Stars of Stephen King's IT Miniseries Reuniting for Virtual Panel

One of the biggest horror hits of the past decade was Andy Muschietti's new take on Stephen King's IT, though some fans still prefer the original miniseries take on the storyline, with this year marking the 30th anniversary of that adaptation as the Salem Horror Fest celebrates the occasion by bringing together its original stars for a virtual reunion. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year's version of the popular festival will offer a number of virtual experiences, which will allow fans from around the world to participate in many of its exciting events. You can head to Salem Horror Fest's official website to grab tickets before it kicks off on October 2nd.

Consequence of Sound confirmed that Marlon Taylor (Mike Hanlon), Brandon Crane (Ben Hanscom), Ben Heller (Stanley Uris); Adam Faraizl (Eddie Kasprak), and Emily Perkins (Beverly Marsh) are all slated to participate in the reunion, which will be hosted by writer-director John Campopiano (Pennywise: The Story of IT) and The Losers' Club podcast.

Throughout the '80s and '90s, King's works were often brought to life for TV events, making for some audiences' first introductions to the master of terror. With IT being one of his most beloved works, the two-part adaptation of the story was equally beloved, thanks in large part to Tim Curry's performance as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. In the years since IT's debut, clowns have gone on to become an intimidating presence in the horror genre.

Back in 2013, King shared at a public speaking event how he conjured the concept of Pennywise.

"I had an idea when I was in Colorado that I wanted to write a really long book that had all of the monsters in it," explained King. "I figured if people think I'm a horror writer — I never considered myself to be that myself, I'm just a writer-writer — I thought to myself, 'I'll get all of the monsters together as I possibly can; I'll get the Vampire, I'll get the Werewolf, and I'll even get the Mummy.'"

He continued, "But then I thought to myself, 'There out to be one binding, horrible, nasty, gross, creature kind of thing that you don't want to see, [and] it makes you scream just to see it.' So I thought to myself, 'What scares children more than anything else in the world?' And the answer was 'clowns.'"

Head to Salem Horror Fest's official website for more details on the reunion.

Will you be tuning in to the panel? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!