8 Stephen King Movie Fan Theories That Will Blow Your Mind

Hang on a minute, you don't remember seeing a giant shapeshifting clown lurking in the corridors of the Overlook Hotel along with Elsa on a mad frost binge? Unsurprising really, since there wasn't one actually there.

But then that begs the question: how the hell can Pennywise be linked to The Shining in any which way at all?

If we remember that Pennywise himself isn't actually a clown, but rather an inter-dimensional being that takes on the form of ones greatest fears to then feast on those he terrifies, then his connection to a Hotel hellbent on scaring the bejesus out of its inhabitants isn't that tenuous to make. And whilst it's common for It to target children, this is only because they're easily manipulated through fear.

When offered up the prime cutlet of Jack Torrance, a man defined by the fear of losing his family after abusing his son and after a second chance in a desolate hotel, It has some easy pickings to take advantage of. Why would it go for the far stronger Danny when Jack's mind is already frayed at the edges, and so easily unravelled? It can get a whole family of three for the price of one in this scenario, as by playing with Jack, It also taps into Wendy and Danny's fears of his rage running out of control.

If you take into account that the supernatural elements of The Shining can only be explained with a physical counterpart - such as Danny getting strangled and a door being opened by a 'ghost' - then It's involvement seems all the more likely.

That It has portrayed itself as the ghosts of his past encounters previously (if you look at the TV guests in the scene where Henry Bowers is being driven to kill his father), then the supernatural leanings of the Overlook further play in to the evil clowns modus operandi.

In short: the Overlook is an extension of Pennywise's reign of terror. So that's where he goes for 27 years at a time...