HBO Max offered a prequel to a prequel on Halloween, releasing a surprise special of It: Welcome to Derry at midnight on Saturday.
Titled It: Welcome to Derry – A Story of Derry, the special is set “hundreds of years before Pennywise” and follows “three youngsters [who] venture into the Western Wood… where they encounter a terrifying ancient spirit,” according to its plot description.
The cast includes Kiawentiio, Brandon Oakes, Isabel Deroy-Olson, Michael Podemski-Bedard, Morningstar Angeline, Jennifer Podemski, Brenda Odjick, Jennifer Guerrero, Zahn McClarnon, and Eric Trask.
Cherie Dimaline and Jasmyne Flournoy wrote the special installment, and Tazbah Chavez served as director.
On social media, fans thrilled to the Halloween treat.
“Hell yeah! What a nice surprise!” one Reddit user wrote.
“IT’S A HALLOWEEN MIRACLE!” another exclaimed.
The special comes as It: Welcome to Derry prepares its second season, which will take place in 1935, during the Great Depression, and “centers on the bloody massacre of the Bradley Gang, a group of bank robbers who stop in Derry to buy ammo and end up facing unimaginable horror,” HBO explains in a press release.
It: Welcome to Derry is based on the Stephen King novel It and serves as a prequel to the 2017 film It and the 2019 sequel It: Chapter Two.
The series premiered on HBO and HBO Max in October 2025 and got a second-season renewal this August after ranking among HBO Max’s top four series premieres globally.
“We know It: Welcome to Derry will continue to captivate viewers with its spine-tingling new journey into the 1930s for Season 2,” Clancy Collins White, Warner Bros. Television’s president of creative affairs, said upon the renewal. “We look forward to bringing fans back to the town of Derry to experience the next chapter and uncover even more of what lies beneath the surface.”
It: Welcome to Derry – A Story of Derry, Streaming Now, HBO Max
It: Welcome to Derry, Season 2, Premiere Date TBA, HBO & HBO Max