Pennywise, 'IT', & The Death of Patrick Hockstetter... | The Lore of Stephen King's Dark Tower Series: Part 1

brandonk (65)in #writing • 8 years ago (edited)

'They'll float,' it growled, 'they float Georgie, and when you're down here with me, you'll float too..' -IT

Reiterations of demons have been portrayed throughout the years as slimy sharp toothed horn-beasts! Or maybe the scariest demons come in the form of small children, a la Children of the Corn?

Horror literature and film for years has almost been stigmatized for it's gratuity, and in turn lack of quality. I completely disagree with this sentiment, I think scaring others with words and images is a side of creativity that takes a particular boldness...

Stephen King is by far the greatest horror writer of all time, in terms of quantity and quality, he has remained a staple to the novella for nearly (if not more than 4 decades).

Legendary classics like 'Misery' and 'Christine' took suburban life and put a violent twist on them, hell 'Maximum Overdrive' was about a small town invaded by bloodthirsty monster trucks after a meteorite hits...the man can pull a story from anywhere!

In my opinion King's magnum opus is 'IT'. The story of childhood trauma and adult loss, along with being an all too real metaphor of never truly escaping one's past. So what is 'IT', and why should you care?

The new film coming out seems to portray much of the novel as the 90s miniseries didn't seem to do so, nor did it seem to care... The story of The Losers Club with Bill, Ben and Richie (just to name a few) is a morbid and haunting one...
They are tormented the whole novel, not only by the creature 'IT', but by the human nature all around them.
Abusive parents, bullies, a lonesome town with not much going on to begin with...King is a master at distracting the audience, and making them fear at all angles.

When one reads this novel, one realizes that human nature can be far scarier than any supposed demon....

'IT' comes from a place deep in the realm's of King's mind, a place he created called the Macroverse. King has played the modern day Lovecraft a few times, and the Dark Tower is actually his macro verse of creatures and tales galore!

The true form of 'IT' comes through the Macroverse in the shape of aggressive and violent orange colored lights, the true nature of the demon can be seen through these 'Deadlights', and show that 'IT' is not the only ancient creature lurking in the mist.....

King has created his own universe, and although reading 'IT' may not include all these details, the unravelling affect each and every other King tale.

The release of the 'Deadlights' that 'IT' is shaped from were released by the Crimson King in an effort to scale the top of the Dark Tower.

The Crimson King is the author's version of Satan, and the Dark Tower is one of the mighty creations and pieces of 'Gan', the author's version of an overforce, and creator.

Crimson King wants to scale the top of this tower to rule the Macroverse, and in doing so he releases struggles through the worlds.... Derry, Maine is just the location these 'Deadlights' landed, and with them came 'IT'...

...or should I say Pennywise? In fact that is his name, at least that is the name he chose for his clown demeanor.
The creature known as 'IT' chose a clown as he wanted to attracted children to feast upon; he is described as laughing and friendly from afar, but yellow eyed with a demonic laugh once one gets closer...
The more scared the children are, the better they taste.

Pennywise is a truly horrifying figure that taunts the children at every corner, he uses their worst fears against them and takes no mercy.
Eventually the demon acts as many things to reach his end goal, in fact he plays a werewolf and in the climax, (s)he is seen as a giant spider! This is the supposed true form of this monster, but it is actually much more vast and frightening, the human mind simply can't process it's true nature entirely.

I won't divulge too much on this terrifying novel, as it is a must read for any fan of literature (horror or not), but I must note one of the deaths that shook me for a very long time.

The passages involving Patrick Hockstetter are some of the most disturbing and unforgettable scenes of events ever put to written word.

The nature of this boy is truly evil, yet derivative of human nature's most basic flaws. He is a true solipsistic maniac, one who only knows of his own well being, and simply believes everyone is a fixture in the rule set of his mind...

The sexual perversion in touching his littler brother, and him murdering his baby brother whom was 'becoming too real' makes the reader hate Patrick with a deep passion.
He also kills animals for fun, and stores them in a fridge by the junkyard. His menacing bullying towards our protagonists makes his imminent death all the more awaited...but once the viewer reaches that point, it all seems to fade...

'IT' preys on the weak, and the murderous, but he preys on them all the same. The hatred felt for one character turns to a dark pity as even with Patrick, I could not help but to feel the coldness of his passing....

The creature of the Crimson King almost feasts on the soul as he eats the bodies of mere children, as evil as Patrick was, being thrown around by flying leeches and being milked of his blood in an empty junkyard just felt terrifying...

He was still alive when the bugs dragged him to the sewer lair of IT's primary manifestation...

The coldness and sheer horror of this novel is timeless, and I truly can not wait for the film. The Dark Tower adaptation hopefully includes all of the Macroverse's splendors as well; we can look forward to something special with each of King's stories....

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