Once every generation, the primeval and eponymous It terrorizes the town of Derry, ME, feasting on local children and their capacity for belief. It doesn't solely target the young however, but corrupts and manipulates the entire town, drawing on and recreating the hatred, anxiety, and trauma of the populace. Here is Thanatos sustaining and perpetuating Itself in a grand cycle of mass hysteria.

This being said, I hesitate to call Stephen King's It a horror story. To the extent that it can be categorized, the novel carves out and occupies the space somewhere between epic coming of age tale and comprehensive survey of human phobias, neuroses, and their sources. Despite clocking in at over 1000 pages, the narrative structure is transparent and absolutely watertight in it's construction. The editing is fantastic, and King's character writing stellar.