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Audiences are thrilled for the horror series It: Welcome to Derry, which is receiving positive feedback and weaving in references from the broader King universe. Just one day after launch, the network declared that the second installment will arrive early, timed perfectly for Halloween.

Early Release Particulars

Beginning on Halloween night at 3 a.m. EST, episode two of It: Welcome to Derry will premiere on HBO Max, prior to its Sunday HBO premiere. Future chapters of the show's first season will continue to air on Sunday nights on both HBO and its streaming arm, culminating in the season finale on Sunday, December 14.

Series Overview

Set in the world of King's It, the new series borrows elements from the classic book while building upon the universe brought to life by director Andy Muschietti in the two It films. The first It movie highlighted kids and teens confronting terrifying threats, making it appropriate that this show upholds that legacy. However, the first installment of HBO’s Welcome to Derry proves it aimed to escalate the fear, offering heightened horror than Muschietti’s films and establishing a dark atmosphere for the upcoming episodes.

Story World and Concepts

Set in 1962, this show features a new generation of adults and children residing in a seemingly idyllic town hiding a dark secret. Derry functions through a vicious, repeating pattern—characterized by violence, bigotry, and the supernatural, as a terrifying being resurfaces each 27-year cycle. Although It: Welcome to Derry might sound like it strays too near to the cinematic adaptations initially, what differentiates the digital program is its two-sided viewpoint—narrated via the eyes of both children and adults simultaneously. Children stay particularly vulnerable to the entity's fear, but older characters aren’t spared confronting their individual fears born from Derry’s deep-seated bigotry and lurking supernatural forces.

It: Welcome to Derry debuts on Halloween at midnight PT.