The Sewer Chase (1958)

It

The Losers' flight into the sewers to escape Henry Bowers, leading to their first encounter with It's true form.

increasingupBearing stren­gth in each eventdowndecreasing
The PursuitThe Pursuit from "It". Into the Drains The Ambush Henry Bowers, Victor Criss, and Belch Huggins cornered the Losers in the Barrens.
Into the Drains The Ambush Henry Bowers, Victor Criss, and Belch Huggins cornered the Losers in the Barrens. To escape, the Losers climbed into a pumping station and crawled into the sewer pipes. Henry and his gang followed, but they were attacked by It in the darkness. Victor and Belch were killed, and Henry fled. The Lost The Losers became lost in the labyrinthine sewer system. They wandered for hours, using Eddie's sense of direction to navigate. They encountered the Crawling Eye, a manifestation of It, but Eddie drove it away with his aspirator, pretending it was acid. The Discovery They eventually found a small door in a vast underground chamber. Beyond it was It's lair, where they confronted the Spider form of the entity. The battle was intense, but they managed to wound It and escape.
The EscapeThe Escape from "It". The Return to the Surface The Blood Oath After escaping the lair, the Losers emerged from a pumping station in the Barrens at sunset.
The Return to the Surface The Blood Oath After escaping the lair, the Losers emerged from a pumping station in the Barrens at sunset. They were exhausted and traumatized. Stanley Uris cut their palms with a piece of glass, and they swore a blood oath to return if It ever awakened again. The Forgetting As they left the Barrens, the memories of the encounter began to fade. The psychic trauma was too great, and their minds protected them by burying the experience. They returned to their normal lives, but the promise remained buried in their subconscious. The Aftermath The sewer chase and the confrontation with It's true form were the climax of their childhood ordeal. They had faced the monster and survived, but the cost was high. The experience would shape their lives, even if they could not remember it.
August 1958
August 1958