With Halloween festivities in full swing, I embarked on a journey to a place that has been a wellspring of inspiration for countless horror tales. It might come as a surprise, but this eerie locale is none other than the hometown of Stephen King himself: Bangor, Maine. Often referred to as Derry or even Castle Rock, it has sent shivers down the spines of readers and viewers worldwide, all thanks to Mr. King’s fiendish imagination. Our mission was to delve into the very sources of some of his most renowned stories. So, let’s begin.

Bangor also stands as the tangible embodiment of Derry, one of the three fictitious towns that King masterfully created as the backdrop for his novels. Here, we tread on the same ground where the shape-shifting, malevolent clown, Pennywise, unleashed terror upon the outcast members of the Losers Club in “It.” Our first stop on this eerie itinerary was the Thomas Hill Standpipe, a seemingly harmless water tower with a sinister reputation. Rumor has it that King penned his spine-chilling tale while gazing at this tower from a bench in the adjacent park. From there, a short stroll led us to a sewer drain at the corner of Union and Jackson streets. This drain served as the macabre inspiration for the novel’s opening scene. We couldn’t confirm if Pennywise still lurked within, so the decision to extend a hand, much like the unsuspecting Georgie, was left to the brave at heart.

About a mile and a half away from this innocuous yet unsettling sewer drain looms the Paul Bunyan Statue. This jovial tribute to the legendary folkloric lumberjack might appear harmless, but within King’s “It,” an evil spirit animated it and goaded it into attacking the unfortunate Richie Tozier. The statue also had a brief mention in King’s horror-fantasy novel, “Insomnia.” Returning to downtown Bangor, a stroll along the Kenduskeag Stream, renamed “The Barrens” by King, took us to the very spot where the Losers Club strategized their battle against Pennywise. You’re welcome to exclaim, as was declared in the original movie adaptation, “Who doesn’t love splashing around in less-than-pristine waters?”

A ten-minute drive north along the banks of the Penobscot River from downtown Bangor brought us to Mount Hope Cemetery. It stands as the second-oldest garden cemetery in the United States, steeped in history and legend. King would often frequent this place during his studies in nearby Orono. While there, be on the lookout for the gravestone of Carrie M. Hesseltine, which is believed to have inspired the name for King’s breakthrough novel, “Carrie.” The cemetery gained further fame for its appearance in the film adaptation of “Pet Sematary,” where King even made a cameo as a minister conducting a funeral.

Our next destination lay 20 minutes south in Orrington, where King and his family resided at 664 River Road in early 1979. In the woods behind their house, he stumbled upon an informal pet burial ground that later became the namesake for his self-proclaimed scariest novel, “Pet Sematary.” The house used in the original movie adaptation strikingly resembles King’s and is situated 40 miles to the east at 303 Point Road in Hancock.

For most Mainers, it’s undeniable that Stephen King has played an integral role in propelling Bangor into the international limelight. This riverside city, once the nation’s lumber capital, now resides just a two-hour drive north of Portland. In 1979, the acclaimed novelist decided to make it his home. You can stand at the gates of the mansion where he and his wife, Tabitha, reside at 47 West Broadway, within the Whitney Park Historic District. Adorned with gargoyles and featuring bats perched atop its gates, the redbrick Victorian mansion presents an inviting yet eerily intriguing facade, as if it were the setting for a murder mystery.

Have fun exploring!

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