It
1986
- coming of age
- thrillers
- suspense
- horror
- schwinn bicycles
- catatonia
- homosexuality
- blood oaths
- omniscience
- mummies
The story
"*It*" is a 1986 horror novel by American author Stephen King. "*It*" was his 22nd book and his 17th novel written under his own name. The story follows the experiences of seven children as they are terrorized by an evil entity that exploits the fears of its victims to disguise itself while hunting its prey. "*It*" primarily appears in the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown to attract its preferred prey of young children. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1987, and received nominations for the Locus and World Fantasy Awards that same year. In 2003, "*It*" was listed at number 144 on the BBC's The Big Read poll. --- See also: - [IT 1/2](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL14916816W/It_1_2) - [IT 2/2](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL14916818W/It_2_2)
What it’s like
Humid small-town summers in a slightly off-kilter Maine, rendered in a loose, digressive, conversational voice that drifts between many minds and decades. The prose lingers on bicycles, creek water, dusty playgrounds, and the thick sweetness of heat, then tightens into a nervous, bodily dread when something wrong is near. Long chapters unspool like memory, with asides, lists, and sudden jumps in time that make the reading feel like sitting up late with an old storyteller. Its vibe is nostalgic and uneasy, a sun-warmed melancholy with a cold draft under the door. It suits a long summer read, a rainy weekend, or a stretch of nights when you want to be carried somewhere big. The emotional register is tender toward its child characters and their loyalty to one another, while the arcs follow friends who drift apart and reunite as adults to face what they once buried. Intensity is high: frequent graphic violence, gore, and cruelty toward children, including a death, plus explicit, extended sexual content among teenagers and some homophobic and racist abuse. Not gentle. For readers who love sprawling, character-heavy horror with a warm, nostalgic heart and can handle unflinching darkness.
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