The Many Horror References Lurking Within the Series Finale of ‘Stranger Things’ [Spoilers]

WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Stranger Things, It, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, and Game of Thrones.

In the end, Stranger Things remained what it has always been, a love letter to outcasts and fans of genre fiction. The show that once ignited Easter egg obsessives with a The Thing poster hanging in the Wheelers’ basement went out with a handful of fun horror references.

Vickie (Amybeth McNulty) refers to the vicious demogos as “mutant Cujos,” namechecking Stephen King‘s 1981 novel about a rabid Saint Bernard. Nancy (Natalia Dyer) may channel John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) with her machine guns and bandoliers, but she infiltrates the Abyss in a haircut identical to Sigourney Weaver‘s Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott’s original Alien. Max (Sadie Sink) traverses memories from Hawkins’ past set to the pleasing chorus of the “Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)” featured in the 1985 comedy Clue. And that’s not to mention an ominous Greek chorus which brings to mind a deadly college production of “Agamemnon” in the 1997 sequel Scream 2. These surface-level references may be a dream come true to horror cinephiles, but Matt and Ross Duffer also fill their finale with the threads of deeper thematic connection.  

The first season of Stranger Things drew comparisons to Stephen King’s 1986 novel It, with a main cast of tweens riding bikes through suburban streets. Though always an original story in its own right, the connection was so strong it paved the way for Andy Muschietti to adapt the kids’ storyline in his 2017 film It, which remains the highest-grossing horror film of all time. Though later seasons would drift away from this unofficial source material, the show’s season finale takes us back to the novel.

Throughout season 5, we’ve caught glimpses of Vecna/Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower) hovering in his lair, which, from the outside, resembles one of the villain’s ropelike claws with curved fingers turned up to the sky. But as the final battle ensues, we realize that this scraggy home is the body of the Mind Flayer itself, the beating sac above Vecna’s head a pulsing monster heart. As we learn the truth about Henry’s horrific transformation, the creature emerges from the earth with a multitude of spider-like legs. The Duffers solidify this visual nod when the nebulous Mind Flayer first appears to Henry in the form of a tiny, black spider crawling from the depths of the Creel house. 

Though most casual fans picture Pennywise the Dancing Clown, Constant Readers know that the sinister charmer is just one of the many faces It wears. This shapeshifting monster manifests as Its prey’s greatest fear to maximize terror and “season the meat.” Yet, when the Losers confront Pennywise in his subterranean lair, they see It at its most basic form — or at least the closest approximation our minds can imagine. The entity emerges for a final showdown not in the guise of a bloodthirsty clown, but a massive spider, tapping into one of humanity’s greatest phobias. What’s more, the beast has laid dozens of eggs, signalling a horrific future for Derry and the larger world. Ben manages to smash each one, mirroring Steve (Joe Keery) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) using their makeshift spears to destroy egg-like sacs on the Mind Flayer’s underbelly. 

In the wake of this jaw-dropping conclusion, Hawkins has begun to repair with the military quarantine now a memory. Mike (Finn Wolfhard) processes his terrifying experience in a final campaign with the Party’s remaining members, outlining happy futures for them all. Though not what Mileven shippers may have wanted (more on that in a minute), we see an adult Mike sitting in front of a typewriter, translating the Party’s adventures onto the page. As the Game Master, Mike has always felt like the leader of the Stranger Things Party, a proxy for King’s Bill Denbrough, who leads the beloved Losers’ Club. We follow this shy protagonist on a journey of empowerment as It follows his quest to avenge the death of his younger brother. A born storyteller like Mike, Bill grows up to become a horror novelist, and an obvious parallel to King himself. 

But writing is just one way in which Mike processes his grief. We reunite with the shattered hero 18 months after the climactic battle to see him patiently waiting for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) to return. With his own campaign concluded, the episode’s final moments show Mike wistfully watching his younger sister Holly (Nell Fisher) and her friends begin their own D&D journey, remembering some of his happiest moments. This — combined with the character’s name — reminds us of Mike Hanlon, the lifeline of the Losers’ Club. The only one to stay in Derry after their first battle with Pennywise, Mike remains to keep the watch and look for signs of the monster’s return. While waiting, he compiles a history of the dangerous town and a series of mass casualties linked to Pennywise’s periodic resurgence. As the Game Master, Mike serves a similar purpose, his own D&D binder — the last to grace the basement’s shelf — chronicling a long history of epic campaigns.  

