What Are The Deadlights in the Stephen King Universe?

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Learn how Pennywise utilizes the Deadlights in Welcome to Derry

Co-authored by Marcus Pruitt, BS

Last Updated: December 14, 2025

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The Deadlights Explained

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Effects

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Origin

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Characters Associated with the Deadlights

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The Deadlights are some of the most terrifying and powerful things in the Stephen King universe. They’re also responsible for Pennywise’s horrific antics in King’s novel IT, along with the IT films and their HBO Max spinoff series, IT: Welcome to Derry. But what exactly are the Deadlights, and what is Pennywise's relationship to them? In this article, we dive deep into the Stephen King universe, explaining what the Deadlights are, what they do, where they come from, and more. Read on to learn everything you need to know about the Deadlights! But beware, there are spoilers ahead!

What are the Deadlights in Stephen King’s novels?

The Deadlights are a trio of vibrant orange lights that drive onlookers insane or kill them, most notably in King’s novel IT (but they appear in a few other King novels, as well). The Deadlights are the true cosmic form of Pennywise (IT’s creepy villain) and he uses them to terrify his victims before consuming them.

Section 1 of 4:

What are the Deadlights in IT?

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The Deadlights are a trio of hypnotic lights and Pennywise’s true form. In Stephen King’s universe of novels, the Deadlights are a swirling mass or blinding orange lights that are deadly when looked upon. The Deadlights are most prominent in King’s IT novel, because they are the true cosmic form of Pennywise (aka It). When Pennywise exposes his true form, it is impossible for a human onlooker to comprehend the immense and otherworldly power of the Deadlights. Looking at the Deadlights drives human beings to permanent insanity.^{[1]
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- How the Deadlights Work: As soon as you look at the Deadlights, they will drive you to insanity, into a comatose state, or kill you.
- The Deadlights lie outside of the natural universe and serve as a link to the dimension It resides in.
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In IT: Welcome to Derry, the Deadlights are how Pennywise freezes his victims. Although his motive isn't explicitly stated in HBO's series IT: Welcome to Derry, Pennywise uses the Deadlights to freeze people in catatonic states. This was seen in episode 7 of Welcome to Derry, when he exposed Will Hanlon and Ingrid Kersh to his Deadlights after feasting on another victim.
- He presumably does this to save those he freezes as meals for later.

Section 2 of 4:

Effects of the Deadlights

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The Deadlights drive you insane, sometimes to death. Through exposure to vast, incomprehensible horrors and terrors, the Deadlights drive the average human insane, as their minds break when they try to understand what they’re looking at. This results in victims being deemed permanently insane (if they even survive their encounter with the Deadlights).^{[2]
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- Some characters, like Henry Bowers and Beverly Marsh from IT, have survived the Deadlights.
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The Deadlights also presumably trap the souls of its victims. Although this hasn’t been explicitly confirmed, IT characters like Beverly Marsh have heard the cries and helpless pleas of the Deadlights’ victims when being exposed to them, leading readers to believe that they hold onto the souls of their victims even after killing them.^{[3]
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- Beverly Marsh is a member of the Losers’ Club, a group of children from Derry (the town IT takes place in) who vow to kill Pennywise.
This really only happens to IT character Henry Bowers, a maniacal bully who Pennywise spared to carry out his bidding even though he was exposed to the Deadlights. Upon being spared, Bowers’ hair was transformed, going from brown to white even though he was just a teenager, suggesting that the Deadlights changes physical properties, as well.

Section 3 of 4:

Origin of the Deadlights

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The Deadlights originate from another dimension called the Macroverse. The Macroverse (also known as Todash Darkness in King’s universe) is a cosmic dimension beyond our universe that holds an infinite number of realities, as well as entities like Pennywise (from IT) and the giant, universe-creating turtle Maturin (from The Dark Tower series).^{[4]
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Research source} The Deadlights exist within It/Pennywise, but they’re also a gateway to the timeless void of the Macroverse, which is beyond human comprehension.

Section 4 of 4:

Characters Associated with the Deadlights

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Pennywise, aka It Not only is Pennywise a user of the Deadlights, but they are also his true form. Seeing that Pennywise from Stephen King’s IT novel is a primordial entity that embodies chaos and eats children, it makes sense that he is comprised of the Deadlights, which he often uses to subdue children before eating them.^{[5]
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- Although It is technically made of the Deadlights, he often takes the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown to lure in and eat children.
The Crimson King is the main villain in Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series (which is 8 novels) as well as his Insomnia novel (which is Dark Tower related). The Crimson King wields the Deadlights as a sort of magic and uses them to ascend to different levels of the Dark Tower (a mysterious structure that holds different realities and universes together), but not as a way to subdue others (like Pennywise does).^{[6]
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This one is a peculiar case, as Therriault is technically being used by the Deadlights, rather than the other way around. In Stephen King’s novel Later, the Deadlights are portrayed as an entity with a single Deadlight. This entity possesses Therriault (even though Therriault is dead) and uses him to haunt the main character, Jamie Conklin, throughout the book.