(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)

In a typical teenage horror rite of passage, the first time I saw It was at a sleepover.

Tim Curry in a bright red wig and clown makeup is an image that lingered long after the lights went out. “Hiya, Georgie,” still rings in my brain when I look at a storm drain. So far, It: Welcome to Derry is keeping its Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) in the shadows, with only his signature eerie red balloons making a crystal clear appearance.

Despite this overly prolonged tease, the HBO Max prequel series embraces Pennywise’s penchant for amping up fear, with varying results. So far, It: Welcome to Derry has unleashed grotesque flying babies, supernatural umbilical cords, a bloated, cut-up pickled head in a jar, ghosts of deceased friends, and fanged teeth chomping their wa

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