The Chase in the Sewers

The Chase in the Sewers is the decisive action sequence in Stephen King's It in which the seven members of the Losers' Club, fleeing a murderous attack by Henry Bowers and his gang, descend into the labyrinthine sewer and drain system beneath Derry, Maine, on a hot August afternoon in 1958. This forced retreat transforms a childhood escape into a deliberate, terrified journey toward the monster's lair, marking the point at which the children abandon all hope of adult protection and commit themselves to a direct confrontation with the ancient, shape-shifting entity that has terrorized their town.

Causes and Background

The chase is the culmination of a summer-long campaign of terror by Henry Bowers, Victor Criss, and Belch Huggins against the Losers. Earlier that same day, Henry had murdered his own father, Butch Bowers, with a switchblade knife he claimed arrived in the mail from a mysterious "Mr. Robert Gray." Acting on voices he believed came from the moon—the voice of It—Henry gathered Victor and Belch and set out to kill the children who had humiliated him. Beverly Marsh, fleeing her own father after he accused her of sexual misconduct and attempted to assault her, ran into Henry on Kansas Street. He cornered her with the knife, but she escaped by kicking him in the groin and fleeing into the Barrens. Ben Hanscom, hiding with Beverly in the underground clubhouse the Losers had built, heard Henry, Victor, and Belch searching above them. When Bill Denbrough, Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, Stan Uris, and Mike Hanlon returned to the Barrens, the seven were reunited and realized they were trapped. Bill, understanding that the town itself had become hostile and that no adult would intervene, made the decision to lead them not to safety but into the drains.

What Happens

Bill ordered Ben to lead them to a specific pumping-station cylinder on the bank of the Kenduskeag. The seven boys—with Eddie Kaspbrak riding piggyback on Bill because of his broken arm—descended the iron ladder into knee-deep water beside a silent pump. Henry, Victor, and Belch arrived at the rim, dropping a large rock into the cylinder and shouting threats. The Losers retreated into the inflow pipe, a five-foot-diameter concrete tunnel. As they crawled into the darkness, they heard a terrible shriek from behind them: something in the tunnels had attacked their pursuers. Victor Criss was decapitated; Belch Huggins was killed. Henry Bowers, the sole survivor, continued to pursue them alone, his voice echoing through the pipes. The Losers moved deeper into the disused, ancient sections of the sewer system, guided by Eddie's uncanny sense of direction. The tunnels grew larger, the walls changing from ceramic to crumbly clay, and a strange, yellow-green phosphorescent light began to emanate from the stone. They passed the skeletal remains of Patrick Hockstetter, a boy who had disappeared weeks earlier, and later the bodies of Victor and Belch. The air grew thick with a zoo-like stench, and the tunnel opened into a vast, cathedral-like chamber. At its far end stood a small, child-sized oaken door bound with iron strips, heaped at its foot with a pile of small bones. Bill pushed the door open, and they entered the lair of It.

Consequences and Aftermath

The immediate consequence of the chase was the Losers' direct confrontation with It in its spider-form. The battle that followed—the Ritual of Chüd—resulted in the monster being gravely wounded and forced to retreat deep into the earth. The children, believing they had killed it, made a blood oath to return if it ever awakened. The chase also had a profound psychological effect: it severed the children from the ordinary world of Derry, forcing them to rely entirely on each other and on their own courage. The experience of navigating the dark, stinking tunnels together, of hearing their pursuers die behind them, and of facing the ultimate horror alone, forged an unbreakable bond among them. After emerging from a different pumping-station at dusk, they stood in a circle in the Barrens, cut their palms with a piece of broken Coke bottle, and swore to return. This promise, made in the immediate aftermath of the chase, would draw them back to Derry twenty-seven years later to finish the fight. The chase also had a direct physical cost: Eddie's arm was broken, and all of them were covered in filth and exhaustion. The event marked the end of their childhood innocence and the beginning of their lifelong, half-forgotten burden.