Stranger Things has been an amazing, exhilarating, and sometimes horrifying ride that has been almost 10 years in the making. However, it can be easy to forget important events that have already transpired, especially since it's been over three years since the release of Season 4.
With that in mind, before we dive into the grand finale of this mysterious tale courtesy of Stranger Things Season 5, it's time to look down memory lane and summarize in chronological order all the key events that have happened in the 'quiet' town of Hawkins so far.
The beginning of it all: Henry Creel
In 1947, Henry Creel was born, and little did we know, he would grow to become Hawkins' greatest villain. Although it hasn't been fully explained why, Henry has had special psychic abilities since birth. Some theories propose that these powers were passed down to him by his parents, Victor and Virginia Creel. Others suggest that it all could stem from Virginia's drug use during pregnancy. But while we wait for Season 5 to give us some concrete answers, it's important to note that these abilities made Henry feel like an outcast. Unfortunately, he never managed to fit in with his sister, Alice, while his own parents described him as being more "sensitive" than other kids.
In the late 1950s, the Creel family bought a house in Hawkins, Indiana, in an effort to move there and start anew. While Victor and Virginia Creel thought this change would be beneficial for their son, Henry disapproved of the decision. Still, he would go on to explore the house, find a nest of widow spiders, observe their behavior, and grow fascinated with them. Henry saw these creatures as predators that brought order to a world filled with chaos. At the same time, he would discover that he had powers such as telekinesis and telepathy. So, following the black widow's example, Henry started to become a predator of his own.
At first, Henry used his powers to prey on animals like rabbits. However, he eventually decided to use his telepathic abilities to dig into his parents' minds, and what he discovered was horrifying. It was revealed that Victor Creel was a World War II veteran who ordered the shelling of a house that was filled with innocent people. While Virginia's story still remains a mystery, Henry suggested that she did no shortage of bad things. As such, Henry projected visions of his parents' dark path onto their minds.
Being chased by his own demons, Victor Creel believed that the house was haunted. However, his wife, Virginia, suspected the truth. She believed her son, Henry, was somehow responsible for all the tragedy that was befalling them. As such, she wanted to send him away to the care of Dr. Martin Brenner. Henry found out about this plan, and given that he wasn't ready to live his entire childhood in a laboratory, he did the unthinkable and decided to put an end to his family.
Henry Creel first used his powers to kill his mother, Virginia, and then his sister, Alice. Just when he was attempting to do the same with his father, the radio was turned on, and the music allowed Victor to escape the trance provoked by his own son. Despite surviving the tragedy, Victor was framed for the murder of his wife and daughter and was eventually locked in the Pennhurst Asylum. As for Henry, he fainted due to the big toll of using his powers to such an extent. When he woke up, he found himself in the Hawkins National Laboratory under the care of Dr. Martin Brenner—the same man he was trying to escape.
The MKUltra project and the experiments at Hawkins National Laboratory
Dr. Martin Brenner faked Henry Creel's death and gave him a new identity under the name of Peter Ballard. Since that very moment, it became Dr. Brenner's objective to replicate "Peter's" psychic powers. In 1953, Project MKUltra began at Hawkins National Laboratory, which was a covert CIA operation that aimed to produce an army of psychic warriors. It's important to remember that, during this time, the Cold War was unfolding. As such, the US was in a race to gain the upper hand over the Soviet Union by any means necessary, with Project MKUltra being a key part of this mission.
Dr. Brenner not only began experimenting on multiple children (among whom is Stranger Things' iconic hero, Eleven), but he also implanted a device in Peter's neck, rendering his powers useless and ensuring he wouldn't escape the facilities. During that time, Peter grew closer to Eleven, not only because she was also an outcast among all the test subjects, but because she was the best at controlling her psychic powers.
Peter eventually convinced Eleven that the rest of the children used for the MKUltra experiments wanted to kill her. To earn El's trust, Peter showed her a way to escape the Hawkins National Laboratory before her supposed murder. He also expressed his desire to escape with her, but claimed that the device implanted on his neck was a tracker that would prove to be a big obstacle further down the line. As simple as that, Eleven used her powers to remove the incapacitator device from Peter's neck, and hell broke loose.
Regaining his psychic powers once more, Peter started killing everyone at the Hawkins National Laboratory, including the children who were once part of the experiment. He later tried to recruit Eleven to join his ranks and rule over humankind with their combined powers. After all, Peter still saw himself as the superior predator, much like the widow spiders he grew fascinated with. Eleven naturally refused the offer, and the two were forced to confront each other.
Eventually, Eleven gained the upper hand over Peter by drawing on her happy memories, which gave her even more strength. She then proceeded to open a portal to another place—an alternate dimension known as the Upside Down—and pushed Peter through it. At long last, Henry Creel's reign of terror came to an end... right?
