Television series

IT: Welcome to Derry

Name: IT: Welcome to Derry
Genre: Drama, Horror
Released: 2025
Cast: Jovan Adepo, Stephen Rider, Matilda Lawler, Amanda Christine, Clara Stack

A prequel to Stephen King's IT set in 1962 Derry, Maine. It traces the town's first encounter with an ancient evil and shows how Pennywise emerged from the darkness. Atmospheric and genuinely unsettling, this is horror that builds dread through character and place rather than jump scares. For fans of King's work and anyone who wants to understand the mythology before the clown arrives.

TVMaze rating

3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want horror that is really about a town's rot, its racism and its quiet cruelties, and you're happy for the monster to be a slow-burning dread rather than a jump scare.

Skip it if you came for the creature and want it front and centre; much of this eight-episode run is spent on the people of Derry, and the scares arrive in patient doses.

What it asks of you: Eight hour-long episodes that take their time, asking you to settle into an ensemble and sit with unease for long stretches before anything lunges.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Lovecraft Country2020

Explores how systemic racism and cosmic horror collide in 1950s America. Like Derry, it builds an entire mythology around a cursed place, with rich character work and genuine scares that emerge from social terror as much as supernatural threat.

But The tonal shifts between procedural mystery, family drama, and Lovecraftian body horror can feel jarring. It's demanding television that doesn't always land smoothly.

The Outsider2020

Another King adaptation that excels at slow-burn dread and community paranoia. A small town grapples with something that shouldn't exist, and the show takes time to develop its ensemble cast before revealing what's really happening.

But Ten episodes of setup means patience is mandatory. If you need immediate payoff, this methodical pacing will test you.

Midnight Mass2021

Mike Flanagan's masterpiece about faith, mortality, and a small community infected by something ancient disguised as salvation. Every character matters; the horror comes from watching people you know make terrible choices.

But It's slow, philosophical, and more interested in moral questions than scares. The religious themes may feel heavy-handed depending on your relationship with faith.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from IT: Welcome to Derry

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Invisible Man1933

Both explore how a single malevolent force corrupts an entire community, turning neighbors against each other. Derry and the town in The Invisible Man aren't battlegrounds—they're victims of psychological siege.

Universal's mad-scientist horror, but watch it as a study of a town gripped by paranoia and unseen terror. A community turns on itself because something invisible is murdering them. The fear isn't about the monster—it's about how quickly civilization collapses when people can't see the threat.

But It's nearly a century old and shot like a play. Long stretches have no musical score, relying on dialogue to build tension. Patience required.

The Haunting of Hill House2018

A supernatural family trauma story where the house itself becomes a character. Beautifully shot, deeply human, and genuinely frightening because you care about everyone in danger. The mythology builds across the season with real payoff.

But The narrative jumps between timelines, which some find confusing. And it's primarily a grief story wrapped in horror—not for anyone wanting pure scares.

Carnivàle2003

Set during the Depression, this follows two parallel stories converging toward a supernatural reckoning. It has that same sense of place and creeping cosmic dread, with a genuinely unsettling mythology about good and evil.

But It was cancelled after two seasons on a cliffhanger. And the pacing in the first season is glacial—it's building something, but you have to trust it.

The Night Circus

A limited series about a magical competition unfolding in a mysterious circus in the early 1900s. It shares Derry's gift for atmosphere and a setting that seems beautiful until you realize something ancient and dangerous lives there.

But It prioritizes mood and romance over plot momentum. If you need clear stakes and forward momentum, this dreamlike pacing may frustrate you.

Salem2014

A fictionalized take on the witch trials that treats them as real, with genuine supernatural forces at work. Dark, nasty, and unafraid to let evil win sometimes. The town becomes a character shaped by something ancient and malevolent.

But It's grimdark to the point of bleakness, and the dialogue occasionally leans into purple prose. It's also cancelled abruptly, leaving threads unresolved.

The Leftovers2014

When two percent of humanity vanishes inexplicably, a small town fractures. It's not horror exactly, but it shares Derry's exploration of how communities cope with the incomprehensible. The mythology deepens as it questions what we actually know about reality.

But It's aggressively ambitious and sometimes pretentious. And it deliberately withholds answers, which some experience as evasive rather than mysterious.

The Wailing2016

Like Derry, it's a place where an ancient, possibly supernatural force preys on a community's most vulnerable members while the town tears itself apart trying to understand what's happening. Both make you question whether the real horror is the monster or human panic.

A South Korean masterpiece where a small village descends into paranoia when a mysterious stranger arrives and people begin dying. Structurally, it's a mystery; spiritually, it's about not knowing whether you're being haunted by evil or by your own certainty. The final twist rewires everything.

But At 2 hours 36 minutes, it's deliberately paced and narratively complex. The ending is ambiguous in ways that infuriate some viewers. And it requires your full attention—no phones.

Poltergeist1982

Both understand that places hold history. Derry and this suburban house are built atop something that won't stay buried. Both suggest that our attempts to build civilization can awaken things better left sleeping.

Spielberg's suburban nightmare about a house built on a grave, where capitalism and carelessness have disturbed something ancient. It's genuinely terrifying—practical effects, perfect sound design, a family you actually care about. And it understands that the real horror is helplessness.

But Some of the jokes undercut the tension. The climax tips into spectacle. And there's a curse associated with the production itself—some find that looming context distracting.