The film, however, changed some characteristics of the killer in relation to the short story. In the book, the Kidnapper is a clown, just like the real killer was, but in the film his job changes to magic. The change came to distance the work from comparisons with films like Joe's father's classic, "It". It was the author himself who demanded the exchange.

Who was the killer clown in real life?

John Wayne Gacy had a renovation business and volunteered at children's hospitals as "Pogo the Clown." He was born in 1942, in Chicago, where he committed his crimes. Gacy was close to his older sisters and mother, but suffered from an abusive and alcoholic father as a child.

He kidnapped, raped and murdered at least 33 young people. The crimes began in 1972 and continued until 1978, the same year he confessed to everything, the day after being arrested. The victims were strangled or asphyxiated. He buried 26 bodies in a crawl space beneath his home, and others were found in Chicago canals.