We're all at home and we're not supposed to go outside unless we really need to. So what would it take to get you to leave your house? Stephen King has an idea and, as per usual with King, it's terrifying, while also being more than a little wild. On Twitter, the writer shared an image that will be familiar to anybody who has read IT or seen the film adaptations, a red balloon tied to a drainage grate. However, this one adds a twist that is perfect for our modern times.
In IT, Pennywise draws a young boy to the drain by using the paper boat he's been playing with. In this image, the thing that's going to get your arm ripped off is one of the most valuable items today, a roll of toilet paper.
We've all seen the stories and odds are that at some point in the last couple weeks you've either been one of the people stocking up on essential items like toilet paper, or one of the people having trouble doing so because of everybody else. Seeing this image out your window might, in a world where you didn't know what that red balloon meant, might be exactly the thing to draw out some poor unsuspecting person.
IT was great horror simply because it took otherwise mundane, and even joyful things, like balloons and circus clowns, and turned them into something absolutely terrifying. It's hard to not get a little tense just looking at this picture, even if it is also pretty funny.
Of course, if you've got a supernatural monster outside your door hiding under the road, what you need is somebody with some skills dealing with such creatures to help you out. Luckily, Bruce Campbell responded to Stephen King's tweet and he's got the perfect response.
In Evil Dead 2, Bruce Campbell's Ash nearly dies when he takes a closer look at a deadite who appears to be dead, but actually isn't. In the sequel, Army of Darkness, Ash can only be fooled once, he knows it's a trick.
Can you even imagine just how differently IT would have turned out if Ash had been involved in the story? I suppose it would have been a shorter movie, that's to be sure. Pennywise feeds on fear of the characters in in IT and it's a safe bet that Ash would not have been afraid of him, even if that's mostly because Ash didn't consider the situation fully.
On the plus side, it's nice that everybody is keeping their sense of humor under these trying circumstances. This is an unprecedented situation, and we're all probably going a bit stir crazy at this point. We're finding new ways to keep ourselves and each other entertained. Whether it's a livestream event from the living room or a simple image, we're finding fun wherever we can. Even if, that fun comes in the form of a popular horror story.
