The IT universe is expanding again - and this time, we’re returning to where the nightmare began. HBO’s upcoming prequel series Welcome to Derry has fans (and floaters) counting down to the inevitable re-emergence of one of horror’s most enduring villains: Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

But here’s the twist - even as the series starts teasing supernatural horror beneath 1960s small-town Americana, the infamous clown has yet to appear. That absence is both tantalizing and excruciating.

“It’s not if, it’s when,” says co-showrunner Jason Fuchs, who co-wrote IT: Chapter Two. “We’re letting the tension build until you can practically hear the red balloon squeak.”

Building the Horror Without Showing the Monster

Welcome to Derry plays a long game. Set decades before the Losers Club’s story, the series traces the origins of Derry’s curse — the strange disappearances, the children’s drawings that bleed, and the creeping sense that evil is cyclical.

For now, the monster lurks in suggestion: whispers in the sewer, laughter in radio static, shadows beneath streetlights. It’s a creative gamble that recalls Spielberg’s Jaws — showing less to scare more.

“The restraint is deliberate,” explains director Andy Muschietti, returning as executive producer. “Pennywise isn’t just a character, he’s a presence. You should feel him long before you see him.”

That slow burn works. Each episode layers small-town paranoia with flashes of the supernatural — a red balloon drifting through fog, a child humming “Oranges and Lemons,” a smile that lingers too long.

The Return of the Monster

When Pennywise does appear, fans expect something closer to Bill Skarsgård’s feral interpretation than Tim Curry’s campy original. HBO has kept casting under wraps, but insiders hint that Skarsgård has filmed new scenes, suggesting continuity between the films and series.

“Pennywise isn’t reborn - he’s remembered,” said one crew member during a fan Q&A. “You’ll see what Derry forgot to tell itself.”

The creative team has promised a deeper dive into Pennywise’s pre-human origins - possibly connecting the creature to cosmic horror threads from Stephen King’s wider mythos, including the Macroverse and The Deadlights.

That may finally answer one of the franchise’s lingering questions: what is Pennywise, beyond the makeup and teeth?

Fear, Nostalgia, and the Weight of Legacy

Revisiting IT risks falling into repetition - the same jump scares and haunted childhood imagery. But Welcome to Derry feels more like an exploration of trauma’s roots than another monster hunt.

It’s part horror, part period piece - blending the pastel nostalgia of 1960s suburbia with the rot underneath.

The series also reflects a broader horror trend: the slow, serialized resurrection of 1980s icons (Chucky, Alien, The Exorcist). The difference here is tone - Derry leans psychological, not nostalgic.

“The scariest part of the show isn’t Pennywise,” wrote one early reviewer after preview screenings. “It’s realizing that everyone in Derry already knows something’s wrong - and keeps smiling anyway.”

The Takeaway

HBO’s Welcome to Derry is shaping up to be a horror series about more than monsters. It’s about complicity, memory, and the way evil survives in silence. Pennywise may still be hiding in the storm drain for now, but his shadow already looms over everything.

When he finally returns - whether it’s a wink, a balloon, or a bite - it’ll remind us why some horrors never die.