Why it’s scary: Whether it’s from the 1986 made-for-TV movie or the sleeker 2017 remake, Stephen King’s Pennywise the Clown is an almost perfect horror movie monster.
First, it’s a clown — and even if John Wayne Gacy had never been born, we eventually would have come to the collective realization that clowns are friggin’ creepy. Secondly, it eats children. Thirdly, it lurks in the sewers.
Pennywise can shift shapes, induce hallucinations and read minds, learning a person’s deepest fears and using them to induce terror. Fear makes children taste better, so the more it can scare someone, the better the dinner — and since Pennywise comes around once every 27 years, it’s going to want a fine feast indeed.
Pennywise isn’t the creature’s true form, though. The monster is an ancient alien that resembles a spider. Unfortunately, its real form is far less scary than the clown it’s famous for.
