Halloween is upon us, and for many cinephiles out there that means it's time to watch as many scary movies as possible. Some of the best horror movies in recent memory were Andy Muschietti's IT films, and that franchise was recently expanded with the TV prequel spinoff Welcome to Derry (which is streaming with a HBO Max subscription). The first episode was full of Stephen King easter eggs and legit terrifying, but I still have a bone to pick with the network. Hear me out.
The premiere of IT: Welcome To Derry aired on Sunday the 26th of October, and has already joined the ranks of HBO shows that got the world talking. I'm already all-in on this book to screen adaptation, although there's one issue: I wish the show premireed at the beggining of October so I could have enjoyed it all Spooky Season.
I Wish Welcome To Derry Premiered Earlier In October For Halloween Season
I'm already counting down the days for the second episode of IT: Welcome to Derry to arrive. Luckily, HBO Max will stream the episode a few days early, on Halloween night, which is one of the festive ways I'll be celebrating that beloved holiday. But, it would have been even more fun to tune in every Sunday during October to watch the prequel series' bloody adventures. I mean, am I crazy here or did the network miss a big opportunity?
To be clear: I adored the first episode and will absolutely be tuning in every week to see how things shake down in Derry, and how Pennywise as we know it eventually rises up. I thought it would have been really fun, though, to get into the Halloween spirit with a premiere three weeks earlier on October 5th. I know I'm not the only one who re-watches Halloween episodes every spooky season, so IT: Welcome to Derry would have been able to basically market itself. Instead, the show might have to wait for word of mouth to get people really into it. Luckily, that process has already begun, given how deadly and epic Episode 1 was.
In fact, the absence of Halloween programming was a common theme this year as a whole. There's a severe lack of upcoming horror movies on the calendar for 2026, despite how much the genre continues to thrive. Instead, recent hits like Weapons and Sinners were released over the summer, leaving October as basically a ghost town.
Both of Andy Muschietti's IT movies performed well at the box office, so there's good will built with the fans. I'm sure they'll still tune in to watch the Welcome to Derry, but I also maintain that starting the season earlier in October would have only helped its viewership. Instead, we'll be watching horror content into December. I'm a big horror nerd so I'll be there regardless, but the timing is bothering me a tad.
IT: Welcome to Derry airs new episodes Sundays as part of the 2025 TV schedule. I'm curious to see if there are plans for a second season, or perhaps even more movies next. Fingers crossed.
