before I start just let me say that reading this book was a big deal for me. once upon a time , when i was five , i saw the movie "It" based on the novel of the same name. needless to say it scared the bejesus outta me and i've had mild to moderate Coulrophobia ever since. so reading the book was a not just reading another novel for me. and now the review. i genuinley liked this book. as a horror novel it did it's work well ( haha! "It" , I know bad pun ) , i lost many nights sleep over this book. even the parts without Pennywise scared me , especially the vampire in the library, ( * shudders * , nightmares). so , props on another scary book mr.King. but even outside of the horror it was good. ocassionaly i thought i sensed some Ray Bradbury(ness?) in there , especially toward the very in when bill is riding Silver and thinking about childhood. and the way the band of losers stood together and stuck up for one another was truly touching , i actually got "emotional" during the scene of the "Apocalyptic rock fight". so over all great book . Now , as to why there are only 4 stars next to this title. i only have to things i didn't like about this book , Lovecrafty(ness?) , and a certian little incident in the sewers. first off , stephen king wins for describing a city as " Lovecrafty". but the whole "it" , "turtle" , "other" deal was a little too much.throughtout the whole novel pennywise is basically your standard monster , evil , creepy , powerful, and he , oh excuse me "It" , has a weakness , silver. then at the end its a interdeminsional being that has one true form that the human mind can't really see so it substitutes a gaint spider. and then theres the turtle and the deadlights and the other , personally i think it was scary when it was just a shape shhifting , semi immortal clown thing. and the sewer incident , need i say more , why king? , why? but he's the authour and it's his work and i can't touch that. and that is why there are only 4 stars. but still awesome book , a real page turner , better than the shinning.