Dick Hallorann, originally introduced in Stephen King’s The Shining, had a surprisingly big role to play in It: Welcome to Derry. The character has a cameo role in King’s original 1986 It novel, one greatly expanded for the new HBO series. In this series, he’s played by actor Chris Chalk. But developments in the last few episodes connect the TV character to part of his backstory first explored in King’s 2013 novel Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining, later made into a film by Mike Flanagan. And the season one finale directly leads to where we first meet the character in Stephen King’s iconic 1977 novel.
In the fifth episode of Welcome to Derry, the U.S. military forces, under the orders of General Shaw, descend into the tunnels of Derry, Maine. The hope is to trap the entity we know of as Pennywise to use as a weapon. But of course, Pennywise is an ancient being that’s been around for millions of years, and not so easy to manipulate. Plus, it can get inside anyone’s head. Even someone with the power of the shining, as Dick Hallorann has. When Dick encounters Pennywise in the tunnels, he gets inside his mind, and we get a dark look into his past.
Inside his own mind, we see Dick reliving his own traumatic childhood. We see his sadistic grandfather Andy, who was abusive to him mentally, physically, and sexually. He is berating him in his bathroom, chastising him for carrying on silent telepathic conversations with grandmother Rose, who also has the power of the shining. This enrages his grandfather (who here is really Pennywise), who threatens to kill Rose if he doesn’t unlock his “box.” We see as “grandpa” brings out a metal box under lock and key, which contains the power Dick is hiding. But by threatening Rose, Dick feels no choice but to open it.
Doctor Sleep first introduced the concept of a mental box for those who shine. In that novel, we learn that after Andy Hallorann died, Dick’s grandma Rose learned the truth about his years of abuse. Something which he’d kept secret for years. She taught Dick how to take hostile “shines,” essentially restless ghosts, and lock them away inside a mental box. This is a skill he taught young Danny Torrance in Doctor Sleep, later used in the novel’s big climax. In Mike Flanagan’s film, we see the adult Danny open his box to end the threat of the vampiric cult.
At the end of episode five, Dick wanders out of the tunnels, nearly catatonic after his encounter with Pennywise. His box is now open, and he sees the spirit of the recently killed soldier (Randy Mancuso) wandering around. It’s clear that his ability to keep negative shines under lock and key has evaporated. He’s clearly severely traumatized by his encounter with the entity within Derry’s tunnels.
In episode six, when Leroy Hanlon questions Dick about what happened, he explains what the box really is to him. He tells him how his “gift” allows him to see things, specifically “dead ones.” He tells him how IT went into his mind, forcing the dead inside his mind out. Leroy wants Dick to continue to use his gifts to try to track the entity down for the military, but Dick loses his temper, saying he doesn’t know if he can put the spirits back inside the box again.
Now seeing the deceased everywhere, the visions slowly start to drive Dick mad. If he doesn’t acknowledge them, the ghosts ignore him. But if they see that he can see them, it drives Dick further into mental instability. By the season finale, he’s so overwhelmed by the many dead souls crossing his path, he plans to take his own life. But Leroy Hanlon stops him, and begs him for help to stop Pennywise and save Will. Dick then uses his abilities to get inside Pennywise’s mind, incapacitating him just long enough for the kids to put the entity back in its cage. At least, until the next cycle comes.
After Pennywise is (temporarily) defeated, Dick gets his “bad shines” under control once more. It seems that, for now, they are once again locked in his mental box. He leaves the Army and tells Leroy Hanlon that a friend found him a job as a cook in a hotel in the U.K. Leroy says if he ever needs anything, he’s a call away, but Dick implies not much can go wrong at a hotel. Unfortunately, we know lots of things can go wrong. But those events (and that specific hotel) are still years away. With the success of Welcome to Derry, could this exchange be setting up a Dick Hallaronn spin-off? Maybe a series about the events at the Overlook from his perspective, years before the Torrance family arrives. We’d definitely tune in for that.
It: Welcome to Derry is currently streaming on HBO Max.
Originally published November 23, 2025.