- After the Flood (1957)
- After the Carnival (1984)
- Six Phone Calls (1985)
- Derry: The First Interlude
- Ben Hanscom Takes a Fall
- Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil (I)
- One of the Missing: A Tale From the Summer of '58
- The Dam In the Barrens
- Georgie's Room and the House On Neibolt Street
- Cleaning Up
- Derry: The Second Interlude
- The Reunion
- Walking Tours
- Three Uninvited Guests
- Derry: The Third Interlude
- The Apocalyptic Rockfight
- The Album
- The Smoke-Hole
- Eddie's Bad Break
- Another One of the Missing: The Death of Patrick Hockstetter
- The Bullseye
- Derry: The Fourth Interlude
- In the Watches of the Night
- The Circle Closes
- Under the City
- The Ritual of Chud
- Out
- Derry: The Final Interlude
- Epilogue: Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil (II)
Cleaning Up
It's nice to finally get Beverly's chapter, as we've gotten so many clues about her life, but nothing concrete till now.
The adult Beverly has nowhere to go but the home of her friend, Kay McCall, who helps her out, praises her for leaving Tom, and learns that she is off to Derry. This section is longer than the others as Kay will be part of a crucial plot point later on. Once on a plane and after dealing with a guy who keeps hitting on her, Beverly has her own flashback.
Her Horrific Experience is hearing the voices of dead children from the drain in her sink one night, and then being splattered by blood. She screams, but her father, Al, unable to see the blood, yells at her for acting strangely and beats her. She covers by claiming to have seen a spider, and Al relents, saying that everyone is scared of spiders, a nice piece of foreshadowing for the novel's climax. It's also very interesting that King makes a point of showing that Al does not drink or do drugs, the two factors that are usually considered responsible for domestic abuse. Unlike other characters, Al is abusive for odd reasons (it's implied he has lust for his daughter). The next morning Beverly covers for him and lies to her mother about what happened. Meanwhile, she is terrified of the blood that is still in the bathroom and that only she can see.
Later she goes out and meets up with Ben, Eddie, and Bradley Donovan, but Bradley fights with them and leaves, making it clear that he will never be part of the group. Later they are joined by Stan and at this point Beverly reveals what happened. They are able to see the blood as well and help her clean the bathroom. Later on, Ben and Eddie share their own Horrific Experiences, and Stan finally shares his as well: he was bird-watching when he entered the Derry standpipe and discovered dead children walking towards him, but was able to repel It by saying the names of various birds. After the story, Beverly goes back home, but soon has another encounter with the drain.
This is a really creepy chapter and shows by now that all the elements of this story have come into play. Although I still feel that "The Apocalyptic Rockfight" should come next, this is still a fantastic chapter to end the section with, as it feels that we have crossed a major threshold.
The adult Beverly has nowhere to go but the home of her friend, Kay McCall, who helps her out, praises her for leaving Tom, and learns that she is off to Derry. This section is longer than the others as Kay will be part of a crucial plot point later on. Once on a plane and after dealing with a guy who keeps hitting on her, Beverly has her own flashback.
Her Horrific Experience is hearing the voices of dead children from the drain in her sink one night, and then being splattered by blood. She screams, but her father, Al, unable to see the blood, yells at her for acting strangely and beats her. She covers by claiming to have seen a spider, and Al relents, saying that everyone is scared of spiders, a nice piece of foreshadowing for the novel's climax. It's also very interesting that King makes a point of showing that Al does not drink or do drugs, the two factors that are usually considered responsible for domestic abuse. Unlike other characters, Al is abusive for odd reasons (it's implied he has lust for his daughter). The next morning Beverly covers for him and lies to her mother about what happened. Meanwhile, she is terrified of the blood that is still in the bathroom and that only she can see.
Later she goes out and meets up with Ben, Eddie, and Bradley Donovan, but Bradley fights with them and leaves, making it clear that he will never be part of the group. Later they are joined by Stan and at this point Beverly reveals what happened. They are able to see the blood as well and help her clean the bathroom. Later on, Ben and Eddie share their own Horrific Experiences, and Stan finally shares his as well: he was bird-watching when he entered the Derry standpipe and discovered dead children walking towards him, but was able to repel It by saying the names of various birds. After the story, Beverly goes back home, but soon has another encounter with the drain.
This is a really creepy chapter and shows by now that all the elements of this story have come into play. Although I still feel that "The Apocalyptic Rockfight" should come next, this is still a fantastic chapter to end the section with, as it feels that we have crossed a major threshold.