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Fans are eagerly awaiting for the horror series the Derry series, that's been earning acclaim and drawing from elements from the broader King universe. Just one day after launch, HBO declared that episode two will arrive early, released fittingly for the spookiest night.

Early Release Details

Starting on Halloween night at 12 a.m. Pacific Time, the next part of the Derry prequel will launch on HBO Max, ahead of its traditional TV airing. The remaining installments of the series run will premiere on the weekend on both HBO and its streaming arm, leading up to the season finale on Sunday, December 14.

Show Background

Taking place within the Derry mythology, It: Welcome to Derry borrows elements from the original story while building upon the setting brought to life by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in It and It Chapter Two. The first It movie highlighted young characters facing terrifying threats, making it appropriate that this show follows in those footsteps. Nevertheless, the first installment of HBO’s Welcome to Derry shows it set out to increase the tension, delivering even more intense scares than Muschietti’s films and establishing a brutal tone for what's to come.

Setting and Themes

Taking place in the 1960s, the series features a different group of adults and children residing in a seemingly idyllic town masking a dark secret. The town functions through a brutal, periodic loop—characterized by hostility, discrimination, and otherworldly forces, as a evil entity reappears every 27 years. Even though It: Welcome to Derry might sound like it strays too near to the films initially, what distinguishes the HBO Max series is its parallel storytelling—narrated via the eyes of both children and adults simultaneously. Children stay highly exposed to the monster's horror, but older characters also face confronting their own nightmares arising from Derry’s deep-seated bigotry and covert otherworldly powers.

Episode 2 premieres on October 31 at 3 a.m. EST.