--- title: pennywise memes 2017, Internet reactions to Stephen King It description: The chilling trailer for the movie adaptation of Stephen King's 'It' has inspired a slew of creepy memes featuring Pennywise the clown. canonical: https://time.com/4740804/pennywise-meme-2017/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-14T20:07:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:42:51.436Z og:title: 'It' Stephen King Movie Trailer Inspires Clown Sewer Memes og:description: It involves Pennywise the clown and a sewer og:url: https://time.com/4740804/pennywise-meme-2017/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'It' Stephen King Movie Trailer Inspires Clown Sewer Memes twitter:description: It involves Pennywise the clown and a sewer twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Stephen King's _It_ Is Already Inspiring a Wave of Creepy Clown Memes > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Apr 14, 2017 8:07 PM UTC  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Apr 14, 2017 8:07 PM UTC The [trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnCdOQsX5kc) for the movie adaptation of [Stephen King](http://time.com/4691760/stephen-king-trump-wiretap-horror-story/)‘s frightening novel _It_ was released in March, much to the horror and delight of the Internet. The film is a remake of a 90’s mini-series also based on the King novel and an iconic (and terrifying scene) from the mini-series has now become a meme in the wake of the preview clip being released. In the scene, [Pennywise the Clown](http://ew.com/article/2016/08/16/pennywise-costume-stephen-king-it-movie/) beckons menacingly from the depths of a sewer until a child crawls to their impending doom in the gutter. The meme hilariously (if darkly) riffs on Pennywise’s ability to persuade people to come into the sewer, with the Internet offering everything from tacos to Tom Hardy as the ill-fated temptations. While the movie’s not slated to hit theaters until September of this year, that only gives the Internet more time to make Pennywise memes. See the funniest memes inspired by _It_ and Pennywise below. How far would you go for the new season of [_Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/4666067/game-of-thrones-season-7-premiere-date-july/)? For some, tacos are worth their eventual demise. For others, it’s a vice of a different ilk. Some people would go to great lengths, even in a sewer, for Tom Hardy. While others would do anything for a Netflix login. Even celebrities got into the spirit of the memes. 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