SUNY Old Westbury's 2023 Horror Conference will focus on the 2017 film "It: Chapter One" and an array of themes associated with its central villain, Pennywise the Clown.
The conference will begin with a screening of significant scenes from "It: Chapter One" (2017), directed by Andy Muschietti and starring Bill Skarsgård , at 1 p.m.
Following the film showing, at approximately 2:40 p.m., will be a presentation and Q&A with Professor Whitney May from Texas University State, who will participate via Zoom, to discuss her book "Encountering Pennywise," an edited collection that includes topics and themes such as American surveillance culture, intergenerational conflict, the legacies of settler colonialism and Native American representation, serial-killer fanaticism, and why we should study horror.
"It: Chapter One" is the first of a two-part adaptation of the 1986 novel "It" by famed author Stephen King. The story follows the experiences of seven children as they are terrorized by an evil entity that exploits the fears of its victims to disguise itself while hunting its prey. "It" primarily appears in the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown to attract its preferred prey of young children.
The 2023 Horror Conference is co-sponsored by the Panther Arts Collective and the English Department.