The terrifying clown Pennywise has always been the subject of Stephen King’s horror novel IT, which has received numerous screen adaptations. What, however, gave the character’s creator its inspiration?
Over the years, Stephen King’s spine-thumping novel IT has seen numerous adaptations. However, Pennywise, the frightful clown, is what all of them share in common. King began writing the spooky novel in September 1981, and King, who shared the ending with readers, finished it in December 1985. Fans may not be aware that King was inspired to create the character by a ‘creepy’ encounter with a real-life clown.
Ever since its publication, fans have been intrigued about what could have inspired King to create such a horrifying character like Pennywise. Some have speculated that the infamous serial killer and sex offender John Wayne Gacy, known for his clown persona and sentenced to death in 1980, might have been the real-life inspiration behind the fictional villain.
King has never, however, confirmed this hypothesis. Instead, he has expressed his own opinions about clowns and how frequently children are frightened of their “terrifying” appearances.
When King first wrote The Stand, he imagined a troll who resembled the character from the children’s book Three Billy Goats Gruff but lived in a sewer system rather than a bridge.
He explained that the entire narrative “just “springs” into his head, particularly the notion that “It” could “shift” into a clown, which even King finds terrifying.
In a 2005 appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, King shared his own childhood fear of clowns which helped create the idea of Pennywise.
According to Conan, “Let’s talk about it because you were one of the first to realize that a clown could be a scary figure,” referring to Stephen’s hit book IT, which has since been made into movies.
When you were younger, did you find clowns frightful? Conan emailed the horror novel.
Before quipping, King recalled an unsettling experience at the circus when he was a child and witnessed a dozen adults with “blood red” lips and pale white faces. “
The author referred to a “creepy” incident involving a clown on a plane when asked if he had had a personal encounter with a clown that terrified him.
An unintentional passenger boarded the plane as it was getting ready to depart from Cleveland, Ohio, the author’s final major book tour stop.
Ronald McDonald boarded the plane after the door reopens, King said. He’s dressed up as a clown and sips his seat next to me because, you see, I’m weird. I’m a weirdness-hater.
By that point, I was so freaked out that I wasn’t even surprised. The entire nine yards, he is, wearing orange shoes and hair. He and I are seated next to each other. He pulls out a pack of kents [cigarettes], lights up as the plane takes off, but no smoking lights come on. “
