Part horror, part nostalgia, part love letter to every 80s film you grew up with. How much of Hawkins do you actually remember?
Stranger Things works because it hits two things at once: genuine dread and pure nostalgia. The Duffer Brothers hid E.T., Stand By Me and Stephen King references everywhere. This quiz finds out if you noticed.
Pick your level
Stranger Things is not just a monster show. It is a careful recreation of a specific feeling: being twelve years old, watching something you probably should not have been allowed to watch, on a Friday night in 1983. The show is packed with references to E.T., Stand By Me, The Thing and nearly every Spielberg and Stephen King moment that defined a generation.
This quiz goes beyond the main plot. It tests the details: the names, the dates, the music that saved Max's life, the laboratory you were never supposed to know about. If you were paying attention to the world around the story, this is your quiz.
All ten easy level questions, with the answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder, a big star of the 1980s and 1990s, returning to the era.
Correct answer: It bleeds
It bleeds, which is a sign that she has pushed too hard.
Correct answer: A skateboard
A skateboard, which immediately impresses Lucas and Dustin.
Correct answer: Ice cream
Ice cream, and Steve wears a sailor's outfit there, to his great shame.
Correct answer: A baseball bat with nails
A baseball bat with nails, inherited from Nancy and Jonathan.
Correct answer: Master of Puppets
Master of Puppets, a scene that sent the song back into the charts.
Correct answer: Finn Wolfhard
Finn Wolfhard, also seen in the It films.
Correct answer: Starcourt
Starcourt, which looks very modern and hides something else.
Correct answer: Dart
Dart, a lovely little pet right up to the moment it isn't.
Correct answer: Eddie Munson
Eddie Munson, the school's metalhead and Dungeon Master.
Want to warm up before playing or double-check something? Open any question to reveal the correct answer and a short explanation.
Correct answer: Hawkins
Stranger Things is set in Hawkins, a fictional small town in Indiana. The show was filmed mainly in Georgia, around Atlanta and Jackson, not in Indiana.
Correct answer: 011
The girl has the number 011 (Eleven) tattooed on her left forearm. It corresponds to her subject number in the experiments run at the Hawkins lab by Dr Brenner, whom she calls "Papa."
Correct answer: Demogorgon
The Demogorgon is the main monster of Season 1. The name was given to it by Dustin and Mike, both fans of Dungeons and Dragons. The creature comes from the Upside Down and abducts several Hawkins residents.
Correct answer: Eggo waffles
Eleven has an obsession with Eggo frozen waffles. Her love of Eggos has become one of the show's most recognisable cultural references. She typically eats them cold, straight out of the packet.
Correct answer: Henry Creel / Number One
Vecna is Henry Creel, also known as Number One, the first test subject of Dr Brenner's experiments. He massacred his own family as a child and was banished to the Upside Down by Eleven.
Correct answer: Running Up That Hill
Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush (released in 1985) is the song that helps Max escape Vecna's grasp in Season 4. After the episode aired, the song re-entered global charts 37 years after its original release.
Correct answer: Hawkins National Laboratory
The facility is called the Hawkins National Laboratory. It conducts secret experiments linked to the CIA's MKUltra programme, particularly on individuals with psychic abilities like Eleven.
Correct answer: Neil Hargrove
Neil Hargrove is Billy's biological father and Max's stepfather. He is a violent man whose negative influence goes a long way to explaining Billy's aggressive behaviour throughout the series.
Correct answer: 1983
Season 1 of Stranger Things takes place mainly in November 1983. The period is rich with cultural references central to the show: Spielberg films, arcade games and synth-heavy 80s music.
Correct answer: Lights and light bulbs
Joyce realises that Will is communicating with her through the lights and bulbs in her house from the Upside Down. She covers her living room wall with letters so Will can spell out messages using the lights.
Stuck on one, or just curious how nasty it gets? Every hard mode question is here with its answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Should I Stay or Should I Go
Should I Stay or Should I Go, played from inside the Upside Down.
Correct answer: The Mind Flayer
The Mind Flayer, again borrowed from Dungeons & Dragons.
Correct answer: Chrissy Cunningham
Chrissy Cunningham, in Eddie's trailer, which gets him into a lot of trouble.
Correct answer: At Melvald's General Store
At Melvald's General Store, where she buys a lot of Christmas lights on credit.
Correct answer: Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein
Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, of the band S U R V I V E.
Correct answer: ITC Benguiat
ITC Benguiat, as on many Stephen King paperbacks of the era.
Correct answer: Murray Bauman
Murray Bauman, who has been right about almost everything, unfortunately.
Correct answer: Fabergé Organics and Farrah Fawcett spray
Fabergé Organics and Farrah Fawcett spray, as he tells Dustin in Season 2. Tell anyone and you are dead.
Correct answer: Eight
Eight, Eleven's "sister" from the lab, who can create illusions.
Correct answer: Cerebro
Cerebro, built to reach Suzie in Utah, and named after the X-Men machine.