Stranger Things is an amalgamation of many works, and this is what makes it so special for an array of people. There are qualities within characters you'll find, metaphorical monsters you may relate to--and so many things that can spark a feeling of understanding-- and that is what encourages you to watch on whether you realize it or not. That is why many people love the show and its characters-- aside from the incredibly VFX, costumes, cinematography, directing, etc.
The creators have paid homage to all the works that have shaped them into the writers they are today, and so it is worth a mention to include some works that many may recognize!
INFLUENCES 📡 👾
- The Goonies
- A Wrinkle In Time, Madeleine L'engle
- E.T.
- IT, Stephen King
- Stand By Me
- Poltergeist
- Jurassic Park
- The Last of Us (VG)
- Empire Strikes Back
- Harry Potter (books and movies)
Read More Influences At: STRANGER THINGS WIKI
EASTER EGGS & CLUES 🔍
It's also important to understand the influences for another reason: clues. The crew hides another layer of the world we see simply in the clues we're given but don't always notice on the first watch or require context from later seasons to piece together.
(Very) few of my favourite easter eggs:
VENKMAN SQUARED
In season 2, the boys dress up as the Ghostbusters for Halloween. When they arrive at school, **Mike and Lucas realize they’re both wearing Venkman's costume**. The gag is that Venkman, the leader of the Ghostbusters, has a love interest (Dana Barrett) who gets possessed by the entity Zuul. She is also possessed.
In *Stranger Things*, **Will is possessed by the Mind Flayer** (S2), and later **Max is possessed/cursed by Vecna** (S4). Their circumstances make Max and Will parallels to Dana, while positing Mike and Lucas as Peter Venkman, as seen by their "twin-costume" situation.
EYE-WITNESS PARALLEL (BYLER RAIN FIGHT)
The cinematography, acting, dialogue, and blocking in the Byler rain scene all mirror a scene from a Norwegian drama called Eye-Witness down to a tee. The parallel is entirely unambiguous. This reflects Mike's internalized homophobia and his projection--but in the character he parallels, he also comes around in the end, later becoming a canonical couple.
HARRY POTTER x STRANGER THINGS
Just gonna drop this here because the image itself is crazy perfect!
*There are plenty of other scenes, especially the season 4 airport scene paralleling Ron and Hermione's awkward hug from the Chamber of Secrets.*
THEORIES OF THE UPSIDE DOWN 🤯
These clues lead to INSANE theories. Here are two short but fascinating theories about what the Upside Down is:
Will's Mindscape Theory: (@hyyhjin on TikTok)
As soon as he was brought there, the dimension x space spanning through Hawkins materialized into a projection of how he sees the world instead of what it really is. This theory leaves us with quite a few questions/inconsistencies, but it's still worthwhile! Super interesting.
Visit Will's Mindscape Theory on TikTok
Stranger Things is One Big Sociocultural Allegory and the UD Represents It: (Willbyers53 on TikTok + integrated takes)
- Hawkins Lab Officials = The heteronormative, white, patriarchal, capitalist system.
- The Upside Down represents all forms of xenophobia, literalized as monsters, which the residents of Hawkins have subconsciously created.
- Will Byers was called derogatory terms (S1), which is why he is the main character sent to the UD—a world of bigotry and torment that mirrors exactly how he sees the world he lives in.
- He is forced to "ingest" the hate, symbolizing **internalized homophobia**. When he returns, saved by his mother's love, he vomits this hate back up as a slug, bringing part of this world to the right-side up.
- Other queer-coded characters like Barb and Eddie have been condemned to the UD as well after Will.
- Eleven is a girl taken by the patriarchy from a young age, tested on and manipulated to be who they want her to be.
- The Hawkins Lab tests on an array of kids, a testament to how these systems oppress us all—stripping us of our autonomy by assuming themselves as the agents of order.
What is insane to me is how this show is quite literally a social experiment to prove that this is exactly what society has been moulded into. One of the MCs, Michael Wheeler, is closeted but opponents argue against the ocean of facts all because he has a girlfriend. All because he is depicted as *normal*.
What's interesting to see is how he deals with his feelings—the patterns and the consistencies with other pieces of dialogue and clues about Mike Wheeler's feelings towards his best friend. Incredible story and writing.
I'm in awe. While I wish the creators brought on a black writer to write Lucas' perspective in the show, I still find what they did relating back to the theme of forced conformity good. In season five, we will definitely see Mike understanding his feelings for his best friend and Chekhov's Gun firing back into the scene. BYLER CANON!!!!
MORE SIGNIFICANT THEORIES 📝
Some more theories I enjoy because they're significant to the resolution and have yet to be debunked are:
- Patty Newby is Ms. Kelly
- Mike was the third victim before Patrick
- Max is trapped in Camazotz, along with a young Henry Creel.
- Eddie as Kas
- The Bylergate theories: churchgate, flickergate, loverslakegate, lettergate, etc.
ELECTROMAGNETISM AND THE UD
A theory supported by science that explains electromagnetism to determine what the US Department of Energy began using the Upside Down for (mainly season two).
JOYCE'S INDUCED HALLUCINATION THEORY
(A theory I wrote in 2022)