When to cover your eyes during ‘It Chapter Two’

Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for IT Chapter Two.

IT Chapter Two hits theaters this weekend — and for scaredy-cats with a fear of missing out, that is truly terrible news. 

One of the most highly anticipated releases of this fall, the follow-up to Andy Muschietti’s It (2017) is sure to have theaters packed with fright fanatics and horror novices alike. But the thing is: Some ticket-holders would rather not be there.

If you’re dreading your screening of IT Chapter Two and the nightmares you fear will inevitably come with it, we recommend standing up for yourself. Plenty of box offices offer reimbursements day of, and your friends should respect your boundaries. You don’t have to like horror! It’s not for everybody! Stephen King is great, but so is Netflix!

Nope? Still going? OK. Here are as many of the terrifying moments in IT Chapter Two as we could remember, listed in chronological order. Moments with jump scares have been marked with an asterisk (*) for your convenience. 

Happy preparation, you brave little toaster. 

1. Opening sequence at the bridge

Pennywise makes his gruesome return in the very first scene of IT Chapter Two — but his introduction is preceded by a graphic depiction of a hate crime.

In the opening scene, we see a gay man and his partner attacked on their way home from the Derry town fair. A group of homophobic teenagers hurl slurs at the couple, while brutally beating them. When one of the men, Adrian, becomes unconscious, the teenagers hurl his body off the side of a bridge and into the river below. Then comes It.

If you weren’t already covering your eyes at the horrifying scene, make sure to get your hackles up the second Adrian’s body enters the water. Moments later, Pennywise can be seen eating his remains on the riverbank. It is… not awesome.

2. The death of Stanley Uris 

All of the Losers are cautious about returning to Derry, but it’s Stan who doesn’t go back. Not exactly scary, but certainly graphic, the scene showing Stan’s death in his bathtub is one you might want to look away from. You’ll get the gist of what happened later.

3. The Losers’ reunion at Jade of the Orient

When the Losers reunite at a Chinese restaurant in Derry, all seems well. Catching up on their adult lives, the pals joke about marriage, jobs, and Ben’s drastically altered appearance. It’s a heartwarming scene that does an excellent job lulling you into submission — until dessert arrives. 

When the Losers crack open their fortune cookies at the end of the meal, the notes inside spell out a terrifying message revealing the fate of their friend Stan. Soon after, a variety of monstrous hallucinations are served up on the table as the cookies continue “hatching” to reveal a crying baby thing, a crawling eyeball thing, a weird squid-like thing, and a whole lot of other things.

It’s a great scene to watch if you’re into bizarre visuals, but scary enough that you may want to look away.

4. Firefly under the bleacher*

The Losers can’t save all of the kids in Derry — tragically, including the adorable little girl who chases a firefly under the bleachers at a baseball game. 

You can watch the majority of Pennywise and the girl’s tense encounter sans jump scares. But the moment Pennywise counts down “1… 2…” (and then the little girl goes, “You’re supposed to say 3!”)  close your eyes tights and wait until you hear the scene change. It’s rough.

5. Beverly’s visit to Mrs. Kersh*

If you’ve seen IT Chapter Two’s chilling trailer, you know nothing good comes from Beverly’s visit to Mrs. Kersh’s house. That said, the scene is pretty long and you should be able to watch most of it without getting too spooked. 

Here’s when to brace yourself: 

(1) Beverly goes back into her childhood bedroom and reads the “Your hair is winter fire” note from Ben; Mrs. Kersh can be seen doing a real creepy clown dance in the doorway.

(2) Mrs. Kersh and Beverly are drinking tea on the couches, and Mrs. Kersh asks Bev why being back in Derry is strange; Mrs. Kersh starts fanning herself with her blouse and you can see some very unpleasant rot on her chest. 

(3) Finally, as Beverly begins looking at the photos of Mrs. Kersh and her family hung on the wall — spotting someone who looks distressingly like Pennywise in the process — Mrs. Kersh can be heard from the kitchen asking Beverly, “What about you? Are you still his little girl, Beverly?”

