for the senseless brutality and violence of the great youth and for the act of Fenways killing the man afterwards. However, it turns out that the whole moment was based on a real-life event where three local Maine teens murdered a man named Charlie Howard by throwing him over a bridge, where he then drowned ( via Oxygen).

The three teenagers said they attacked him because they wanted to hurt a gay man. The three, Daniel Ness, 17, Shawn I. Mabry, 16, and James Francis Baines, 15, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in October 1984 and ended up in a juvenile prison for four years. While writing the book, King said the murder had just happened.

“It was fresh in my mind, and fit my idea of ​​Derry as a place where terrible things happened … and maybe, needless to say, I was outraged. It was a hate crime.”

The screenwriter for It: Chapter 2 said that the moment was important to the movie because it showed how dark and evil Derry became under Pennywise’s influence, even while hibernating. King said it was important to put this in his it But, as he stated, “This is our city. We live here. Which means we have to live with Charlie, and keep trying to make it right.“

Where will Pennywise appear next?

Welcome to Derry will bring a Pennywise prequel series to Max

It was first announced in March 2022 that A prequel series to Muschietti’s it would be rolling on HBO Max called Welcome to Derry. The upcoming TV show opened the writer’s room, and it will be set in the 1960s. Writer Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman) is confirmed to work on the show along with Shelly Meals (Shadow and bone).

While it is briefly explored in both it And IT 2 (especially the latter), Pennywise was a central figure in Derry’s history as a small town in Maine. Pennywise is evil incarnate, arriving on Earth sometime after the dinosaurs died out but before the Ice Age, terrorizing the area ever since.

In the book, the monster was responsible for Derry’s horrific events, such as the 1906 Kitchener Ironworks explosion (killing 108 people), the Bradley Gang murder, and an incident in 1904 in which Holmerjacks slaughtered a number of people in a Bar. . Welcome to Derry Will continue to explore the influence of the evil clown on the city, and you will see how Pennywise does what she does best.

finally, Stephen King’s inspiration for Pennywise was derived from a range of sources Ranging from real-life murders to much less evil clowns. At the end of the day, King’s main reason for making the main creature of it A clown was his own fear for them. Welcome to Derry should provide even deeper insight into Pennywise’s real-life influences and terrifying fictional qualities.