Welcome to Derry is a Stephen King adaptation that joins horror, science fiction and coming-of-age drama. This overview explains how the series uses its setting, Pennywise and the mythology of Derry to broaden the story’s genre and scale.

Stephen King once recounted a reader asking why he could not write a nice, uplifting story, then citing The Shawshank Redemption as an example. When King pointed out that he had written it, the reader did not believe him, insisting that King was known only for horror.

The anecdote captures the expectations surrounding Stephen King adaptations, including the Dark Tower series. King is strongly associated with horror, but his work spans more than one genre.

King’s debut novel, Carrie, has inspired numerous films and shows, while his broader body of work includes fantasy, science fiction, thrillers and crime mysteries. It: Welcome to Derry brings that range into focus by combining a horror story with other dramatic and speculative elements.

How does Welcome to Derry combine science fiction and horror?

Welcome to Derry is a horror series with science-fiction elements, a coming-of-age story and a focus on the town’s history. The show’s military subplot explores attempts to understand Pennywise and the nature of the threat.

Welcome to Derry places horror within a science-fiction context.

Set in Derry, the hometown of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, Welcome to Derry takes place almost three decades before the 2017 film It. The first season follows another group of children who encounter the evil entity, while also showing their lives and the challenges of their small town.

The young characters and their struggles give Welcome to Derry a coming-of-age dimension before the horror takes center stage. Pennywise remains central to the series, while the arrival of Leroy Hanlan, an Air Force major deployed to Derry, introduces the town’s hidden history.

The season’s military experiments develop the science-fiction conspiracy, as the army tries to understand Pennywise and find a way to weaponize its ancient evil. The story remains horror at its core, but the experiments link the monster to a wider mystery. A bonus Halloween episode released in October 2026 further explored Derry’s history.

How does “A Story of Derry” connect the series to Stephen King’s universe?

The special “A Story of Derry” adds a cosmic dimension to Welcome to Derry by connecting Pennywise with the mythology of Stephen King’s Dark Tower saga. Its explanation of the entity expands the story’s mythology without changing the series’ horror focus.

“A Story of Derry” connects Pennywise to the cosmic mythology of Stephen King’s Dark Tower saga.

Like Netflix’s monster series Below, which the source describes as having a notable Stephen King influence in tone and story, It: Welcome to Derry’s “A Story of Derry” offers a more scientific explanation for its monster without reducing its menace. The episode depicts Pennywise, then known as Tha Galloo, attacking a group of Native American people who must find a way to defend themselves.

Near the end of the special, a surviving character uses astral projection to communicate with Maturin, the cosmic turtle in King’s Dark Tower mythology. Maturin shows the protagonist how to contain the entity, and the tribe remains relatively safe until white invaders destroy the cage built to hold Pennywise.

It: Welcome to Derry remains a horror series, but the Lovecraftian mythology in “A Story of Derry” gives the story cosmic stakes and makes its science-fiction influences more visible. The episode expands the series’ connections to Stephen King’s universe through its shared mythology.