Tuesday Top Five: Stranger Scares
Jan. 13th, 2026 07:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nevannaSome of the horror elements of Stranger Things worked better for me than others. Here are my favorite scares from each season, with no spoilers for the final one beyond the cold open for the first episode. Also please be warned for a brief mention of harm to an animal.
1. I haven’t rewatched Season 1 in a long time, but I remember that the first time the monsters break through the barrier between worlds, and into the Byers house, was pretty unsettling.
2. I had to cover my eyes when the little Demogorgon was eating Dustin’s cat in Season 2.
3. Season 3 actually has a tie! The moments when the Mind Flayer’s victims dissolved or exploded into goo, and were absorbed into the monster, were really well done. But equally frightening was the scene in which Max and El track down a possessed Billy at Heather’s family home, and we know that something is very wrong even though the girls can’t prove it. It’s one of the show’s rare horrific moments that relies on acting and staging rather than visual effects, even though the visual effects for the rest of the season are amazing.
4. Everything that leads up to poor Chrissy’s death – from the nightmare versions of her house and her parents, to the moment when her limbs contort and her eyes are punched out – set the tone perfectly for Season 4. In some ways, Vecna was more frightening when we didn’t know what he was.
5. During the flashback that opens Season 5, when Vecna restrains little Will and shoves a tentacle down his throat, I remarked aloud to an empty room, “I don’t like that very much.” (I hope to say more about Will’s storyline in that season in a future post.)
Fellow Stranger Things fans, what are some of the moments that scared you the most (or the moments that were intended to scare but didn’t)? Spoilers in the comments are expected and welcome.
1. I haven’t rewatched Season 1 in a long time, but I remember that the first time the monsters break through the barrier between worlds, and into the Byers house, was pretty unsettling.
2. I had to cover my eyes when the little Demogorgon was eating Dustin’s cat in Season 2.
3. Season 3 actually has a tie! The moments when the Mind Flayer’s victims dissolved or exploded into goo, and were absorbed into the monster, were really well done. But equally frightening was the scene in which Max and El track down a possessed Billy at Heather’s family home, and we know that something is very wrong even though the girls can’t prove it. It’s one of the show’s rare horrific moments that relies on acting and staging rather than visual effects, even though the visual effects for the rest of the season are amazing.
4. Everything that leads up to poor Chrissy’s death – from the nightmare versions of her house and her parents, to the moment when her limbs contort and her eyes are punched out – set the tone perfectly for Season 4. In some ways, Vecna was more frightening when we didn’t know what he was.
5. During the flashback that opens Season 5, when Vecna restrains little Will and shoves a tentacle down his throat, I remarked aloud to an empty room, “I don’t like that very much.” (I hope to say more about Will’s storyline in that season in a future post.)
Fellow Stranger Things fans, what are some of the moments that scared you the most (or the moments that were intended to scare but didn’t)? Spoilers in the comments are expected and welcome.
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Date: 2026-01-19 02:43 am (UTC)That is a very good question. I sort of burnt out on caring about horror visuals and jump scares in middle school. There was a time I could've rattled off for you the formulas for half a dozen different kinds of fake blood, depending on how nontoxic it needed to be, or how gooey. I did have something that scared me each season, but it wasn't about moments, it was the sorts of tropes the Duffers were working with. My fears each season went as follows --
1. First Season I was afraid for Hopper because I knew in kid centered stories adults can be the first casualties, and I figured Joyce was safer than Hopper.
2. Happy as I was for the other characters that they got Will back at the end of the first season, my big fear Second Season was whether or not they got him back "right." I know how often people coming back wrong is a part of horror stories.
3. You are well aware of how many Marvel comics I've read over the years, so you might be able to guess what my big fear for Third Season was. As soon as they made clear how focused the Mind Flayer was on El by then, I was afraid of her losing her powers. I didn't imagine they'd kill her off outright, not if they wanted a fourth season, but I knew they could strip her of her powers. It hurt that they went there, but I figured they'd fix it the following season so it wasn't completely crushing.
4. By Fourth Season I'd been hearing people talk about killing Steve off for years, and the introduction of Eddie Munson scared me. Don't get me wrong I totally fell in love with him, like so many others, but while his actor has said that he went into the show knowing hew was just "Gaten's side Joe," I didn't realize he was just the one season wonder for the season. I was afraid he was Steve's replacement. Needless to say my feelings about Eddie's death were mixed.
5. Without being spoilery, I was terrified for everyone Fifth Season because the Duffers knew it was the final season going in. They could do anything to anyone.
So, yeah, I might have been somewhat grossed out by the human meat monster third season, or briefly surprised by a jump scare here or there, but the scares that ran deep where the fears for the characters. It was the drawn out fears of where the Duffers might go that got me.