9 Amazing Inspirations Behind Your Favourite Stephen King Books

8. "It" Was Inspired By King Walking Across A Bridge In Cowboy Boots

It is one of Stephen King's most iconic horror novels (that's saying a lot when you consider the sheer amount he's written). Pennywise the clown (portrayed by Tim Curry in the 1990 television mini-series) has haunted the nightmares of kids and adults since the book was first published in 1986. Strangely, inspiration for the story that launched a million clown phobias came from a bridge. The idea for It and Pennywise was knocking around King's head for almost ten years before it was published, as early as 1978. Around that time, King and his family were living in Boulder, Colorado. One day, after lunch, their car broke down in the middle of a busy street. It was hauled to a dealership for repairs and several days later King was contacted to come and pick it up. The dealership was three miles away, and King decided he would walk out to collect the car rather that getting a taxi. While walking, King came across a bridge. He was wearing cowboy boots at the time, and so walking across the bridge made a curious noise. Suddenly King began to think about the Three Billy-Goats Gruff fairytale, and considered the possibility that a troll might be living underneath. This caused King to begin formulating his own story about a troll living underneath a bridge, only in this case the bridge was the city of Bangor, Maine, and the troll was Pennywise.