Every Stephen King Story Set in Derry

Every Stephen King Story Set in Derry

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The third of Stephen King’s trinity of fictional Maine towns to be invented, Derry has served as a setting for multiple novels and short stories.

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Every Stephen King Story Set in Derry

The third of Stephen King’s trinity of fictional Maine towns to be invented, Derry has served as a setting for multiple novels and short stories. Derry is of course best known for being the home to Pennywise the Clown, although that’s not the first story King mentioned the town in. Still, when one thinks of Derry, images of the Losers’ Club and IT are certain to come to mind. That’s what happens when a book becomes as famous as IT has.

King has said Derry is based on Bangor, his real-life home town. For the sake of the residents there, hopefully Bangor isn’t full of shape-shifting murder clowns who prey on children, numerous unexplained disasters dotting its history, and bullies so sadistic that they’ll carve their own names into a victim’s stomach. Considering how King has portrayed Maine over the years though, it’s impossible to really know for sure whether it’s safe to walk near a sewer drain there.

IT aside though, Derry has been at least a partial setting for lots of other notable King works, and stands beside Castle Rock and Jerusalem’s Lot as a pivotal King creation. Without any further ado, it’s time to explore the author’s many trips to Derry, Maine, and the ghastly horrors that usually lurk there.

IT (1986)

Every Stephen King Story Set in Derry

It’s only right that the first Stephen King story to take place entirely in Derry was IT, the novel that will forever be most associated with the fictional town. IT is a common choice for King’s best book overall, and if someone doesn’t put it at #1 on the list, it’s probably still not far away. A true doorstopper at over 1100 pages, IT would pretty easily be King’s most epic novel, were it not for competition from the author’s apocalyptic plague opus The Stand. While many might be familiar with IT via its movie adaptations, the original book will always be the definitive tale of the Losers’ Club vs. Pennywise the Clown.

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Insomnia (1994)

Every Stephen King Story Set in Derry

Insomnia is one of the few King novels to not have been adapted for the screen yet, although there have been several unsuccessful attempts to put one together. Insomnia is also set within Derry, but unlike IT, which keeps things mostly confined to the town, Insomnia takes on a much more cosmic focus, sporting a heavy connection to King’s Dark Tower fantasy saga. The story centers on Ralph Roberts, a widower who becomes afflicted with worsening insomnia that eventually allows him to see otherworldly things that others can’t.

Bag of Bones (1998)

Every Stephen King Story Set in Derry

While Bag of Bones is only partially set in Derry, the town’s involvement in the plot is worth noting. The story centers on Mike Noonan, a writer who becomes a widower after his wife’s sudden death, then heads to their lake house to try and deal with his grief. While there, he stumbles into a ghostly murder mystery. The two live in Derry at the start of the book, so naturally the town is mentioned quite often. Castle Rock also plays into things in a smaller way, getting another of King’s fictional towns into the mix.

The Road Virus Heads North (1999)

Every Stephen King Story Set in Derry

The Road Virus Heads North is a short story later collected in Everything’s Eventual, and also adapted for the short-lived Nightmares and Dreamscapes anthology TV show. The story focuses on Richard Kinnell, a horror writer driving home to Derry from Boston. On the way he stops at a yard sale and becomes enraptured with a sinister painting created by an artist who died by suicide. He buys the painting, but it begins to change slightly as time goes on, until the artist is headed to Richard’s house.

Dreamcatcher (2001)

Every Stephen King Story Set in Derry

Dreamcatcher is definitely one of King’s lesser works, with most fans disliking it, and even King himself since stating his displeasure with the finished product. Dreamcatcher later became a film that’s also widely panned. Still, the book is set in and around Derry, which qualifies it for this list. The story centers on a group of four life-long friends meeting for their annual hunting trip, only to end up the target of an alien invasion. Aliens that exit the body through the butt, presumably because King was admittedly high as a kite on prescription painkillers when he wrote Dreamcatcher after almost dying in 1999.

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Fair Extension (2010)

Every Stephen King Story Set in Derry

Fair Extension is a Derry-set novella from the collection Full Dark, No Stars. It tells the tale of Dave Streeter, a man with terminal cancer who’s generally saddened by his lot in life. When given the opportunity, he makes a deal with a mysterious man to live for 15 more years and experience immense good fortune, with the catch being that all his bad fortune has to be pushed off onto someone else Streeter hates.

11/22/63 (2011)

Every Stephen King Story Set in Derry

11/22/63 is an acclaimed time travel novel by Stephen King that was adapted into an also pretty great limited Hulu series. The main character is Jake Epping, a teacher who’s shocked to learn that his friend Al has access to a time portal. Now dying, the man wants Jake to complete the mission he never could: preventing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. While on this quest, Jake spends some time in Derry, even running into Losers’ Club members Richie Tozier and Beverly Marsh. IT’s titular monster even makes a quick but utterly terrifying cameo, almost luring Jake in.

Other Stephen King Stories That Reference Derry

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