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Excitement is building for the Stephen King adaptation It: Welcome to Derry, that's been earning acclaim and drawing from elements from the broader King universe. Just one day after launch, the network declared that the next chapter will premiere ahead of schedule, timed perfectly for Halloween.

Schedule Change Details

Kicking off on Halloween night at 12 a.m. Pacific Time, the next part of Welcome to Derry will launch on HBO's online platform, ahead of its linear broadcast. Subsequent episodes of the show's first season will continue to air on Sunday nights on HBO and HBO Max, leading up to the final episode on December 14th.

Series Overview

Set in the world of King's It, Welcome to Derry is inspired by the classic book while building upon the universe realized by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in It and It Chapter Two. The original It centered on young characters battling unimaginable horrors, making it appropriate that this show follows in those footsteps. However, the first installment of the HBO series shows it intended to increase the tension, offering more frightening moments than the movies and establishing a dark atmosphere for what's to come.

Premise and Ideas

Set in 1962, this show presents a different group of grown-ups and kids residing in a apparently peaceful community hiding a sinister core. Derry functions through a vicious, repeating pattern—defined by violence, bigotry, and the supernatural, as a evil entity reappears each 27-year cycle. Even though the series might appear like it skews too close to the films at first, what differentiates the HBO Max series is its two-sided viewpoint—told from the perspectives of kids and grown-ups at the same time. The kids remain highly exposed to the monster's horror, but the adults also face facing their personal demons stemming from Derry’s deep-seated bigotry and lurking supernatural forces.

Episode 2 debuts on Halloween at 3 a.m. EST.