Film Theory: How IT Explains The Secret Of The Shining

Well before Quentin Tarantino, Marvel Studios and Pixar made shared universes the most fashionable thing in Hollywood, Stephen King was busy building a world (well, several worlds) of terrifying stories that were subtly woven together, often in ways that weren't immediately obvious.

As well as tying the mythology of the Dark Tower into lots of his stories, the horror master set many around five fictional towns in Maine - including Derry, the town terrorised so memorably by Pennywise in It. Characters recur throughout his books, but It seems to have special significance, as if it's a sort of epicentre. It ties together with The Stand, Children Of The Corn, The Dead Zone, The Shawshank Redemption, Christine, The Tommyknockers, Dreamcatcher, 11/22/63 and Mr Mercedes in various ways, but no links are quite as interesting as how it is related to The Shining.

And beyond a merely superficial tie, what if It actually offers an explanation of the events in The Shining? What if the evil that haunts Jack, Wendy and Danny Torrance is actually the same manipulating malevolent entity that tries to kill the Losers Club? What if Pennywise hangs out in the corridors and mysterious rooms of the Overlook Hotel? There's evidence to suggest that could be true.

So how could It's infamous clown-shaped terror explain what happens in The Shining...?