Pennywise: The Terrifying Origin Story Behind Stephen King’s Most Evil Clown

Pennywise isn’t just a clown. He’s the kind of childhood nightmare that sticks around long after you’ve stopped believing in monsters. My first run-in with him was Tim Curry’s sewer-dwelling version from the ’90s miniseries—a performance that, as an adult, plays almost like dark comedy. But as a kid? Terrifying. I couldn’t even look at a clown balloon without hearing, “We all float down here.”

Years later, when the new IT movies dropped and the first whispers of a Pennywise prequel (Welcome to Derry) surfaced, I decided to finally confront him. Beneath the red nose and razor teeth, there’s a twisted mythology—something far older and stranger than a guy in makeup.

Pennywise Is Not Just A Clown

When referring to the creature called IT, many envisage the pale-faced, red-haired guise of Pennywise. And while IT mostly prefers to don the form of Pennywise (portrayed by Tim Curry in the 1990 television adaptation and by Bill Skarsgård in the 2017 film adaptation), he is actually an entity of undetermined age and gender. The evil clown originally existed in what Stephen King dubbed the Macroverse, a dimension outside of our own. When IT came crashing down to earth, in a great, ominous ball of fire, he landed on the site where the town of Derry would later be built.

It Hibernates

The demonic entity first awakened from hibernation in the early 18^th century, feeding on his victims until a full belly signalled his return to hibernation. It is estimated that IT hibernates for roughly 27 years before waking and having to feed again.

The Creature’s True Form

The reason IT appears as a spider-like creature at the end of the novel is that this is considered the closest form our small minds would be able to comprehend. Basically, no one has seen the creature’s true form, although IT has mentioned that its true form exists in a realm beyond the physical, which is referred to as the “Deadlights”. Anyone who comes face-to-face with these Deadlights is driven insane. In fact, only one person has faced the Deadlights and managed to retain their sanity.

Being Scary Isn’t Pennywise’s Only Power

Being an interdimensional being has its benefits, and Pennywise has the ability to shapeshift into whichever form he sees fit. Why, then, does he take on the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown? The answer is actually a lot simpler than you might think. Who would ever suspect a clown of murder (as John Wayne Gacy proved), and what better way is there than to lure kids with the promise of balloons and a fun-filled day (remember the book was written before the fear of clowns became mainstream)?

Other Forms

He has, on occasion, taken on other forms — such as The Creature from the Black Lagoon and a huge Paul Bunyan statue.

Pennywise’s Greatest Weakness

Even though Pennywise’s greatest strength is his ability to shapeshift, it is also his greatest weakness. When in a particular form, it has to abide by the laws that govern that form. For instance, when taking on the shape of a werewolf, he is vulnerable to silver bullets. Whether he can be killed using these vulnerabilities is still debatable.

His Other Abilities

Pennywise can also read the minds of his victims, thereby discovering their greatest fears, which he then exploits to, in his own words, “salt the meat”. The supernatural creature also seems to have some degree of mind control, which he might be exerting over the adults of Derry. This could explain why they don’t realise that a murderous clown is wandering their streets.

Along with mind control and mind reading, as Pennywise, IT is able to conjure up illusions such as smells, sounds and even objects with which to lure and frighten his victims (such as those creepy red balloons). Basically, his whole arsenal of abilities is there to help him scare his victims before devouring them.

His Other Appearances

While many were first introduced to IT in Stephen King’s novel of the same name, the entity has made a few appearances and has been mentioned in other King novels. In the novel The Tommyknockers, one of the characters mentions travelling through the town of Derry and seeing a clown in a storm drain. So, unless storm drains have become the new residence of some underground order of clowns, then what this character refers to is indeed the same Pennywise we read about in the IT novel.

He isn’t Dead

His appearance would also imply that the Losers’ Club didn’t successfully destroy him at the end of the novel. This is further supported by the fact that another character in the Dreamcatcher novel, called Mr. Gray (one of IT’s aliases), spots some graffiti that reads “Pennywise lives”.

In the novel 11/22/63, Beverly Marsh and Richie Tozier refer to “the clown” when the protagonist, George Amberson, asks about violent crimes in town. There are also parts in The Dark Tower novels that link IT to the rest of the Dark Tower universe.

It seems IT or Pennywise is a lot tougher than we might have suspected and could still be alive and killing.

His Arch Nemesis is a Giant Space Turtle

When mentioning a giant space turtle, many might immediately assume I’m talking about The Great A’Tuin, the giant turtle from the Discworld novels that carry four elephants on its back. Well, there is another giant turtle IT fans should know about called Maturin.

Just like IT, Maturin is an interdimensional being who resides in the Macroverse. Unlike IT, Maturin is a kind and benevolent creature who constantly sleeps and rarely comes out of his shell. On one occasion, Maturin began developing a stomachache, making him vomit up the universe.

Where IT revels in chaos and consumption, Maturin is a creator and believes in helping those in need, as he did in the IT novel when advising young William Denbrough on how to defeat IT.

How Was It Created?

So, how did these two powerful beings come into existence? It seems that both IT and Maturin were created by a divine being called “The Other”, who many suspect might be the entity Gan who is mentioned in The Dark Tower novels. It’s strange to think that there is such a complicated backstory to what many have thought to be just another evil shape-shifting clown.

Inspired by Real-World Clowns

While many would assume that Pennywise was inspired by the serial killer (and all-around scary clown) John Wayne Gacy, who dressed up as a clown called Pogo and performed at many children’s parties, Pennywise was actually inspired by a whole group of less sinister clowns (but just as scary-looking). Stephen King has stated that his influences for Pennywise were a famous TV clown called Bozo from the 1960s, Ronald McDonald (who is already pretty scary) and Clarabelle, who was part of the Howdy Doody TV show.

King’s Inspiration For Pennywise

Most famously, King was inspired by a run-in with the red-haired mascot Ronald McDonald while on a flight. As the clown sat next to him, smoking cigarettes (which would obviously suggest it was quite a while back) and slamming back on gin and tonics, King asked the clown where he had come from. Of course, the clown ominously replied, “from McDonald Land”. This encounter left King pretty freaked out, and I don’t blame him.

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Of course, there is a lot more to learn about IT, aka Pennywise. We’re really only touching the surface here.