Stephen King's IT: What The Controversial Sewer Scene Really Means

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Stephen King’s IT  has a controversial Beverly scene in the novel that hasn’t been adapted to TV or film (for good reason), but the IT sewer scene has a symbolic meaning that gets lost in the controversy around the events. In 1986, Stephen King terrorized readers with the novel IT, which introduced an otherworldly monster that triggered a wave of coulrophobia (fear of clowns). IT is now a classic novel in the horror genre with a massive worldwide fanbase, which has expanded thanks to its different adaptations, most recently the films directed by Andy Muschietti.

IT follows the story of a group of kids self-named “Losers Club” who come across an evil, shape-shifting entity living in the sewers of their hometown, Derry, Maine. The novel can be divided into two parts: the first set in 1957-1958, following the Losers as kids, and the second set in 1984-1985, following the group as adults. The Losers reunited 27 years later, when the creature, which they referred to as “IT,” returned after its apparent death.

Related: Stephen King's IT: Why Pennywise's Victims Are Mostly Children

In both the books and the adaptations, IT took the shape of its targets’ biggest fears, but its preferred form was that of Pennywise, the dancing clown. In the end, the adult Losers Club members are able to defeat Pennywise once and for all by challenging IT in the sewers, with Bill locating and destroying the creature's heart. Stephen King's IT also has the Losers battle the malevolent Pennywise in the sewers of Derry 27 years earlier, and the book's most controversial moment, by far, was that initial IT sewer scene.

Once in the sewers, Bill Denbrough performed the “Ritual of Chüd” through which he met Maturin (best known as “the turtle”), creator