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Audiences are thrilled for the Stephen King adaptation It: Welcome to Derry, already earning acclaim and drawing from references from other Stephen King works. Following the premiere, the network announced that the next chapter will arrive early, timed perfectly for Halloween.

Schedule Change Information

Starting on Halloween night at 12 a.m. Pacific Time, episode two of It: Welcome to Derry will launch on the streaming service, before its linear broadcast. The remaining installments of the eight-episode season will premiere on Sundays on the network and streaming service, building toward the season finale on the 14th of December.

Series Overview

Taking place within the world of King's It, the new series draws from the original story while building upon the setting brought to life by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the recent movie adaptations. The first It movie highlighted adolescents facing supernatural evils, making it appropriate that the series continues that tradition. Yet, the first installment of the HBO series shows it intended to escalate the fear, delivering even more intense scares than the cinematic versions and setting a dark atmosphere for what's to come.

Setting and Themes

Located in the early '60s, the program features a new generation of adults and children residing in a apparently peaceful community concealing a dark secret. Derry operates on a brutal, periodic loop—defined by violence, bigotry, and the supernatural, as a monstrous presence returns each 27-year cycle. While It: Welcome to Derry might seem like it leans too heavily to the cinematic adaptations at first, what distinguishes the HBO Max series is its dual perspective—told from the eyes of both children and adults concurrently. Children remain especially susceptible to the monster's horror, but older characters aren’t spared dealing with their individual fears born from local discrimination and lurking supernatural forces.

It: Welcome to Derry debuts on Halloween at 3 a.m. EST.