Derry (Stephen King)

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"Derry Welcomes You" sign from the 1990 film It

Derry, Maine is part of Stephen King's fictional Maine topography, and, like Castle Rock, it has served as the setting for a number of his novels, novellas, and short stories. It first appeared in the short story "The Bird and the Album" and was expanded on in Insomnia. Derry is said to be near Bangor, Maine, but King has acknowledged that Derry is actually his portrayal of Bangor.

Both Derry and Castle Rock, when joined with Jerusalem's Lot, complete a trinity of fictional towns King has created as central setting points (meaning they exist as the main setting in more than one work). This trinity is often linked to H.P. Lovecraft's use of Arkham, Dunwich, and Innsmouth, three fictional towns or cities in Massachusetts. The link is seemingly earned, considering the somewhat frequent nods to or homages to Lovecraft in King's work.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

So far, four novels have been set in (or near) Derry:

In It, the first (and defining) Derry novel, the town is portrayed as haunted by a monster that changes shape to match the fears of its victim. This creature was responsible for the complete disappearance of the town's population during its early settlement and for literally hundreds of horrific tragedies and murders ever since. All of the atrocities throughout the ages are treated with total indifference by those around them, thereby suggesting that the monster's evil has completely corrupted the town and everyone in it. The monster's hold over the town is so absolute that its death causes an enormous storm that obliterates Derry at the end of the book.

Later, King went on to set the novel Insomnia in Derry.

The third is Bag of Bones, though it is only partially set in Derry--the beginning chapters of the book detail Mike Noonan's preparation to leave Derry after his wife dies of an aneurysm. The rest of the novel is set at the Noonan's summer home, Sara Laughs.

Interestingly enough, it seems that King wasn't yet ready to leave Derry again, as his next full novel (separated by The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, [a novella], The New Lieutenant's Rap [a short chap-book], and Hearts in Atlantis [a collection of long stories]) was Dreamcatcher which, while primarily set some 40 miles North of Derry in a portion of Maine woodlands called Jefferson Tract, has portions set in the city.

[edit] Major Landmarks

29 Neibolt Street

On several occasions in It, The Losers find themselves at 29 Neibolt Street; a run-down, abandoned house near the train-yard. The house has been abandoned for several long years and, during the summer of 1958, is finding itself even more abandoned than usual; the trainyards themselves are slowly becoming disused, meaning a lull in the stream of homeless men who would often get off in Derry after riding the rails.

It is in the house on Neibolt Street (rather, under the house's porch) that Eddie Kaspbrak first witnesses the creature, which shows itself as a mix between Pennywise the Dancing Clown and a homeless leper. Later, Bill and Richie go to investigate the house (after hearing Eddie's story), and the creature manifests itself as a werewolf and chases after them.

Still later, the entire gang goes back to the house in hopes of confronting the beast--a decision that nearly works before it disappears into the sewers through a toilet pipe, leading them to the decision to enter the sewers for their final showdown with the creature in 1985.

The Barrens

The Barrens is a small tract of land still heavily covered in plant life (often, King makes reference to the irony of the name 'Barrens' when it's anything but). The Derry city Dump is located here, as is a gravel pit and many sewer pump-stations.

The Barrens plays most prominent a role in It, as The Losers adopt it as their home away from home. Most of The Losers have their first meeting here while trying to dam the Kenduskeag, a stream that runs through the Barrens.

The Losers even built a clubhouse in the Barrens, a pit lined with old doors and scraps of wood.

Derry Civic Center

The Derry Civic Center is a recent structure built after the old civic center was destroyed in the 1985 flood. It was designed by famed architect (and one-time Derry resident) Ben Hanscom. The Civic Center played an important role in the events of the novel Insomnia. The Crimson King, the supervillain of King's Dark Tower series, planned to use chemist-turned-anti-abortion-fanatic Ed Deepneau to fly into the Civic Center on a kamikaze mission, using a small plane armed with C4 explosives. The aim of this mission was not to kill the inhabitants of the Civic Center, but to kill a child named Patrick Danville, who plays a key role in the Dark Tower story. Ralph Roberts and Lois Chasse, two elderly Derry residents receptive in the different planes of reality, force Deepneau to crash the plane in the Center's parking lot. Some people were killed, but Danville was saved.

Kitchener Ironworks

The Kitchener Ironworks was an ironworks located in Derry. In 1906, the Ironworks inexplicably exploded, killing a group of children who were participating in an Easter egg hunt. It is believed that the tragedy was caused by the monster known as "It," and that the explosion marked the beginning of its twenty-seven-year hibernation period. It was at the remains of the Kitchener Ironworks where a young Mike Hanlon saw a giant bird (thought to be "It") in 1958.

The Standpipe

The Standpipe was a large watertower in Derry, built to house the town's drinking water (it had a seven hundred thousand gallon capacity). In its earlier days it remained unlocked so that patrons of the adjoining park could climb a staircase (which spiraled around the actual tank) to look out over Derry from the top. The door was locked after several children drowned in the tank, most likely due to the creature in It.

It was here where Stanley Uris (It) first encountered It, in the form of drowned children.

The Standpipe was destroyed in the storm.

In Dreamcatcher, Mr. Gray drives to Derry in search of this standpipe and finds only a memorial featuring a cast-bronze statue of two children, a boy and girl, and a plaque reading:

"TO THOSE LOST IN THE STORM

MAY 31, 1985

AND TO THE CHILDREN

ALL THE CHILDREN

LOVE FROM BILL, BEN, BEV, EDDIE, RICHIE, STAN, MIKE

THE LOSER'S CLUB"

and, further, spraypainted below:

"PENNYWISE LIVES".

Tracker Brothers Shipping

The Tracker Brothers were two older men who owned a trucking depot on Kansas Street during the summer of 1958 (It). Behind their depot is a baseball field that the brothers maintain for the kids to play on. An added bonus for the young boys of Derry is that the Brothers often have nude calendars tacked to the corkboard in their office--directly across from one of the windows.

During the summer of 1957, "Belch" Huggins hits a homerun here; in 1985 (the Brothers have since either died or gone out of business; the depot is closed), while remembering Belch's homerun, Eddie Kaspbrak finds himself face to face with Pennywise for the first time since his childhood.

It is behind the Tracker Brothers depot that Jonesy, The Beav, Henry, and Pete first meet Duddits (Dreamcatcher), on their way to look in the window to see a picture of what they believe to be Derry's Homecoming Queen lifting her skirt. The year is 1978, and we see that the Brother's have already gone out of business. Duddits is being threatened by several bullies, and the boys stand up to them and save Duddits from having to eat dog feces.

The depot was destroyed in the storm in 1985 which occurs at the end of It.