What It Is: Spiders so many people hate them, Stephen King included. For all King's terrifying creations, he still includes (and builds upon) plain old spiders. Examples of this are seen in The Mist, which feature spider-like monsters known as Grey Widowers that can produce corrosive spider webs, and IT, which sees Pennywise show up as its true form, a giant spider. What It Means: Though there are plenty of debates over what Pennywise becoming a giant spider really means (many interpret this as a sign of the children growing up and learning to face their fears in rational ways that they understand) it's clear what spiders in King's novels represent on a larger scale. Throughout his novels, Stephen King comes up with all kinds of horrifying abominations, like He Walks Behind The Rows in Children Of The Corn, Kurt Barlow in Salem's Lot and The Leatherheads in Under The Dome. As scary as these monsters are, it's possible to remind yourself of their unreality they're fictitious, they're invented, they can't harm you. Spiders, on the other hand, are a terror that spring from the real world. Like many of King's best writing qualities, they're founded on truth. They're something that the reader can't tell themselves isn't real. There's also the fact they're written with genuine fear. King is a self-confessed arachnophobe, so this allows him to write incredibly detailed and believable reactions, as well as to hone in on aspects that are particularly scary.
