Episode 73-It (Part One)

Stephen Kingcast

Constant Reader

Tv & Film, Arts, Arts:books, Books

4.7 • 680 Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2026

⏱️ 82 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1986, the master of horror released the novel worthy of his title. This novel reflected many of the themes, characters, and story beats that he had introduced in his earlier novels and stands as his ultimate thesis of the horror genre. More importantly, it is the pinnacle of coming of age stories, a tale that places childhood friends at the center of a cosmic conflict, and only through the power of friendship can we overcome our fears. If that doesn't speak to Mr. King's sensibilities, I don't know what does. Oh, and it has a scary clown! Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that you packed your bags, because we will be spending the next month in Derry, Maine, home of Pennywise The Dancing Clown. Enjoy your stay, and keep away from the drains, the canal and the Barrens. You'll never know what you might find there. Or what might find you. . . As always, write in at stephenkingcast@yahoo.com Follow me on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook and Bluesky. Stay organized and up to date with all things Stephen King at stephenkingcast.com Check out bonus material, early episodes and reviews of all things pop culture over at patreon.com/stephenkingcast

Transcript

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0:00.0	The itsy-bitsy spider went up the water's spell.
0:10.0	Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
0:18.0	Out came their sun and
0:22.8	dried up all the rain
0:25.7	and the itty-bitty
0:28.8	spider
0:30.0	went off the spell
0:32.4	again
0:33.3	the
0:34.9	Hello everyone and welcome to the Stephen King cast One Man's's musings on the works of Stephen King. Each week I'll review one entry in the bibliography of Stephen King and the chronological order of publication. And this week, this week I begin an examination of 1986's masterpiece, Stephen King's grand thesis on horror and the magic of childhood.
0:57.8	The book that either gave you a phobia of clowns or reinforced it.
1:01.0	The one that made you think twice about walking past a sewer grate.
1:04.0	The one that made you remember why you hated spiders and why you loved your childhood
1:07.7	friends.
1:08.7	The one that changed a pronoun forever.
1:11.2	A novel that is oftentimes the answer
1:13.0	if you ask a Stephen King fan what their favorite book is.
1:16.4	It's a platform upon which performs Stephen King's most enduring,
1:19.9	most iconic, most terrifying villain.
1:22.6	His final statement on monsters and magic,
1:24.8	on our place in this world, on life, death, guilt, ghost,
1:28.3	sacrifice, friendships, marriages, responsibility, long-lost loves, the past's effect on the present,
	...

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