HBO’s IT: Welcome to Derry is already expanding Stephen King’s horror mythology in some really interesting ways, and the latest episode just made a connection to what many fans consider his greatest story ever… The Shawshank Redemption.
Set in 1962, Welcome to Derry dives deeper into the sinister history of King’s most cursed town, weaving together new horrors with familiar faces from across his universe.
One of the most significant crossovers so far is the inclusion of Dick Hallorann, the psychic cook from The Shining. In this series, Hallorann is working with the authorities, using his abilities to investigate the dark entity known as “It”, and they’re even hoping to harness its terrifying power.
But Episode 3 takes things even further. When Hank Grogan is wrongly accused of carrying out the Capitol Theater massacre (a crime committed by Pennywise, naturally), the corrupt police chief Clint Bowers, seemingly the grandfather of IT’s notorious bully Henry Bowers, decides to make an example out of him.
He tells Hank he’s being sent to Shawshank State Prison, sneering, “Do you know what they do to kiddy killers in Shawshank?”
The prison bus emblazoned with “Shawshank State Prison” wasn’t just an Easter egg. IT: Welcome to Derry is officially bringing one of King’s most iconic locations back into the spotlight.
The 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, starring Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Red is one of my favorite films and one of the best Stephen King movies. So when a new King project revisits that setting, fans are going to take notice.
The connection isn’t just a fun reference, either, it actually makes sense within the timeline. Welcome to Derry takes place in 1962, which overlaps perfectly with Andy Dufresne’s imprisonment (1947–1966).
That means, technically, both Andy and Red would still be behind bars when Hank arrives at Shawshank. It’s unlikely we’ll see them appear, recasting those roles could easily steal focus from the story, but the implication that these characters exist in the same timeline is exciting for King fans.
Even without Andy and Red, Shawshank remains one of the darkest, most memorable places in King’s literary world. While Pennywise’s evil may not stretch all the way to that prison, Hank’s stay there is bound to be brutal, especially with his new reputation as a child killer.
Whether he survives to tell the tale remains to be seen, but as any Stephen King reader knows, happy endings in his universe are never guaranteed.
I love that IT: Welcome to Derryis stitching together a shared Stephen King universe, and now that Shawshank is officially part of Derry’s world, the King multiverse just got a whole lot more interesting.
