Moment in the book that really frightens me *spoilers*

  • This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.

staropeace

Richard Bachman's love child
Nov 28, 2006
15,210
48,848
Alberta,Canada
It's that part where Mike is biking home at night from visiting his dad in the hospital and he suddenly realizes what a vulnerable position he's in and that Pennywise could strike at any time. I hate reading that part at night.
Yes, the idea of horror can be scariest of all. Blood and guts are not quite as scary as anticipated horror.
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
82,822
47
United States
It's that part where Mike is biking home at night from visiting his dad in the hospital and he suddenly realizes what a vulnerable position he's in and that Pennywise could strike at any time. I hate reading that part at night.
There's another scene when Mike is alone in the library after hours and he feels the presence of Pennywise. I think there was a yellow balloon that floats past him. I also like when Ben sees the mummy on the frozen canal.
The Tommyknockers gave me more nightmares, though. Don't get me wrong, I feared for our characters when they were in danger but the scares were minimal. It sounds odd since this gargantuan novel is bursting with every monster under the sun but I have never seen it as one of his scariest.
 

AchtungBaby

Well-Known Member
Dec 5, 2011
3,856
15,540
There's another scene when Mike is alone in the library after hours and he feels the presence of Pennywise. I think there was a yellow balloon that floats past him. I also like when Ben sees the mummy on the frozen canal.
The Tommyknockers gave me more nightmares, though. Don't get me wrong, I feared for our characters when they were in danger but the scares were minimal. It sounds odd since this gargantuan novel is bursting with every monster under the sun but I have never seen it as one of his scariest.
I agree with you on both counts, Doc. The woods give me the heebie jeebies. I live deep in the woods, so maybe that's why Tommyknockers has always been one of my favorites.
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
82,822
47
United States
I agree with you on both counts, Doc. The woods give me the heebie jeebies. I live deep in the woods, so maybe that's why Tommyknockers has always been one of my favorites.
Exactly. I remember getting so many uneasy vibes from that book. The universal fear and paranoia of your friend(s) and town turning into "pod people", the low basso profundo hum of grinding machinery, the washing machines and green light...so many things that got in my head and burrowed there. Ha.
 

recitador

Speed Reader
Sep 3, 2016
1,750
8,264
41
Exactly. I remember getting so many uneasy vibes from that book. The universal fear and paranoia of your friend(s) and town turning into "pod people", the low basso profundo hum of grinding machinery, the washing machines and green light...so many things that got in my head and burrowed there. Ha.

tommyknockers doesn't get a lot of love, but i dig a good body snatchers type story any day.
 

Grannie CeeCee

Well-Known Member
Sep 7, 2017
155
895
64
The Drained Swamp, Ohio, USA
Yeah, I'm having to put the book down before the scary parts, just to gather my nerve. It's a little weird, because I really remembered very little about the book from back when I first read it in the 80's. But as I progress, I'll remember what's about to happen, and I'm like, "OhFUDGE." and put it down.

Apparently, like the characters, I'd just forgotten the trauma, but now that I've returned, it's all coming back to me.
 

Reactor

Well-Known Member
Aug 10, 2009
80
49
Szirmabesenyo, Hungary
I never found that part scary at all, simply because I knew that It was snoozing that time. Since the Losers kicked It's arse down the sewers, It had no choice but to retreat early. It is even mentioned towards the end that It was gone for 27 years after their first clash, and the cycle ended abruptly. So Mike was absolutely safe. And yes, he knew about the cycle thanks to his father, so during those hospital visits, he had nothing to afraid of.

About the eerie, scarry parts, yup, there are many, after a while, I lost count of them. But here are the most notable:

- Patrick Hockstetter's death and the winged leeches.
- When Bill and Richie escaped from the Werewolf It, and looked back, they saw something orange blinking near the canal cover back there. For some reason, this sentence gave me the creeps.
- Eddie Corcoran's death.
- Stan's encounter in the water tower. Those footsteps, and the closed door. Mmmmm, freaky!!!
- Mike's first rememberances in the first interlude about John Markson, the lumberjack massacre and the exploding ironworks.
- The voices from the drains (Beverly, Mr. Ripsom, and the skateboard kid's tale)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: mal and GNTLGNT

Wayoftheredpanda

Flaming Wonder Telepath
May 15, 2018
4,907
22,094
20
Nothing's scarier in the book than that chapter
giving Patrick such demented character, only to kill him with flying leeches soon after.

Also that scene where Henry is in the asylum and he starts hearing IT in the form of the clown-moon
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: mal and GNTLGNT