‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Explained: The Many Stephen King Connections & References in Episode Two

WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for It, It: Chapter Two, and It: Welcome to Derry.

The inaugural episode of It: Welcome to Derry introduced us to the sinister town via a lumbering, airborne mutant baby slaughtering a theaterful of screaming kids. Episode 2, “The Thing in the Dark,” debuts a strangely charming opening credits sequence. Set to the wholesome “A Smile and a Ribbon,” we drift through Norman Rockwell-esque illustrations that reference some of Stephen King‘s most frightening literary moments. A little girl peers into a sewer grate, recreating Georgie Denbrough’s iconic death, while children jump from the Kissing Bridge, close to where bully Henry Bowers will one day try to carve his name into Losers’ Club member Ben Hanscomb’s stomach. A frightening lobotomy unfolds in the infamous Juniper Hill Asylum, and a family poses for pictures in front of the dreaded house on Neibolt Street, where Loser Eddie Kaspbrak will battle the Leper and the Club will mount their first attack against the murderous entity. 

These disturbing images are followed by promises of seasons to come with tableaux pulled from the novel’s disturbing Interludes. A flaming Easter Bunny falls from the sky while children run for their lives, referencing the horrific Kitchener Ironworks explosion that sent the charred and dismembered remains of 88 children raining down on their horrified parents. Andy Muscietti’s It features a frightening scene in which one of these decapitated victims haunts Ben through the stacks of the Derry Public Library. 

The song concludes with a dying gangster waving an old-fashioned machine gun as he’s surrounded by armed residents and a clown somehow defying the laws of gravity by shooting from his horizontal perch on a building’s exterior. This doomed man is probably George Bradley, leader of a Depression-era gang who were murdered by the town’s self-righteous citizens. Episode 2 ends with a glimpse of their waterlogged car pulled from deep within the earth. Just moments before this grisly excavation, we will learn that the Derry Air Force Base is the site of Project Precept, a strange initiative designed to prevent nuclear annihilation with a mysterious weapon known to spark deadly fear. While perhaps far-fetched, this plan introduces us to one of King’s most beloved characters. 

Constant Readers first met Dick Halloran (Chris Chalk) as the outgoing chef of the malevolent Overlook Hotel in the pages of King’s 1977 novel The Shining. It positions a younger Dick as a survivor of the dreaded Black Spot massacre, but in Muscietti’s timeline, he is a stoic serviceman tasked with using his powerful Shine to locate beacons like the Bradley Gang’s corpse-filled car, said to surround the rumored weapon—likely Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) himself.  

Elsewhere in Derry, Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) is settling into a suburban home with his wife Charlotte (Taylour Paige) and tween son Will (Blake Cameron James). Father of Loser Mike Hanlon, Will, is kind and intelligent, a far cry from the deceased junky Mike will remember in Muschietti’s 2017 film. Perhaps this is a bit of retconning or evidence of the deceptive town’s habit of twisting the truth to vilify its non-white citizens.  

Projectionist Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider) experiences this deadly manipulation firsthand when he becomes a suspect in the movie theater massacre solely because he is Black. With the investigation stalled, Chief of Police Clint Bowers (Peter Outerbridge) is confronted by Derry’s angry Selectmen and threatened with the loss of his elected position if he does not arrest the innocent man. Grandfather to the Club’s psychotic bully, Bowers, may briefly stand on principles, but he will go on to coerce Lilly (Clara Stack) into giving a false statement placing Hank at the grisly crime scene, proving the Selectmen’s dire assertion that “this isn’t America, it’s Derry.”

Charlotte encounters this sinister undercurrent on an idyllic stroll down Center Street. While passing the Center Street Drug Store, she smiles at a young Norbert Keene smoking just outside the door. This cruel pharmacist will one day hit on young Beverly Marsh and torment Eddie Kaspbrak by revealing the extent of his mother’s delusions. At the Dunning Butcher Shop—mentioned in King’s 2011 novel 11/22/63—Charlotte meets a friendly Stan Kersch (Larry Day), whose last name rings an ominous bell. As an adult, Beverly will visit her childhood home, now occupied by the elderly Mrs. Kersh, who proceeds to morph into a dangerous hag, possibly related to Pennywise himself. We don’t yet know if Stan will make a similar transformation, but his surname implies that “Stan the Cleaver” may be more than just a cheeky nickname.

Charlotte’s errands will eventually lead to Secondhand Rose, Secondhand Clothes, the location for one of King’s most exciting cameos. It: Chapter Two features the author himself sitting behind the thrift store’s register as adult Loser Bill Denbrough (James McAvoy) reacquires his trusty bike, Silver. But before reaching this inviting location, Charlotte witnesses the controversial construction of the Paul Bunyan statue that will one day attack Loser Richie Tozier and gazes warily at the dark alley where the newly assembled Club will attempt to mend Ben’s mangled stomach while comparing their experiences with the shapeshifting monster. 

This episode sees Lilly and Ronnie (Amanda Christine) endure their own frightening encounters with disturbing variations of the child-eating beast. While grocery shopping, Lilly notices uncanny stares from other shoppers and announcements that repeat on an ominous loop. One touts the sale of Fizzola, a soda referencing King’s iconic Nozzala brand. A variation of Coca-Cola, the presence of this mysterious drink has become an indicator that an entry in King’s sprawling canon takes place in an alternate world, strangely similar to our own. 

As shelves move fluidly on their own, Lilly finds herself surrounded by pickle jars containing the shredded remains of her father’s corpse. Ronnie survives a similar attack when her bed transforms into the oversized body of her deceased mother, who appears to have died in childbirth. Covered in viscera, the screaming girl is dragged back towards this nightmarish creature by a monstrous umbilical cord. Behind the mangled belly’s gnashing teeth, Ronnie spies a pair of familiar yellow eyes, promising the arrival of King’s notorious clown. 

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