When IT’s favorite shape is that of Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

IT has many peculiarities, and one of the most mysterious is the fact that it waits between 27 and 30 years between attacks. The 1990 miniseries mentioned this but didn’t really explore it, and it’s unknown if and how IT: Chapter 2 will address this characteristic. Luckily, the novel shed some light on the matter while also keeping some details secret, just to add to the mysticism of the creature.

Related: What Does Pennywise Really Look Like In IT?

IT arrived on Earth through an event similar to an asteroid impact, landing in what would later become Derry, Maine. Once there, IT adopted its usual pattern of hibernation that lasted between 27 and 30 years, awakening to kill and eat and then going back to sleep. However, each awakening (which lasted roughly a year to 18 months) and return to hibernation was marked by events of great violence. For example, it awoke in 1929 when a group of citizens killed a band of robbers called the Bradley Gang (with a witness reporting a clown in farmer’s attire participating in the murder) and went back to sleep when the Maine Legion of White Decency burned down the nightclub “The Black Spot”, where a giant birth with balloons on its wings was seen.

pennywise

However, the IT miniseries chose to let it sleep for 30 years, and the film went with 27, just like the novel.

This way, IT is a very rich story with a lot of details and a full mythology behind it, so it’s understandable that some elements are not fully explored in the adaptations, but the source material will always be there to answer some questions.

Next: Other Stephen King Stories Set In Derry