Though Mike may be keeping watch, Vecna is unlikely to return. After Eleven uses her telekinetic powers to impale the villain on a large spike, the Party hears him sputtering back to life. Wary of Vecna’s own psychic powers, Joyce (Winona Ryder) emerges to finish his story once and for all, nodding to one of the most exciting moments in slasher history. Twenty years after Michael Myers came home to terrorize his younger sister and her friends, the masked killer returns in Steve Miner’s Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. But rather than continue to run and hide, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) turns with an ax in hand to hunt down the brother who ruined her life. When a crashed ambulance leaves Michael similarly trapped — pinned between an ambulance and a tree — Laurie uses her own ax to chop off his head, definitively ending the Shape’s reign of terror. (We don’t talk about that jaw-dropping retcon in Halloween: Resurrection.)

Her empowered “MICHAEL” as she stalks the famously terrifying killer channels the same strength Joyce wields when she insists that Vecna “messed with the wrong family.” The fierce mother takes similar action and chops off Vecna’s head while the Party watches, each remembering the pain he’s caused in their lives. 

While Joyce may get her happy ending, season 5 teases a disturbing future for our favorite star. The return of Kali/Eight (Linnea Berthelsen) and subsequent revelation of Dr. Kay’s (Linda Hamilton) ultimate plan leave Eleven’s future in jeopardy. The sinister military scientist has been harvesting Kali’s powerful blood and transfusing it into pregnant women, hoping to create a new batch of psychically talented kids. Kali explains that as long as Eleven remains alive, Henry’s blood — similarly fed to her own pregnant mother — will tempt future mad scientists. She and Eleven must destroy themselves along with the Upside Down to permanently end all traces of Henry’s power. We see this devastating pact play out as the Party returns to Hawkins proper. With Dr. Kay watching, Eleven allows herself to be consumed by the explosion that collapses the bridge to the Abyss. 

Hamilton’s presence has always nodded to James Cameron’s The Terminator, but Kali’s theory recreates the heartbreaking conclusion of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Wary of future inventors using his recovered circuitry to develop deadly AI, the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) vows to rid the world of his advanced technology and lowers himself into a vat of molten steel. It’s Hamilton as the legendary Sarah Connor who must push the button that seals his fate. But the Terminator was never meant to share our timeline, and his choice to self-terminate will save countless lives. As Hopper (David Harbour) explains in a gut-wrenching scene, Eleven deserves a chance at happiness. 

Everyone involved with the final season of Stranger Things was wary of fumbling the long-awaited conclusion, keeping one show’s finale firmly in mind. After years of dominating TV ratings and every element of pop culture fandom, Game of Thrones sparked fury among devotees with an egregious turn for its female star. For eight seasons, we’d watched Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) transform from a bartered and abused bride to a benevolent ruler and the mother of dragons. But the penultimate episode saw her use this hard-earned empowerment to decimate the home she’d always longed to rule. Daenerys would be killed in the season finale, her surprising villainous arc complete. Fans remain outraged over this narrative betrayal and a perceived warning about giving women too much power.

Stranger Things seemed to be approaching a similar misstep before a last-minute course correction. 

Drawing on painful memories from her sacrificial choice, Mike envisions a hopeful future for our heroine. Theorizing that she couldn’t use her powers against Dr. Kay’s technology, he tells the tearful Party that perhaps Kali used her own telepathic gifts to cloak Eleven with invisibility so that she could escape the horde of military goons and finally find peace in a distant land. We leave Eleven as she crests a hill and gazes at two beautiful waterfalls, a picture of the bright future she’d hoped for with Mike. After experiencing love and acceptance for the first time, Eleven has emerged from the shadow of Hawkins Lab to find happiness on her own terms.

While not the ending we might have chosen, it’s a fitting conclusion for the powerful character and a reminder that strong women should not have to destroy themselves to save a world built on their exploitation. And who knows, with at least two spinoffs in the works, we may yet see Eleven return to once again save the day. 

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