The Losers Club

**The** **Losers Club** was a group of seven children who lived in the town of Derry, Maine. The group formed in the summer of 1958, and the group ultimately ended in the summer of 1985.

It's seven members were Bill Denbrough, Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, Stanley Uris, Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh and Mike Hanlon, with Bill being the official leader of the group. Though created to help fight back against Henry Bowers and his gang of bullies, the Losers gained the attention of Derry's ancient creature, known to them as Pennywise. The Losers would encounter Pennywise twice, once in 1957, leading to the creatures' first defeat in the summer of 1958, and again 27 years later in 1985, where they killed the creature once and for all. Though there were technically only seven member of the Losers' Club, they were ultimately successful thanks to one last minute member in 1985, their childhood friend Brad Donovan.

## Notes

* The Losers Club form in the summer of 1958. The members include Bill Denbrough a stutterer, Eddie Kaspbrak a Hypochondriac, Ben Hanscom an overweight boy, Richie Tozier a jokester, Stan Uris a Jewish boy, Beverly Marsh a lower middle class girl and Mike Hanlon, one of the only African American boys in town. They all eventually refer to themselves as "The Losers Club". As the summer draws on, The Losers Club realize that they have each had an encounter with a seemingly omniscient, shape-shifting demonic entity that takes the form of whatever they fear the most. Ben as a mummy holding balloons, Eddie as a leper offering him a blowjob, Bill as Georgie's ghost, Richie as a werewolf, Stan as two drowned boys in the local standpipe and Beverly as a fountain of blood spurting from her bathroom sink. Mike also later tells The Losers Club that he was attacked by IT in the form of a flesh-eating bird and they realize through Mike's picture book that IT has been around for centuries.
* The Losers Club begin to suspect that IT has control over Derry due to the number of unsolved disappearances and violent tragedies that go unnoticed or seem forgotten by the adults in the town. Due to the unknown origin of the monster, The Losers Club refer to the creature as "IT" and link IT with a series of recent child murders, including that of Eddie Corcoran who is killed by the monster in the form of the creature from the Black Lagoon. After further encounters with IT in the form of Pennywise and various other manifestations, The Losers Club construct a makeshift American-Indian smokehole which Richie and Mike use to hallucinate IT’s origins. In doing so they discover that IT came to Derry millions of years before in an asteroid-like impact and that around every 27 years IT awakens from a hibernative state underneath the town usually after some kind of terrible event or tragedy, to feed on and devour children for a period of 12 to 16 months.
* The kids return to the house on Neibolt Street where Eddie, Bill and Richie had previously encountered IT and IT attacks them in the form of a werewolf. Beverly shoots silver slugs from Bill's slingshot at the werewolf, injuring IT and causing IT to flee back to the sewers.
* Meanwhile, Bill discovers The Ritual Of Chüd, an ancient ritual that allows him to enter The Macroverse to confront IT. During the ritual Bill encounters Maturin, an ancient turtle and the creator of our universe, which it vomited up following a stomach-ache, who explains that IT can only be defeated during a battle of wills.
* Bill enters the monster's mind through The Ritual Of Chüd and discovers that IT’s true form is a mass of destructive orange beams which IT refers to as "Deadlights". With the help of Maturin, Bill is able to defeat IT and send it back into slumber. After the battle, The Losers Club get lost in the sewers until Beverly has sex with all the boys to bring unity back to the group. This also is used as a metaphor to represent the Losers leaving behind childhood and entering adulthood. The Losers Club then swear a blood oath to return to Derry should IT ever return in the future.
* The Losers eventually all drift apart and go their separate ways in life. Their memories of IT, each other and the most significant and traumatic events of the summer in 58 slowly fade away.
* In 1985, when a string of mysterious child murders occurs in Derry once again, an adult Mike Hanlon, now the town's librarian and the only one of the Losers to still remain in Derry, calls up the six former members of the Losers Club and reminds them of their childhood promise to return should the killings ever start again.
* Bill Denbrough is now a successful horror writer living in England with his actress wife, Audra. Beverly Marsh is a fashion designer in Chicago and is married to an abusive man named Tom Rogan. Eddie Kaspbrak has moved to New York City, where he runs a limousine rental company and has married a hysterical, codependent woman similar to his hypochondriac mother. Richie Tozier lives in Los Angeles and works as a disc jockey. Ben Hanscom is now thin and a successful architect, living in Nebraska. Stan Uris is a wealthy accountant residing in Atlanta, Georgia.
* Prior to Mike's phone calls, the Losers had almost completely buried all the horror of their encounters with IT. However, all but Stan reluctantly agree to return to Derry. After Mike's phone call, Stan is so terrified of facing IT again that he slits his wrists in the bathtub, writing "IT" on the wall in his own blood. Tom refuses to let Beverly go and tries to beat her, but she lashes out at him before fleeing, causing him serious injury. The five return to Derry with only the dimmest awareness of why they are doing so, only remembering something terrible and their promise to return no matter what.
* The Losers meet for lunch at a local Chinese restaurant, where Mike reminds them that IT awakens once roughly every 25-27 years for 12–16 months at a time, feeding on children before going back into deep slumber again. While they share stories about their interim lives since they left Derry, the group returns to the strong bond that defined their previous friendship and love for each other. When they open their fortune cookies at the end of dinner, IT strikes, causing horrible hallucinations to plague them. The group decides to kill IT once and for all. At Mike's suggestion, each person explores different parts of Derry to help restore their memories. While exploring, Eddie, Richie, Beverly, and Ben are faced with manifestations of IT (Eddie as Belch Huggins in leper form, Richie as a Paul Bunyan statue, Beverly as the witch from Hansel & Gretel and Ben as Dracula).
* They descend into the sewers and use their strength as a group to "send energy" to a hospitalized Mike, who fights off a nurse possessed by IT. They finally reach ITs lair and find IT has taken the form of a giant spider. Bill discovers It has captured his wife Audra. Bill and Richie enter ITs mind through the Ritual of Chüd, but they get lost in it. To distract IT and bring Bill and Richie back, Eddie runs towards IT and uses his aspirator to spray medicine in ITs eye and down ITs throat. Although he is successful, IT bites off Eddie's arm, and Eddie bleeds to death almost instantly.
* IT runs away to tend to its injuries, but Bill, Richie, and Ben chase after IT and find that IT has laid eggs. Ben stays behind to destroy the eggs, while Bill and Richie head toward their final confrontation with IT. Bill fights his way inside ITs body, locates IT's heart and crushes it between his hands, killing IT once and for all. The group meets up to head out of ITs lair, and although they try to bring Audra and Eddie's bodies with them, they are forced to leave Eddie behind. They make it to the surface and realize that the scars on their hands from when they were children have disappeared, indicating that their ordeal is finally over forever.The Losers plan to return home and gradually begin to forget about IT, Derry and each other. Mike's memories also begin to fade, as well as many of the records he had written down previously, much to his relief, and he considers starting a new life elsewhere. Ben and Beverly realize their love for one another and become a couple, leaving Derry together. Richie returns to California. Bill is the last to leave Derry. Before he goes, he takes Audra, still catatonic, for a ride on Silver, which magically awakens her from her catatonia from the power of belief.