The horror series It: Welcome to Derry premiered in October 2025 and has already been renewed for a second season. This expansion of the Pennywise mythos suggests a new industry appetite for prequel series that explore the origins of Stephen King's most terrifying settings and characters.
The October 2025 launch of Welcome to Derry as a lore-builder
The premiere of It: Welcome to Derry in October 2025 represents a shift in how Stephen King's intellectual property is handled on screen. According to the report, the show is an unusual experiment because it functions as a direct prequel to the story of Pennywise the clown, yet it is not based on any specific existing story written by Stephen King. This distinguishes it from other television adaptations like Castle Rock, Firestarter: Rekindled, and Creepshow, none of which were based on King's novels or short fiction.
By focusing on the lore of the haunted Maine town rather than a linear plot from a book, the producers of It: Welcome to Derry have created a blueprint for expanding other horror properties. This approach allows creators to fill in the "negative space" of a narrative, providing backstory for entities that usually appear in media res, suddenly terrifying a protagonist who has just stumbled into a cursed location .
Unearthing the Overlook Hotel's Indigenous burial grounds
One of the most fertile grounds for this prequel treatment is the Overlook Hotel from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. As the source notes, the hotel is depicted as having been cursed since its construction, with hints that it was built upon Indigenous burial grounds. A period piece focusing on the construction of the Overlook Hotel could provide a terrifying exploration of the site's origins, moving beyond the events that lead to Jack Torrance's descent into madness.
There is already a precedent for expanding this universe, as the story continues in the sequel Doctor Sleep. Given that director Mike Flanagan has a proven track record with Stephen King projects, a series focusing on the former caretakers of the Overlook Hotel—who also succumbed to the building's sinister influence—could draw haunting parallels to the Torrance family's struggle.
From Annie Wilkes' nursing career to Judd's WWII secrets
The psychological horror of Misery offers another opportunity for a character-driven prequel. The character of Annie Wilkes, a dangerous former nurse and obsessive fan, has appeared in various forms in The Monkey and Castle Rock, but these interpretations have been inconsistent. A dedicated series could explore the early life of Annie Wilkes to understand the specific delusions that led her to turn her anger toward the patients she was meant to care for.
Similarly, the lore of Pet Sematary contains untapped narratives, specifically regarding the character of Judd.. The report highlights a story mentioned in the novel about a World War II soldier who was resurrected via the ancient Indigenous burial ground, causing terror throughout the town. A prequel focusing on Judd's experience with this soldier would mirror the small-town Maine atmosphere established in It: Welcome to Derry.
Leland Gaunt's schemes beyond the 1993 film
The antagonist Leland Gaunt from Needful Things is a prime candidate for a prequel series because his work continues even after the events in Castle Rock, Maine. While the 1993 film starring Ed Harris and Max von Sydow captured the explosive climax of the story, a television series could better capture the "slow boil" of resentment that Gaunt instills in his victims.
A prequel could track the earlier chapters of Leland Gaunt's schemes in other towns, showing how the devilish shopkeeper operates before arriving in Castle Rock. This would allow the narrative to explore the psychological manipulation of various communities, expanding the scope of the character's influence across the King multiverse.
The gap between Castle Rock and King's original novels
Despite the success of It: Welcome to Derry, a significant question remains regarding the willingness of studios to adapt King's actual novels directly for television . The report observes that most previous TV efforts, including Castle Rock, avoided direct novel adaptations in favor of original stories set within King's world. It remains unclear if the renewal of Welcome to Derry will embolden producers to tackle the source texts of The Shining or Pet Sematary more faithfully.
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