FORTVILLE — With the inside and outside of the “It” house decorated for Halloween, Jeff Ratliff said that the scary clown will perform once for Halloween night.
Lifelong resident Ratliff said that the tradition started in 2018 and was just a Christmas wreath decorated with the theme of Stephen King’s character — Pennywise the dancing clown — from the book titled “It.” Ratliff said that once the wreath started getting attention, the idea grew into eventually what it is today.
Ratliff said that the house had been abandoned for more than a decade when he found himself having 50% ownership. Ratliff said that because of it being abandoned, the property looked creepy and he decided to go along with that theme.
“I wanted to put it (the wreath) in a more secure location so I chose to put the wreath in the upstairs center window,” Ratliff said. “That is really where it gained quite a lot of attention.”
The following year, the It sequel came to theaters and Ratliff decided to step up the decorations.
“How can you call yourself the It house if you don’t do something for the It: Chapter Two,” Ratliff said.
While Ratliff said that not everyone in the town was a big fan of the concept, there were many people who loved to see the creepy clown. Ratliff said that when he didn’t decorate with the classic red balloons on year, someone commented “It was like waking up on Christmas morning without any presents.”
In the past, the clown would do multiple performances consisting of a show on the porch of the house, along with interacting with the adults and children that would gather to see.
This year, Fortville’s Pennywise will make just one appearance — 6-8 p.m. on Halloween night. This decision was made due to the current construction detour that flows right past the house. Ratliff said that he was asked for multiple performances this year, but the decision was made to do just the one performance for safety reasons.
As far as the man who plays Pennywise, that remains a mystery. Ratliff said the man’s identity remains a mystery to further add to the feel of the performance. Ratliff said that even some of the family of the man does not know he becomes a character once a year.
“They don’t know who it is, and that’s kind of the allure of it if you will,” Ratliff said.
For those unaware, the scary set up can be visited at the corner of Staat Street and Merrill Street. The dancing clown will begin his performance at 6 p.m. Halloween night. Ratliff said that the performance is free to watch for everyone but they do accept donations for anyone who wants to contribute.
“He’s got that right energy. Just the perfect person for that particular role,” Ratliff said. “I just love the way he interacts with the kids and the adults — being quick-witted with all the right responses. That’s probably the best part of it for me.”