Now, all bets are off. Suddenly, Mrs. Kersh is a very tall zombie-monster-thing (a naked one at that) and chasing Beverly around the small apartment with unbridled rage. Beverly ultimately escapes the ordeal, but not before running into Pennywise ripping at his own face in a display of gut-churning gore. Close your eyes, plug your ears, maybe step out and call your mom.

6. The Paul Bunyan statue from hell*

A flashback showing Richie getting bullied in the local arcade ends with Derry’s gigantic statue of Paul Bunyan coming to life and attacking him. But the real scares come in the present day. 

As adult Richie wanders around downtown Derry, he comes across a flyer seemingly showing himself dead (a call-back to the original film). Reeling from the discovery, he takes a seat on a bench across from the Paul Bunyan statue — only to see Pennywise seated on its shoulder holding a big bouquet of balloons. The two share a spine-chilling exchange before Pennywise floats down to scare the pants off Richie up close.

Warning: Keep your eyes closed on this one for longer than you think is appropriate. At one point, Richie shouts, “It’s not real!” and Pennywise seems to disappear. It’s a fake-out that opens the door for one of the film’s more intense jump scares. 

7. Bill hears Georgie in the sewer* 

You would think someone would have told Bill to stay away from talking sewers, but alas. 

In a creepy flashback, young Bill is haunted by the idea that his younger brother Georgie only died because he wasn’t there to protect him from Pennywise. As an adult, Bill is biking past his old home when he hears Georgie begging for help from an open sewer drain — seemingly, the same one where he died 27 years prior. 

Bill approaches the sewer and there’s a mid-sized jump scare. Granted, he walks away from the ordeal physically unharmed. Cover your eyes or don’t. YMMV.

8. Return of the projector with Ben and Beverly* 

Of all the flashbacks in IT Chapter Two, Ben’s is the most heartbreaking. 

Seated in a classroom next to a projector, Ben is approached by Beverly. The two share an intimate exchange — but when Ben goes in for a kiss, Bev turns into Pennywise. Running into the hallway, Ben tries to hide in his locker, but things don’t get much better in there.

Lesson learned: Projector scenes are bad news in every IT movie. Cover your eyes accordingly.

9. Eddie in the basement of the Center Street Drug Store 

It’s tough to say whether Eddie’s pharmacy encounter with Pennywise is the most graphic scene in IT Chapter Two, but it is without question the grossest. 

When Eddie descends the stairs to the drug store basement and sees a hanging sheet, just close your eyes. Not all of it is that bad, but there’s torture and zombies and licking — dear God, the licking — and you just don’t need any of that! 

10. Eddie gets stabbed in the face by Bowers* 

Coming home from his hard day of haunting, Eddie goes to wash his face. Great idea, right? Enter Henry Bowers. 

As soon as Eddie looks up at the mirror, Bowers lunges at him and stabs him in the freaking face. Eddie promptly gets into the shower to hide, pulls that same knife out of his face, and stabs Bowers with it. It’s a fun action sequence, but starts with a jump scare. Proceed with caution.

11. Bill in the hall of mirrors* 

Bill’s attempt to save one of the children of Derry from Pennywise is an admirable one. Unfortunately, he can’t quite pull it off. 

At the Derry town fair, Bill chases a little boy going into a hall of mirrors attraction. Disoriented by the maze’s trick panel design, Bill repeatedly finds himself separated from the kid he’s trying to save by panes of clear glass. As Bill’s desperation escalates, Pennywise suddenly appears. 

It begins beating its head into the glass, taunting Bill as it inches closer to consuming the boy. Ultimately, the glass shatters and the kid is toast. It’s gruesome, it’s graphic, and it’s something you might not want to see. 

12. Mike and Bowers in the library* 

When that book falls behind Mike in the library, get ready for a brutal fight to the finish.

