Here's What To Know About the Creepy New Setting Stranger Things 4 Is Teasing

Since its inception, Stranger Things has introduced different locations to function as its “horror du jour.” Season 1 was Hawkins lab and Hawkins Middle School. Season 2 introduced farms and video arcades. Season 3 had pools and malls. But Season 4’s expanding of the landscape to a global scale, adding in Russia and California, gives the show a lot more to play with, and a lot more for fans to puzzle over. Case in point: the introduction of Creel House in Stranger Things 4. What is it? And. perhaps just as importantly, where is it?

Much like Stranger Things 3, which broke the ever-expanding cast into different groups that came together in the show’s final episodes, the new season has already indicated it plans to do the same with the posters released ahead of the season. The Russia poster features Joyce, Murray, and Hopper. The California one has Mike, Will, Jonathan, and a possible new character. Another poster shows Eleven alone in the lab.

That leaves most of the characters for the Creel House poster, suggesting it’s either in or near Hawkins. Steve, Dustin, Robin, and Erica from Season 3’s Starcourt crew are all there, as are Lucas, Max, and Nancy. So, what is it about this house that makes it so susceptible to the Upside Down?

Stranger Things shared a video to give a little glimpse at its history.

According to Stranger Things’ lore, the family in the video’s opening scene are the Creels, who give the Creel House its name. The head of the family is one Victor Creel, who the clip suggests was the only survivor when his wife and two children were found slaughtered. He claimed it was a vengeful demon and was found not guilty due to being mentally ill. He’s resided in a psychiatric hospital ever since, and will be played in present day by the famous horror star Robert Englund.

But what if Creel was right about the demon? Although the Upside Down was not officially opened until Eleven accidentally tripped over it during one of her psychic experiments, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been accidental crossover before or places where the walls between worlds are thin. Add in a spooky grandfather clock that chimes loudly, and it could act as a beacon for those curious about the other side— or searching for a way to cross over.

Stranger Things Season 4, Vol. 1, will arrive on Friday, May 27, 2022. Vol. 2 will follow just over a month later, on July 1. Seasons 1 through 3 are streaming on Netflix.