There is something hypnotic about Derry, the fictional town that refuses to rest in peace. Each generation gets a new version of its nightmares, a new Pennywise to haunt its collective memory. From VHS screams to streaming chills, the legacy of It is less about the clown and more about what keeps dragging us back into his sewer. And now, Welcome to Derry asks, how deep does the nightmare really go?

While 1990 still echoes with red balloons and childhood screams, one question drips louder than the rest: is this the same nightmare returning, or has Derry learned new ways to devour its prey?

No, the It (1990) miniseries is not connected to Welcome to Derry. HBO’s series swims in the modern cinematic universe of It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019), not Tim Curry’s cult classic. Curry’s Pennywise was a smirking nightmare in shoulder pads; Skarsgård’s is trauma in clown paint. The former belonged to cable horror marathons, the latter to Dolby chaos. Two timelines. Same scream. Entirely different hauntings.

Both versions return to Derry’s cursed curbs, but their souls are tuned to different frequencies. Welcome to Derry, set in 1962, which drags the origin story into smoky small-town paranoia, where evil hides behind politeness and penny candy. Meanwhile, It (1990) remains an emblem of retro terror, charmingly dated yet eerily timeless. The new series builds the mythos; the old one built childhood trauma. Both thrive on fear, but speak in different cinematic languages.

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As Tim Curry’s smirk fades into VHS history, a new generation bleeds terror with sophistication, and somehow, the kids of Welcome to Derry make it look poetic.

Since Welcome to Derry dropped yesterday, the internet has been gloriously haunted, with praise, not ghosts. Blake Cameron James, Clara Stack, Amanda Christine, Mikkal Karim-Fidler, and Jack Molloy Legault deliver performances that swing between trembling fear and quiet defiance. Their terror feels lived-in, their courage heartbreakingly raw. These kids do not just face monsters; they expose the emotional tax of surviving childhood in a town allergic to innocence.

Behind the goosebumps, the making of Welcome to Derry was its own endurance test. The young cast battled real storms, fake blood, and the occasional existential dread of night shoots. Directors Andy and Barbara Muschietti ran the set like haunted daycare, balancing terror with tenderness, panic with play. Clara Stack even told Entertainment Weekly that the blood-drenched theater scene was “so much fun.” And perhaps that is the trick, It (1990) and Welcome to Derry are not connected by story, but by the human addiction to fear.

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 What are your thoughts on the eerie evolution from It (1990) to Welcome to Derry? Let us know in the comments below.