Amidst Mike’s memories of his parents’ gruesome death in an apartment fire, Bowers attacks Mike in the present day. It’s a solid jump scare, made way more tense by the scenes surrounding it, and ends with a spectacularly gory death for Bowers. Scary, but fun to watch, this is one scene you may want to weather the terrors for.

13. The Losers return to 29 Neibolt Street*

OK. Now, you’re in deep shit. From the moment the Losers enter the house at 29 Neibolt Street, all hell starts breaking loose. Pennywise is carving words into Ben’s stomach. Stanley’s mangled corpse is in the fridge. Now Stanley’s severed head is out of the fridge, and now that severed head is growing legs?! Good God, Stan is on the ceiling. 

Suffice it to say, the house is as jam-packed with horrors as it was the first time around. Close your eyes, plug your ears, try to remember the state capitals — it’s gonna be a minute. You’ll know you’re safe once the gang hits the cistern. 

14. Inside the cistern*

JK, you’re not safe here either. Not really, anyway. 

The Losers will go through some banter once they descend into the cistern, which is worth catching if you’re a fan of their group dynamic. That said, when you suddenly see a red balloon growing out of a vase: Plug. Your. Ears.

When the balloon pops, there is a deafening sound that leaves all of the Losers unable to hear. Amidst the confusion, a gigantic Pennywise-spider-crab hybrid thing appears and begins to attack. This is more of action sequence than straight horror, but we’re warning you anyway since a jump scare starts it all.

15. The Not Scary At All, Scary, and Very Scary doors*

Ah, an oldie but a goodie. When the group gets split up, Richie and Eddie are once again confronted with the three-door hallucination and must choose whether to open the Not Scary At All, Scary, or Very Scary doors.

Assuming Pennywise is using a reverse psychology trick, they first open the Very Scary door. Inside is a pair of disembodied legs, and a fairly gruesome scene. Next, they go for the Not Scary At All door. Inside is a Pomeranian! Uh… demon Pomeranian. 

This scene is cute and funny, but still might make you jump.

16. Beverly and Ben are buried alive

If you’re claustrophobic, afraid of blood, or both, then this scene is not for you.

When Bev and Ben get separated in Pennywise’s lair, each finds themselves trapped in a place from their past: Bev in the girl’s bathroom at Derry Middle School, and Ben in the Losers’ Club’s underground hangout. Soon, Bev begins drowning in gallons of blood, while Ben is slowly buried by sand caving in from above. 

Throughout this scene, Pennywise takes a variety of terrifying forms. You have been warned.

17. Bill visits zombie Georgie in the basement

Thematically, Bill had to confront his guilt about the death of his brother. We just wish it didn’t have to be such a bummer.

As in the first movie, adult Bill appears in the flooded basement of his childhood home. There, Georgie, still in his iconic yellow rain coat, confronts Bill for not going with him outside on the day of his death. The phrase “You lied, and I died!” is screamed. A lot.

On the stairs, a younger Bill appears, sobbing. The heartbreaking exchange gives Bill’s character(s) some critical development, so we recommend watching — just know that it ends with the adult Bill using the so-called “sheep gun” on his younger self.

18. Eddie’s shocking demise in the final battle*

Back in the cistern, the action continues. 

Reunited, the Losers are doing whatever they can to defeat It. During this long sequence, It takes dozens of terrifying forms (Pennywise, the Woman in the Painting, and Beverly’s father to name a few) and throws everything he’s got at the group. Compared to the rest of the film, none of this is particularly scary — but when Eddie, mustering as much bravery as he can, triumphantly shouts, “I think I got it!” he is unceremoniously skewered. 

It’s an incredibly effective jump scare, not to mention a tragic loss.

19. The death of Pennywise

As we said before, the final scene is mostly action. The only thing that might frighten or disturb you is the death of Pennywise himself. Morphing into an infant-like creature, Pennywise peels apart like old paint while screaming of his greatness. It’s gratifying and a little gross — but most of all, It’s over. 

IT Chapter Two is now in theaters. Good luck!