Vecna's origin and the birth of the Upside Down
It turns out that Eleven didn't send Peter/Henry Creel to an alternate dimension just to die. Instead, it was there that he thrived. Granted, the trip wasn't without its complications, as Peter was hit by multiple lightning strikes on his way to this strange reality, permanently scarring his skin beyond recognition. As simple as that, Vecna was born.
Peter, Henry, Vecna—we can call him by multiple names. However, there's one thing that remains the same: The merciless villain was among the first to explore the Upside Down during a time when the place was little more than barren wastelands and a few harmless creatures roaming around. Now, this is where the story gets a little complicated, and multiple questions start to arise.
Vecna eventually came across a shapeless cloud of particles that acts as the hive-mind of every living creature in the Upside Down. Now, Stranger Things Season 4 heavily implies that the villain used his telepathic powers to gain control over the hive mind, shape it in the form of a spider, and reign supreme over the Upside Down. Since that very moment, Vecna might have acted as the mastermind behind all the events in the series—controlling the actions of all the Demogorgons and the Mind Flayer itself—all in the quest for revenge against humankind and Eleven. However, things might not be as they seem.
See, Stranger Things: The First Shadow is a stage play that served as a prequel to the TV series, and its events have been declared canon. It is here that we learned that Henry Creel wasn't always a psychologically troubled child, nor was he born with powers. However, he accidentally traveled to the Upside Down as a kid (which is called Dimension X in the play), and it was there that the Hive Mind corrupted him and gave him special abilities. Eventually, Henry was able to return to our world, but by that point, he was a completely different person. It wasn't until that moment that he started to feel like an outcast and started to develop psychotic tendencies.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow heavily suggests that the true puppeteer behind the events of the series has always been the Mind Flayer (you know, that shapeless hive-mind particle cloud). If that were to be the case, Vecna has simply been a pawn in the Mind Flayer's master plan to expand its reach into our world. However, we'll have to wait until the release of Stranger Things Season 5 not only to discover who the big antagonist really is, but also to learn why such a barren wasteland as the Upside Down suddenly looks like a twisted version of our world.
The Upside Down extends its reach into our world
After Henry Creel killed countless people at Hawkins National Laboratory and was barely sent to a place where he could (seemingly) do no harm, you'd think that Dr. Martin Brenner would stop the MKUltra experiments. However, that is far from the truth. He instead focused his energy on Eleven, who was one of the sole survivors of Henry Creel's attack.
In 1983, Dr. Brenner placed Eleven in a sensory deprivation tank and made her spy on communications from Russian agents using her telepathic abilities (as the Cold War was still unfolding). While Eleven almost accomplished the goal, she also came across another being while projecting her consciousness somewhere far away. This was a being so horrifying that it could send a shiver down anyone's spine. Eleven made contact with this creature (eventually named Demogorgon), and this single moment was enough to open a portal between our world and the Upside Down.
From that point onwards, Hawkins has endured a fierce battle against creatures from the Upside Down. Through this portal, a Demogorgon was able to come into our world and kidnap Will Byers. Meanwhile, Eleven managed to escape the Hawkins National Laboratory and joined forces with Will's friends: Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, and Dustin Henderson.
Throughout the journey, other fan-favorite characters such as Max Mayfield, Steve Harrington, Jim Hopper, Nancy Wheeler, and Jonathan Byers have also joined the fight against the Mind Flayer's forces. Eleven eventually managed to close the very same portal she mistakenly opened to the Upside Down during the finale of Stranger Things Season 2, but a Russian experiment opened yet another gateway to the strange dimension once again during the events of Season 3.
At long last, Vecna decided to put into motion his grand master plan in Stranger Things Season 4. The relentless villain discovered that he could create portals from the Upside Down directly to Hawkins if he established a strong enough psychic connection with people from our world. To accomplish this, Vecna started to hunt many victims and make them see their worst nightmares before killing them, provoking a fear so intense it could breach the barriers between dimensions.
Vecna simply needed four bodies to ensure that the Upside Down would breach into our reality. Unfortunately, one of the villain's targets was none other than Max Mayfield. While Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Eleven did everything in their power to protect Max, it wasn't enough. Vecna killed Max, and the Upside Down started to extend into our world. Fortunately, not everything was completely bad as Eleven used her powers to bring Max back from the dead, though she's now in a deep coma.
Eleven, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Will, and the rest of the gang will now have to face their biggest battle yet, and there's no guarantee that everyone will make it out alive.
The first four episodes of Stranger Things Season 5 will be released on Nov. 26, 2025.