It: Welcome To Derry is a prequel to the clown horror franchise, but how does the Dick Hallorann character relate to The Shining? Find out below.
The show takes place before the events of the 2017 film It, and follows a couple that move with their son to Derry, Maine in 1962. When a young boy disappears, it seems to trigger a terrifying string of events around the town, and the show sees Bill Skarsgård return as Pennywise the Clown.
Stephen King’s original novel It was released in 1986 and Andy Muschietti’s 2017 film became a surprise smash hit, bringing in over $700million worldwide. A second film It: Chapter 2 arrived two years later.
It: Welcome To Derry debuted on HBO on October 26, with further episodes arriving each Sunday and the season finale set to air on December 14. UK viewers can watch via Sky and NOW TV and you can watch the trailer here:
In a four-star review of the show, NME wrote: “Wisely, although the fate of the local kids still drives the plot, the adults are also given greater significance, including Will’s parents Leroy (Jovan Adepo), a military pilot, and Charlotte (Taylour Paige). There’s also Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk), a name that will be very familiar to fans of King’s classic The Shining.”
“Ramping up the intensity, It: Welcome To Derry can best be described as precision-tooled prestige horror. So much so that when you see Pennywise’s notorious red balloon for the first time, you’ll get a shiver down your spine.”
Who is Dick Halloran in It: Welcome To Derry and what happens to him in The Shining?
One of the characters in the town of Derry, Maine in the new show is Dick Hallorann, an ex-soldier working at a military base who appears to have a psychic gift known as ‘the shining’ – the ability to perceive supernatural phenomena and communicate with them.
In Welcome To Derry, it is suggested that Hallorann’s shining ability is being harnessed by the military to interact with Pennywise, making him a crucial player in the overall direction of the show.
Fans of the Stephen King multiverse will be aware that in addition to his appearance in the It story – which is somewhat limited in the original novel – Hallorann is also a major player in King’s 1977 classic The Shining.
In that book and Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation, Hallorann is the head chef at the isolated Overlook Hotel and recognises the shining ability in young Danny Torrance, warning him that the Overlook itself ‘shines’, meaning it has the ability to accumulate supernatural potency over time and prey on those with the shining.
In King’s novel, Hallorann survives, helping Danny and his mother Wendy to escape the hotel, but in Kubrick’s version, Hallorann, who is played memorably by Scatman Crothers, is struck down by Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance with an axe and killed.
The inclusion of Hallorann in Welcome To Derry, where he is played by Chris Chalk, serves to act as a bridge between The Shining and It universes, just as King originally intended.
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