All 30 Forms IT Takes in Stephen King’s Original Novel
While IT is far from the only shape-shifting villain in horror history, it’s arguably the best, most terrifying example. As Tim Curry’s Pennywise put it onscreen in 1990, IT is everything its victims have ever been afraid of, it’s their worst dreams come true. The Losers’ Club managed to defeat IT by banding together and combining their strength, but had they never united, it’s hard to imagine any single Loser surviving against it for long.
IT is a powerful, intimidating foe, and while it might not be invincible, it can sometimes seem that way. That’s part of what makes it so fearsome, and as Pennywise has articulated, its prey tastes better when it’s afraid. Here’s all 30 IT forms found in Stephen King’s classic novel.
Pennywise the Dancing Clown
Pennywise the Dancing Clown is of course IT’s default form in the book, the miniseries, and the movies. In some ways the Tim Curry version is closer to the book’s depiction, but in other ways the Bill Skarsgard version is. Both are equally valid portrayals, but for most King fans, the original rendition will always top them both in terror.
Georgie Denborough
Just as IT does in both adaptations, the monster also assumes the form of Bill Denborough’s little brother Georgie in the book, usually to taunt Bill. That’s always made all the sicker by the fact that IT was Georgie’s murderer, as gruesomely depicted onscreen in the 2017 IT movie. There’s a reason Georgie’s death is always IT’s signature scene.
Dorsey Corcoran
Dorsey Corcoran never made it into the IT adaptations, but the portion of the book putting the spotlight on him and his brother Eddie is absolutely harrowing, not even entirely due to IT. Dorsey was brutally beaten to death with a hammer by his abusive father. IT later targeted Eddie while appearing as the corpse of his little brother.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon
Betty Ripsom
Betty Ripsom was a young teenage girl taken and killed by IT, with her father later hearing her voice coming from their sink drain. Betty made it into the 2017 movie, seen when the Losers go to the house on Niebolt Street for the first time. Her body has been ripped in half, making her name almost darkly humorous.
Giant Bird
In the book, kid Mike Hanlon first encounters IT in the form of a giant bird creature, which didn’t make it into either of the adaptations. The bird is described as being a hybrid of a crow that attacked Mike as a baby and the 1950s movie monster Rodan. In fairness, that wouldn’t have been easy to visualize onscreen.
Werewolf
Leper
The disgusting leper form of IT that Eddie Kaspbrak encounters at the house on Niebolt Street in the book was left out of the miniseries, but memorably made it into the 2017 and 2019 movies, as played by Javier Botet. In the book, Bill and Richie actually correct Richie’s belief that it was a leper, saying its condition more resembled syphilis.
Mummy
Continuing IT’s pattern in the book of appearing as old-school movie monsters, it takes on the form of Boris Karloff’s mummy from Universal’s classic 1932 film when targeting Ben Hanscom. IT appears to Stan as a kind of mummy creature in the miniseries too, although it doesn’t resemble Karloff’s version, and still has some clown features.
The Crawling Eye
The Crawling Eye is the title monster from the 1958 movie of the same name. The Losers’ Club encounters The Crawling Eye when they head into Derry’s sewer system for a showdown with IT, after it having been mentioned by one of them earlier in the book. These kids watch too many monster movies, at least more than are safe in Derry.
Alvin Marsh
Just as it does in both the miniseries and movies, IT transforms into Alvin Marsh in the book, primarily to taunt his daughter Beverly. In that way it’s a similar strategy to how IT employs Georgie’s form to get under Bill’s skin. Alvin is dreadful in all three versions, although the movie version might be the creepiest, at least in a sexually abusive sense.
Flying Leeches
Piranhas
When the Losers’ Club is crossing over a stream in the book, Eddie briefly sees a school of man-eating piranha in the water below, and almost loses his balance and falls in. Thankfully, Stan grabs him and steadies his friend before that can happen. Knowing IT, Eddie’s fears of being eaten were probably justified.
Jaws
IT moved a bit later with its movie monster imitations during the 1980s portions of the book, with a young boy named Tommy Vicananza saying he witnessed the shark from Jaws swimming around in the Derry Canal, and that it had eaten up another boy named Johnny Feury. Copyright concerns probably kept this out of the adaptations.
