It Chapter 1 & 2: Every Monster Explained & Ranked

16. Paul Bunyan

In one of the weirdest sequences in the second film we get to see the adult Richie terrorised by a giant Paul Bunyan statue with splintered mouth and bloody murder on its mind.

It's one of Stephen King's favourite sequences and of course features in his original novel, but it's spun slightly differently in the film. Whether this is some sort of attempt to express Richie's sexuality and his fear of machismo stereotypes is anyone's guess, but it would certainly fit with the idea of him suppressing his homosexuality. The way it's played, Bunyan certainly becomes a personification of Pennywise's homophobia in the scene.

Based purely on design, it's a pretty goofy monster, but it does work.