Morlocks

The Morlocks are a literary allusion used by Ben Hanscom to describe the concrete sewer and drainage cylinders that jut out of the ground in the Barrens of Derry, Maine. These structures, officially part of the Derry Sewer Department's pumping system, become a recurring symbol of the hidden, subterranean world beneath the town—the domain of the entity known as It. Ben's comparison, drawn from H. G. Wells's The Time Machine, frames these mundane pieces of infrastructure as portals to a dark, industrial underworld, linking the town's physical decay to the lurking horror that feeds on its children.

Origin and Physical Description

The term "Morlock holes" originates with Ben Hanscom, who, after reading H. G. Wells's The Time Machine, sees a concrete cylinder jutting from the ground in the Barrens and immediately thinks of the wells that lead down into the country of the slumped and horrible Morlocks. The cylinders are described as standing about three feet above the ground, with a diameter of roughly four feet, and are capped with vented iron manhole covers stamped with the words "DERRY SEWER DEPT." A low, steady drone emanates from deep inside each one, and a sour, dank, and shitty smell rises from the vents. These structures are not merely passive features of the landscape; they are active components of Derry's drainage system, housing pumps that hum continuously.

Narrative Significance and Symbolism

The Morlock holes serve as a persistent reminder of the hidden, mechanical world beneath Derry's surface. For Ben, the sight of one triggers a chill, connecting the man-made infrastructure to the fictional subterranean realm of the Morlocks, who live in darkness and prey on the surface-dwelling Eloi. This association transforms the sewer cylinders from simple utility into ominous gateways. The sound of the pumping machinery, a constant thrum, becomes a background motif of the Barrens, a mechanical heartbeat that underscores the presence of something vast and inhuman below. The holes are also directly linked to the entity's movements; the creature uses the sewers and drains as "regular freeways," and the pumping stations are points of entry and exit. The smell that emanates from the vents—a mix of damp, decay, and waste—is repeatedly associated with the creature's own foul odor, reinforcing the connection between the town's infrastructure and the horror it contains.

The Morlock Holes as Thresholds

The cylinders function as literal and symbolic thresholds between the surface world of childhood play and the terrifying underworld of the adult nightmare. It is at one of these Morlock holes that the Losers' Club, chased by Henry Bowers and his gang, makes the conscious decision to descend into the sewers. The act of lifting the heavy iron lid and climbing down into the darkness marks a point of no return, a passage from the known dangers of the Barrens into the unknown lair of the monster. The holes are thus the physical points of access to the creature's domain, the places where the boundary between the everyday and the monstrous is breached. They are the "wells" that lead down to the Morlocks, and for the children of Derry, they are the entrances to a nightmare from which they must fight to escape.