<P> The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1987, and received nominations for the Locus and World Fantasy Awards that same year . Publishers Weekly listed It as the best - selling book in the United States in 1986 . It has been adapted into a 1990 two - part miniseries directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, and into a two - part film duology directed by Andy Muschietti; It: Chapter One was released in 2017 and It: Chapter Two will be released in 2019 . </P> <P> During a heavy rainstorm in Derry, Maine, six - year - old George "Georgie" Denbrough is chasing a paper boat that was given to him by his older brother, Bill, down a gutter . The boat is washed down a storm drain and Georgie peers in, seeing a pair of glowing yellow eyes . Georgie is confronted by a man dressed in a silver clown suit who introduces himself as "Mr. Bob Gray", a.k.a. "Pennywise the Dancing Clown". Pennywise offers Georgie a balloon which he cautiously refuses . The clown then entices Georgie to reach into the drain to retrieve his boat; he then severs Georgie's arm and leaves him to bleed to death . </P> <P> The following June, Benjamin "Ben" Hanscom, an overweight eleven - year - old boy, is harassed by a gang of bullies led by the feared Henry Bowers . On the last day of school, Ben hides from his tormentors in the Barrens after an altercation with the Bowers Gang . Ben befriends Edward "Eddie" Kaspbrak and William "Bill" Denbrough, Georgie's older brother . The three boys later befriend fellow misfits Richard "Richie" Tozier, Stanley "Stan" Uris, and Beverly "Bev" Marsh, forming the "Losers Club". In July of the same summer, the Losers are joined by Michael "Mike" Hanlon . </P> <P> As the summer draws on, the Losers realize that they've each had an encounter with a seemingly omniscient, alien shape - shifting entity which takes the form of whatever they fear the most: Ben as a mummy, Eddie as a leper, Bill as Georgie's ghost, Richie as a werewolf, Stan as two drowned boys, Mike as a flesh eating bird, and Beverly as a fountain of blood spurting from her bathroom sink . Due to the unknown origin of the monster, the Losers refer to the creature as "It" and link It with a series of recent child murders, including that of Edward "Eddie" Corcoran, who is killed by the monster in the form of the Gill - man . </P>

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