Janine was six years old when she snuck down the stairs, peeked through the banister, and watched a clown pull a little boy named Georgie into a storm drain. Her mom had been very clear that night: you are not coming downstairs. She came downstairs anyway. That one scene from the 1990 IT miniseries led to years of nightmares, a full-blown phobia of Tim Curry, and (eventually) a love of horror that has lasted forty-plus years.
For this episode of our childhood trauma series, we sat down with Janine from Graeae Horror to rewatch Stephen King’s IT and figure out why it hit so hard. If you have that one movie that stuck with you long after the credits rolled, you’re in good company here. Janine is also about to run her very first horror film festival, the Shared Sight Film Festival in Nottingham, and we saved the details for the end.
Why IT (1990) Traumatized a Generation of Kids
Our childhood trauma episodes are basically free therapy: we revisit what we watched way too young and see how it lands now. We’ve covered Dolls, Poltergeist, and Evil Dead, and IT still feels like the most traumatic pick so far.
ABC aired the two-part miniseries on November 18 and 20, 1990. It was the first adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 novel, and because it was on network TV, kids could watch it the second it aired. No ticket, no waiting for the VHS. Shot in Vancouver on a $12 million budget, it pulled in 30 million viewers.
Janine caught it on Sky TV in the UK, after trailers had convinced six-year-old her that this would be fun.
Oh, it’s a clown. We love clowns.
It did not go as planned.
Meaghan pointed out that what scares us as kids often becomes our way into the genre. Arthur put it best:
It’s created that node in your brain that’s like, okay, you like this weird stuff now.
Our own stories were tamer. Meaghan couldn’t get past one scene in I Know What You Did Last Summer at eight or nine, then was fine at 11. Arthur spent years sure someone was behind him whenever he walked down a hallway alone.
Graeae Horror’s Tim Curry Phobia (and the Pennywise Tattoo That Cured It)
Meaghan loves Tim Curry and always will. Janine had what she calls “the adverse reaction.” She couldn’t watch anything with him in it until she was 17 or 18, which meant no Muppet Treasure Island, no Rocky Horror Picture Show, and no Legend. She tried a few times and ended up shaking, crying, and leaving the room.
When you say trauma, this is peak.
The nightmares were specific, which made them creepier. Every Friday she’d take her pocket money to the sweet shop near home, and in the dream Pennywise would be waiting with his balloons. He’d walk her home, drop a hand on her shoulder, and she’d jolt awake in a sweat. For years.
Arthur summed up how parents handled this kind of thing back then:
In the eighties, they’re like, oh, they’ll get over it.
Then, in his best parent voice:
Drink some water. You’re fine.
It even followed her into a theater. At Burke & Hare, a Simon Pegg dark comedy, Tim Curry’s face popped up unannounced, and she sank into her seat and had to leave.
Then came Andy Muschietti’s IT in 2017. Janine went with a group of about 12 friends, had to be corralled up the stairs, and sat with a friend gripping each hand. After the opening scene, they all turned to check on her. Her reaction?
Oh my God, that was awesome. It was so gory.
These days she’s fine, and she has a Pennywise tattoo on her thigh: an illustrated version of Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise holding a balloon, with Tim Curry’s face from the moon scene inside it.
So I have Tim Curry on me.
And before you worry:
Before anyone panics and calls Samaritans or anything, I’m absolutely fine.
Meaghan’s history with him is different: his FernGully character might have been her first voice crush. “That man has a sexy voice. I don’t care.”
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The Losers Club Cast: Who Still Holds Up
Richard Thomas plays Bill Denbrough as an adult and Jonathan Brandis as a kid (Brandis passed away in 2003). Adult Bill’s ponytail got roasted right away. Janine:
Even for the eighties, nineties, it is not acceptable, sir. Please sort it out.
Meaghan wanted to reach through the TV screen with a pair of scissors. We all agreed Brandis did a great job carrying Bill’s stutter and his grief over Georgie, even next to Jaeden Martell’s excellent take in 2017.
Beverly Marsh is played by Annette O’Toole (Martha Kent on Smallville) and Emily Perkins, a Canadian actress best known as Brigitte in Ginger Snaps. Both Janine and Meaghan felt the miniseries handles Bev’s abusive husband with more weight than It Chapter Two. He basically tells her to shut up and look pretty while he runs everything, and Janine caught him grabbing a belt as she leaves. The 2019 film gives you one harrowing scene and moves on; the miniseries lets it sit.
Ben Hanscom is played by John Ritter (Three’s Company, 8 Simple Rules) and Brandon Crane, who later got a fun cameo in It Chapter Two. Meaghan was surprised how well Ritter fit the role, since we’re so used to him in comedy. Janine had one question about successful architect Ben’s landline, which is wired into his ceiling:
Architects do not connect their phones to their ceilings.
Richie Tozier is Harry Anderson (Night Court) and a very young Seth Green. As Meaghan put it,
He’s always had the same face.
