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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