20 Horror Monsters That Were Scarier Before You Saw Them

It may be campy by today's standards, but 1990's two-part TV miniseries adaptation of IT caused many sleepless nights, largely thanks to Tim Curry's portrayal as Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

Curry gleefully hams it up as Pennywise, which actually makes the character all the more scary, since he can switch from a silly prankster to a child-guzzling monster in a heartbeat. It's additionally petrifying how Pennywise taunts our heroes, saying his true form is far more nail-biting than anyone could possibly imagine. 

So, what does the cosmic terror look like? A giant spider.

Even though this reveal itself is disappointing, the main issue lies in the execution. Although a mix of stop-motion and puppetry was used for the giant arachnid, neither turned out great, and the creature's plastic texture and stiff moments strip away much of the tension that was built up earlier in the story. What's worse, viewers waited almost three hours to see... whatever this is.

Also, Tim Curry plays no part in this scene, meaning this beast is devoid of any personality and comes across as a generic monster rather than the embodiment of evil.