Every Stephen King Book It: Welcome to Derry Could Connect to or Plot Twist, Ranked

A prequel about Pennywise, currently streaming on HBO Max, has quietly become one of the most connected Stephen King projects on television. The series, It: Welcome to Derry, details how an ancient alien entity crashed to Earth in a meteor and was later twisted into the figure that terrorizes the Losers Club. Set in 1962 Derry, Maine, the show explains this origin while pulling in characters, locations, and lore from across King’s universe.

It features Dick Hallorann from The Shining, references a town important to The Running Man, and explores psychic powers reminiscent of Carrie and Firestarter, creating a web of crossover potential.

8Secret Window, Secret Garden

The 1990 novella Secret Window, Secret Garden is about an author, Mort Rainey, whose life unravels when a man named John Shooter accuses him of plagiarism. Academic analysis of the story suggests Shooter is a split personality Rainey created to commit violent acts, a clear example of dissociative identity disorder. This story can be grouped with The Shining and It because all three use mental instability to question reality when a character is under a great evil’s influence.

A connection to Secret Window would not need a cameo, only a Derry resident whose mind fractures so completely under Galloo’s (Pennywise) influence that it manifests a second personality. It: Welcome to Derry has already established that Pennywise manipulates thoughts and memories. If a character begins losing time or hearing a voice pushing them toward violence, it would echo Mort Rainey’s story in a way that fits the prequel’s psychological focus without slowing down the plot.

7Misery

Misery follows novelist Paul Sheldon, who is held captive by his obsessed fan, Annie Wilkes, in a remote Colorado home. The story is known for its themes of isolation and control. It also contains a small but significant Easter egg: Annie mentions an artist who traveled to Sidewinder to sketch the ruins of a burned hotel, a direct reference to the Overlook from The Shining, confirming the stories share a timeline.

It: Welcome to Derry has already portrayed Derry as a town held in a subtle grip, with adults ignoring obvious dangers and authority figures steering events. A Misery-style twist could feature a Derry citizen so controlled by the Galloo that they hold another character captive, sabotaging their escape. The pattern of extreme isolation, a house no one visits, and a victim forced to rewrite an official story would mirror Misery while fitting the show’s Cold War paranoia.

6Carrie

Published in 1974, Carrie tells the story of Carrie White, a bullied high school student in Chamberlain, Maine. Her telekinetic powers erupt, leading to the deaths of dozens at her prom. Her ability can be viewed as an early form of the same psychic force from The Shining, often calling it a variant of the shine.

It: Welcome to Derry has already shown Dick Hallorann using his psychic abilities to sense something amiss. A Carrie-style twist could introduce a Derry girl whose uncontrolled telekinesis surges during a violent or humiliating event, perhaps tied to the 1962 setting’s racial tensions. Viewers would recognize the pattern if local authorities later blame the destruction on a gas leak or structural failure, the same kind of official lie used after Carrie’s prom.

5Firestarter

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Firestarter centers on Charlie McGee, a child with pyrokinesis, and her father, Andy, who has a psychic push ability. They are hunted by a secret agency called The Shop, which gave them their powers through a drug experiment. The Shop appears in several King works and is often treated by fans as an umbrella group for military programs that pursue psychic children, similar to the institution in The Institute.

The prequel already has a large federal presence in Derry, with characters who act like intelligence officers. The cleanest Firestarter twist would be a reveal that some of these officials secretly report to a program that will become The Shop, using phrases like “talent acquisition” when they observe a child shine. A more direct link would be a document stamped with “Lot 6 trial,” implying an early version of the experiment that later creates Charlie.

4The Mist

The Mist is a 1980 novella where a strange fog covers Bridgton, Maine, hiding deadly creatures from another dimension. The event is later tied to a military experiment called the Arrowhead Project, which opened a portal into a different space. This portal could be associated with the same multiversal outside that produced the Galloo and other King monsters.

It: Welcome to Derry features a suspicious Air Force operation drilling under the town, lying to residents about their objectives. A plausible Mist style twist would be a reveal that some of the Derry officers are sharing reports or technology with the Arrowhead Project years before it becomes active in Bridgton. A line about “Arrowhead’s preliminary data” or a crate stamped with the project’s name would tie the two stories together, making Derry a prototype for later dimensional experiments.

3The Running Man

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Stephen King’s 1982 novel The Running Man, published as Richard Bachman, explicitly sends protagonist Ben Richards through Derry in a dystopian future. The 2025 film adaptation restores this link and builds a new sequence around it. Richards goes to Derry to meet underground activist Elton Parrakis. Richards’ walk through quiet streets and storefronts transforms Derry into an eerie backdrop through intentional It references.

The scene nods to The Jade of the Orient by featuring red balloons in a window alongside a local promoting a Chinese restaurant as having “the best takeout in Maine.” Derry Town Hall appears briefly, reinforcing the shared location. Because the film and the HBO series air in the same year, the shared use of Derry feels deliberate. The most interesting twist for the prequel would be a scene showing Derry becoming important to federal media or security planning in the 1960s, connecting the two stories across time.

2The Shining

The 1977 novel The Shining focuses on Jack Torrance’s job at the Overlook Hotel and his son Danny’s psychic gift, which cook Dick Hallorann calls the shine. In the It novel, Hallorann has roots in Derry, cofounding the Black Spot nightclub and rescuing Mike Hanlon’s father from a fire. It: Welcome to Derry pays this off directly by featuring a young Hallorann stationed at the Derry Air Force base, using his abilities in key scenes.

The prequel shows Hallorann using his shine to unlock Galloo’s origin story, proving his power works on a scale he may not yet understand. This opens the door for a twist where the Galloo recognizes him or shows him images of a future hotel in Colorado. A single, unexplained vision of a snowbound building or a blood-filled hallway would create a strong link to The Shining while respecting the established continuity.

1Dreamcatcher

The 2001 novel Dreamcatcher returns to Derry and its surrounding woods, where four friends with a telepathic link face an alien parasite outbreak. The novel contains one of King’s most explicit It Easter eggs: a downtown plaque honoring flood victims, defaced with graffiti that reads “Pennywise Lives.” The story’s themes of psychic friends and a rogue military unit echo elements already in It: Welcome to Derry.

The HBO show is quietly rescuing Dreamcatcher’s reputation by treating its elements as future events that begin in 1962. A clear twist would be a military file in the prequel that mentions an “alien parasite scenario” as a theoretical outcome of the Galloo. The series could also have an elder describe a prophecy of “another sickness from the sky,” tying the two alien invasions together as related cosmic events.

Agree or completely disagree? Drop your hottest take about which book connection, It: Welcome to Derry, should explore.

It: Welcome to Derry is currently streaming on HBO Max.