
IT Chapters One and Two
Alissa Burger(Author)
Liverpool University Press
Published on 4. March 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
128 pages
978-1-83624-402-8 (ISBN)
Description
Drawing on critical analysis of film, the horror genre, the Gothic, and Stephen King scholarship, this book considers Andy Muschietti's IT Chapter One (2017) and IT Chapter Two (2019) on multiple levels: as film (both as individual films and through their interconnected narrative), as adaptation, and as a barometer of the horror film's popularity among fans. Key points of consideration include the significance of the fictional town of Derry as a traditionally Gothic "bad place," the role of
1980s nostalgia in these two films, the complex navigation of memory and trauma, gender representation, queer representation, and the return of the repressed. The terrifying figure of Pennywise the clown is central to this analysis, including consideration of performance, costuming, and significance within the larger landscape of the "scary clown" popular culture trope, and through comparison to Tim Curry's iconic performance in Tommy Lee Wallace's 1990 miniseries. This Devil's Advocate contextualizes Muschietti's films within the larger landscape of King's literary and popular culture influence, as well as the debate surrounding "elevated" horror and the "horror boom" of the late 2010s.
1980s nostalgia in these two films, the complex navigation of memory and trauma, gender representation, queer representation, and the return of the repressed. The terrifying figure of Pennywise the clown is central to this analysis, including consideration of performance, costuming, and significance within the larger landscape of the "scary clown" popular culture trope, and through comparison to Tim Curry's iconic performance in Tommy Lee Wallace's 1990 miniseries. This Devil's Advocate contextualizes Muschietti's films within the larger landscape of King's literary and popular culture influence, as well as the debate surrounding "elevated" horror and the "horror boom" of the late 2010s.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Liverpool
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 191 mm
Width: 140 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-83624-402-8 (9781836244028)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Alissa Burger is Associate Professor of English and Director of Student Success, Culver-Stockton College. She is the author of The Quest for the Dark Tower: Genre and Interconnection in the Stephen King Series (McFarland, 2021) and Teaching Stephen King: Horror, the Supernatural, and New Approaches to Literature (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).