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The Fate of Henry's Friends
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In the 2017 film, Henry Bowers pursues the Losers into the Neibolt Street House alone, having already suffered a mental breakdown and murdered his friends and father. In the book, Henry and his two main cronies, Reginald “Belch” Huggins and Victor “Vic” Criss follow the Losers into the sewers, not realizing the danger that awaits them. Vic is decapitated by It, who appears as Frankenstein’s monster. When It turns on Henry, Belch defends his friend – and gets half his face ripped off as Henry runs away. It’s only then that Henry has his full breakdown. He gets lost in the sewers for days and when he emerges, is arrested for murder. They may be bullies, but this scene was ultimately kids brutally torn to shreds.
The Scale of Destruction
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After finally defeating Pennywise, the Losers must escape the sewers while above ground a huge storm brews. Having been nested in the fabric of the area for so long, It had become something like Derry’s twisted heart: It was Derry, Derry was It. So, when It died, so too did the town (in a sense), as signified by large portions of the town collapsing into the old sewer system. The standpipe is wiped out with the storm’s flood, and the library too is destroyed. Epic as it might have been, director Andy Muschietti decided against the town-wide cataclysm for the sake of something more character focused.
Eddie's Leper
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In the first installment of “It,” Pennywise reveals himself to the Losers one by one, tormenting them each so as to ratchet up their fear. Germaphobe Eddie Kaspbrak is attacked by a rotting leper after he drops his medications. But in the book, it’s not pills that the monstrous vision taunts him with but sexual acts. Eddie is the most sheltered and emotionally immature of the Losers, his mother being overly domineering and fretful. The fact that he marries someone just like his mother (Easter egg, it’s the same actress in “Chapter Two”!) might communicate something about his stunted sexual issues, too. In the book, however, these fears are disturbingly combined for Eddie in the form of the leper.
Henry's Unhappy Home Life
In the book, Henry’s violent pathology goes even deeper than what we see on screen. Butch Bowers, his father, is a mentally damaged Marine veteran whose verbal and physical abuses are not only something Henry fears but sickly depends on, as it’s one of the most consistent aspects of his upbringing. Like any boy desperate to gain his father’s approval, he tries to take after him, which includes all of his abuse and racism. As his father once poisoned Mike Hanlon’s father’s livestock, so too Henry poisons Mike’s dog. The racism and generational nature of violence plus mental illness exacerbated by abuse are touched upon in the films, but not as deeply explored as leading contributing factors to Henry’s eroding sanity.
The Bradley Gang and Sleepy Silver Dollar Deaths
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The Bradley Gang shooting makes its film appearance by way of a mural, but in the novel a group of outlaws are happily gunned down in the street by the average citizens of Derry. Later, those involved would remember a clown amongst the shooters, with Its gun always identical to the one the person who saw It was holding. But the unmentioned Silver Dollar massacre is worse, by far. After beloved union organizer David Hartwell and others were tortured and butchered by thugs, a friend of Hartwells murdered the thugs in the Silver Dollar bar with an ax while townsfolk just went on drinking and chatting like nothing was happening. The massacres show an adult perspective and the callous indifference of the town while infected by It.
Beverly's Dad
While many of the adults of Derry seem to be vying for the Worst Parent Award, Alvin Marsh is on a whole other level of terrible. Mr. Marsh is bad in the movies, but his abuse is fully played out in the book. Misogynistic and controlling, he is constantly angry and “worries” that all Beverly’s friends are boys. At one point, It takes the form of her dad and tells her that he loves beating her because secretly he wants to abuse in other, more terrible ways. Another time, he chases her out of the house, and she knows if he catches her he’ll kill her and worse. While Beverly believes he must be under the persuasion of Pennywise, it doesn’t make what’s happening any less horrifying.
The Death of Eddie Corcoran
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Eddie Corcoran’s ‘Missing’ poster is observed in one scene, and the tragic fate of this boy has been hinted at, but the incidents leading up to his demise were left out of the movies. Like several kids in Derry, Eddie Corcoran came from an abusive home. After his stepfather kills his little brother, Dorsey, with a hammer, Eddie runs away, taking refuge by the Canal. There, he sees what he thinks is his little brother, who then turns into the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Strangely, Eddie is insistent to the end that It’s not real – but despite his bravery, It doesn’t back off and decapitates the boy.
The Death of Patrick Hockstetter
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Patrick Hockstetter in the book shows signs of being a true psychopath. He suffocates his baby brother to death, thinks he is the only "real" person alive, makes sexual advances on Henry, and has a fridge full of animals which he’s tortured and killed at the dump. It’s this ghastly fridge that ends up being his undoing. After Henry threatens to tell the police about the fridge, Patrick decides to clean it out. Upon opening it he’s attacked by flying, insect-like leeches which latch on and bleed him until he’s unconscious. He wakes later … while It is feeding on him. His film death was scary enough, but it sure wasn’t a kid getting eaten alive.
The Black Spot
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In “It Chapter Two,” Mike remembers an apartment fire that killed his parents, however in the book there is another, even more devastating fire: the burning of The Black Spot, a popular dance hall for the African American community of the town in the 1930s. The Derry branch of the Legion of White Decency burned it down while it was full. Mike Halon's father survived the attack, saved by none other than Dick Hallorann (yep, from “The Shining”!) who worked there, but most others died. The descriptions of the fire and the people dying as they tried to escape the inferno are brutal. The moment also shows how It is not just monsters for kids; It can represent another, very ugly side of society.
The Sewer Scene
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Let’s get this out of the way: Subterranean adolescent orgy. Okay, now you know what you’re in for. After their first fight with Pennywise, the Losers feel fractured and to bring unity back to the group and escape the sewers, the kids decide that they have to grow-up and must build a link between their childhoods and adulthoods. So, they do "it" and one by one the boys have sex with Beverly. It's not scary but it’s uncomfortable, and although it's written to be transformative, basically every reader wishes they could bleach this scene from their memory. The scene seemed to have been carefully reimagined with the blood pact and Eddie’s “Lover” cast in the 2017 adaptation, which is frankly a relief.