It: Welcome To Derry Prequel Episode Released On HBO Max For Halloween

Fans of "It: Welcome to Derry" don't have to wait another 27 years for a new episode of the show — in fact, they don't even need to wait for Season 2. As a special Halloween surprise, HBO Max has dropped a 30-minute prequel episode titled "A Story of Derry." 

Don't expect to see Pennywise in this episode, which is set centuries before the events of the main series and focuses on the fictional Shokopiwah tribe, an Indigenous people who lived on the land before it became Derry, and were previously featured in Season 1, Episode 4 of the show. The episode's official synopsis teases: "Hundreds of years before Pennywise, three youngsters venture into the Western Wood ... where they encounter a terrifying ancient spirit."

The episode was directed by Tazbah Chavez (Reservation Dogs) and written by Cherie Dimaline and Jasmyne Flournoy. (A few users have reported struggling to find it on the streaming service, but the special episode should be findable under the "Related" tab on the main "Welcome to Derry" page. You can also use this direct link.)

As the opening text of "A Story of Derry" explains, the prequel episode is a more warts-and-all retelling of a legend we've heard before. It's an expanded version of the flashback origin story from "It: Welcome to Derry" Episode 4, so fans will have seen some of the footage already, but certain details have been retconned. The prequel episode primarily focuses on what happened to Necani ("Avatar: The Last Airbender" star Kiawentiio) and her friends after they entered the Western Woods alone, something that was skipped over in the original flashback.

For fans of other Stephen King adaptations, there's an exciting addition to the cast in "A Story of Derry." Zahn McClarnon, who played the vampiric antagonist Crow Daddy in "The Shining" sequel "Doctor Sleep," stars as a stranger whom the youngsters encounter in the woods. And for fans of King's novels, there's another big treat that makes the episode worth watching even if you haven't seen "It: Welcome to Derry."

HBO took an unusually long time to officially announce that "Welcome to Derry" had been renewed for a second season; Season 1 wrapped up in December 2025, and the Season 2 confirmation didn't come until August 2026. Showrunner Brad Caleb Kane recently told the New York Post that "Welcome to Derry" Season 2 will begin filming in summer 2027. The upcoming season is set in Depression-era America in 1935, 27 years before Season 1, and Kane teased that it will feature "a very different set of circumstances. New kids, new characters, maybe some old characters, and the same old Pennywise."