It is a 1,100-page epic about childhood trauma, adult reckoning, and a shape-shifting evil that feeds on fear. If you want that same blend of coming-of-age warmth and genuine terror, these books get closest.
Five kids in a small Illinois town face an ancient evil lurking under their school. This is the most direct It companion in fiction. Same structure, same heart.
Boy scouts on a remote island. A bioweapon arrives. Lord of the Flies meets body horror. Visceral and relentless.
A boy in 1960s Alabama witnesses a murder and discovers his town hides magical secrets. More wonder than horror, but the same nostalgic pull as It.
A nine-year-old girl gets lost in the woods. King at his most stripped down and focused. Under 300 pages and surprisingly moving.
A boy enters the woods and comes out different. A small town starts to change around him. Chbosky aimed for his own It and got close.