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Excitement is building for the horror series Welcome to Derry, already receiving positive feedback and weaving in themes from other Stephen King works. Just one day after launch, the broadcaster announced that episode two will debut sooner than expected, timed perfectly for October 31st.

Early Release Details

Beginning on Halloween night at 12 a.m. Pacific Time, the next part of It: Welcome to Derry will make its debut on HBO's online platform, ahead of its linear broadcast. The remaining installments of the series run will premiere on Sunday nights on the network and streaming service, leading up to the season finale on December 14th.

Storyline Summary

Set in the world of King's It, It: Welcome to Derry draws from the classic book while expanding on the world established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the two It films. It Chapter One highlighted kids and teens facing terrifying threats, so it’s fitting that this show continues that tradition. However, the debut of the HBO series proves it intended to escalate the fear, delivering more frightening moments than Muschietti’s films and establishing a dark atmosphere for the rest of the season.

Setting and Themes

Set in 1962, the program introduces a fresh cast of grown-ups and kids inhabiting a seemingly idyllic town masking a sinister core. The town follows a brutal, periodic loop—defined by hostility, discrimination, and otherworldly forces, as a terrifying being returns every 27 years. Although It: Welcome to Derry might appear like it leans too heavily to the films at first, what differentiates the digital program is its dual perspective—told from the perspectives of kids and grown-ups at the same time. Younger characters remain particularly vulnerable to the monster's horror, but the adults don't escape confronting their personal demons arising from Derry’s deep-seated bigotry and lurking supernatural forces.

Episode 2 airs on October 31 at 12 a.m. Pacific Time.