HBO Max has quietly dropped a 30-minute Halloween special for It: Welcome to Derry, and it's going straight on my watch list. It's called "A Story of Derry", and it's streaming now.

The show is the prequel series to the It films, and Season 1 is set in Derry, Maine in 1962. This special goes much further back. According to Variety, it takes place hundreds of years before the show's main events and the arrival of Pennywise.

Season 1 didn't quite reach the heights of the films for me (and I loved those), but it was a welcome addition to the story, so a standalone episode set that far back is an easy yes.

What A Story of Derry is about

Don't go in expecting Pennywise. As SlashFilm reported, the episode centres on the Shokopiwah, a fictional Indigenous tribe whose home was there long before the town of Derry was built. If you've watched Season 1, you'll remember them from Episode 4.

The official synopsis reads: "Hundreds of years before Pennywise, three youngsters venture into the Western Wood ... where they encounter a terrifying ancient spirit."

  • Director: Tazbah Chavez (Reservation Dogs)
  • Writers: Cherie Dimaline and Jasmyne Flournoy
  • Runtime: 30 minutes
  • Where to watch: HBO Max

Watching in the UK? HBO Max launched here on 26 March 2026, and CultureCues confirms the special is available through eligible NOW Entertainment & HBO Max memberships.

A few viewers have reportedly had trouble finding it. SlashFilm says to look in the "Related" section on the show's main page. HBO Max also promoted it on Instagram, as Deadline noted, with a clip and the line "Catch this never-before-seen special exploring the origins of IT in Derry."

A woman in a lilac coat stands on a sunlit 1960s Derry street, with a vintage turquoise car parked behind her, in a first-look still from It: Welcome to Derry Season 1
HBO press still: Brooke Palmer/Max

Where Season 2 stands

The special isn't a new season, but one is coming: HBO renewed the show for Season 2 in August, as TVLine reported. There's no release date yet.

According to CBR, Season 2 jumps back to 1935, during the Great Depression. This time the focus is the Bradley Gang: bank robbers who pull into Derry to stock up on ammo and find something far worse waiting for them. Brad Caleb Kane is returning as showrunner, while Jason Fuchs, who co-ran Season 1, is not.

No cast has been confirmed for Season 2. According to CBR, Bill Skarsgård should be back in the Pennywise make-up, but nothing official has been announced.

Are you watching it tonight with the lights off, or saving it for daylight?