Janine called him the biggest success of the cast after Tim Curry, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Robot Chicken. “Powerhouse.”
Eddie Kaspbrak is Dennis Christopher and Adam Faraizl, who looks years younger than the other kids. And yes, Jim Carrey was considered for adult Eddie. Meaghan’s verdict: in 1990,
That’s Jim Carrey doing his Jim Carrey shtick.
Mike Hanlon is played by Tim Reid and Marlon Taylor. Meaghan feels Mike is always overlooked, which is odd since he’s the one who remembers everything and calls the others back to Derry. She compared him to the straight man in a comedy. The good news is that IT: Welcome to Derry is building its lore around Mike’s stories, like the fire at the Black Spot.
Stanley Uris rounds things out with Richard Masur and Ben Heller. The miniseries goes further with Stan’s scene (the writing on the wall included) than It Chapter Two does.
IT Miniseries vs. the Book vs. Andy Muschietti’s Films
The miniseries is closer to the book’s structure, hopping back and forth between the adults and their returning memories. The Muschietti films split the kids and adults into two movies. Arthur prefers the newer, more linear approach because it keeps you in one place.
Janine loves the book, so the miniseries feels truer to her, but she thinks the modern structure made the story easy to follow for a whole new generation. Meaghan remembers the “Chapter One” title card at the end of the 2017 film getting a full rumble from a theater of people who had no idea more was coming.
That film also sent people running to the novel, which is no small commitment. It’s well over 800 pages.
You can do a workout with that book while you’re reading.
Arthur joked.
Janine flagged a few changes from the book. The miniseries keeps the 1960 timeline but jumps to 1990, making the gap 30 years instead of 27. The Ritual of Chüd is gone, along with most of the cosmic mythology (and that turtle, which you’ll have to read about yourself). The final spider form also loses the eggs it has in the book, which is why teenage Janine was confused by a clown turning into a spider turning into a beam of light.
Meaghan thinks the practical spider puppet holds up really well. How they kill it is another story.
They kick him to death, which is ridiculous.
Arthur said. The newer films have the Losers bully It to death instead, which Janine sees as a better fit for modern audiences, since horror has leaned more into the psychological over the last 10 to 15 years.
Practical Effects, Pennywise’s Slipping Accent, and Henry Bowers
The practical effects are shockingly good. Janine loved a character getting folded in half and slowly pulled into a tunnel like a conveyor belt, which reminded her of Wishmaster and the MRI scene in the newer Final Destination. Using the Barrens instead of Neibolt Street kept costs down and looks stunning, with those reflections on the water.
There’s also the skeleton that grabs Ben’s ankle, which gave her Tarman from Return of the Living Dead vibes. Meaghan still remembers Pennywise popping out of the floor drain and the blood balloons in the library.
Richie’s werewolf scare, straight out of I Was a Teenage Werewolf, looks like it could be an extra scene from A Nightmare on Elm Street. Janine loves that Seth Green went on to play a werewolf on Buffy.
It was already written for him.
Arthur:
He also has a childhood trauma of werewolves. Perhaps.
Then there’s the accent. Tim Curry plays Pennywise with a New York accent, but when the mask slips, his own English accent comes through. Meaghan loves this, and Janine sees it as the entity trying to act human and losing patience because it’s hungry. Her take on Pennywise in the Georgie scene:
I’ve got an appointment at six. Hurry up.
A few moments aged badly. Janine was thrown by adult Bill grabbing Bev for a long kiss at the Chinese restaurant (“You’re married, sir“), and by young Bill dragging Bev away by her ponytail.
Janine’s last point was Henry Bowers. If you strip away the monster, he’s the threat every kid recognizes: the bully. She sees him as the flip side of Mike, since both stayed in Derry but went in opposite directions.
Pennywise never scares Henry; he uses him. “He’s the Renfield to Dracula, effectively.” Meaghan imagined It sizing Henry up: “Oh, I don’t even need to traumatize you.” Arthur called it what it is: a cycle of violence passed down from his father. We don’t excuse Henry, but we understand where he comes from.
As for Janine and the miniseries?
Now I can officially say I probably won’t watch it again.
Shared Sight Film Festival: Janine’s First Horror Festival in Nottingham
Janine started posting her horror thoughts online after moving cross-country with no one to talk to about the genre. It resonated fast. Since January, she’s been an independent film reviewer focused on indie features, shorts, and up-and-coming filmmakers, many of whom play festivals without distribution. As she explained, that visibility might be what gets them picked up later.
Now she’s a festival director. The Shared Sight Film Festival takes place on September 26 and 27, 2026, in Nottingham, with 32 independent horror films (two features and 30 shorts). It runs as part of Strange Little Obsessions, a larger genre event aimed predominantly at the neurodiverse community, the fans who feel unseen and overlooked at bigger conventions.
You can find Janine at @graeaehorror (spelled like the Graeae of Greek mythology) on pretty much every platform except Bluesky. If you’re anywhere near the Midlands this weekend, go and see what she’s built.