Dracula
Ben Hanscom sees Dracula at the Derry Public Library in the IT book, although the vampire is described in a way more akin to Nosferatu, or Kurt Barlow from Stephen King’s own novel Salem’s Lot. The creature’s mouth is filled with razor blades, presumably for maximum weirdness factor.
Paul Bunyan Statue
In the book, Richie gets attacked by a giant statue of folklore character Paul Bunyan, a scene which partially made its way into IT Chapter Two. The sequence overall isn’t badly done, but as with many instances in the IT movies, the CGI used to realize the enormous attacker isn’t exactly terrific.
Tony Tracker
Greta Bowie
In the IT book, Greta Bowie is a rich kid who looks down on the Losers’ Club, and bullies Beverly Marsh. She briefly appears in the miniseries to make fun of Beverly being poor, and is changed into being the daughter of pharmacist Mr. Keene in the 2017 movie. She’s also encountered by Eddie when IT targets him at the baseball field.
Patrick Hockstetter
After being killed by IT, Patrick is also used as a disguise by the creature when it torments Eddie at the baseball field. Man, Eddie really should’ve stayed away from that place. There’s a reason the poor guy almost completely mentally collapses in fear after encountering all those literal ghosts from his past.
Reginald “Belch” Huggins
Frankenstein’s Monster
After Henry Bowers and his gang of bullies pursues the Losers’ Club into the sewers of Derry, Henry, Victor, and Belch encounter Frankenstein’s Monster, specifically the version from the 1957 film I Was a Teenage Frankenstein. This manifestation of IT decapitates Victor and tears half of Belch’s face off, before killing him as well.
A Doberman Pinscher
To help Henry escape from Juniper Hills and head back to Derry, IT turns into a giant dog, specifically a doberman pinscher, to take out the abusive lead guard on duty, who’s terrified of them. This was changed to a rottweiler head on a clown’s body for the miniseries, which looked ridiculous, as pictured above.
A Ghost Moon
In the IT book, while still at Juniper Hills, Henry actually begins to hear the moon itself talking to him, speaking in various voices of the deceased. The moon later turns into Pennywise’s face, which is described in a pretty unsettling way. The 1990 miniseries attempted this, but basically superimposed Pennywise’s face on the moon, and it didn’t look too good.
Victor Criss
Victor Criss is another vital member of Henry Bowers’ gang that appears in both IT adaptations. In the book, Victor later appears to Henry at Juniper Hills as part of IT’s campaign to convince the grown-up bully to return to Derry and kill all the Losers. IT is never without a backup plan it seems, which makes sense considering its intelligence.
Jimmy Donlin’s Mother
Stan Uris’ Head
In both the book and its adaptations, Stan Uris is the first member of the Losers’ Club to die, by suicide. IT later taunts them by taking the form of Stan’s decapitated head, which was adapted into the 1990 miniseries. IT Chapter Two took that notion and evolved it into a The Thing-esque spider-head creature.
Mrs. Kersh/The Witch
Another that’s in King’s book and both adaptations is adult Beverly Marsh’s encounter with IT disguised as an old woman named Mrs. Kersh when returning to her childhood home in Derry. In the book, IT actually does a two-for-one special, slowly transforming Kersh into a version of the witch from Hansel & Gretel.
Dead Children
As a kid in the book, Stan is lured inside the Derry Standpipe by IT, who employs the voices of “the dead ones,” kids who had drowned in the Standpipe before. Stan escapes by reciting the names of the birds in his book, similar to how he escapes the mummy in the miniseries.
The Deadlights
IT’s true form is beyond human comprehension, but the closest approximation is The Deadlights, which are capable of hypnotizing anyone who stares into them. They’re seen in various visual representations during both IT adaptations, and as Eddie puts it in the miniseries, those who look into them “want to be there.”
Giant Spider
In all versions of IT, the monster’s physical form it uses to consume prey and battle the Losers is a giant spider, although it’s certainly unlike any spider species from Earth, befitting IT‘s otherworldly origins. Sadly, both movie versions aren’t great, especially in the miniseries, in which the spider is alternately a lame puppet and horrible looking stop-motion animation.
