On Fear & Stranger Things

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Disclaimer: Don’t worry, there aren’t any spoilers for the Stranger Things final season in case you haven’t watched it. There are some for Seasons 1-4 though, so you’ve been warned.

[Image Description: Neon red logo of Stranger Things show on Netflix]

I’ve never liked scary movies. Horror anything. Don’t like Halloween (the holiday or the movie). Michael Jackson’s Thriller gave me nightmares for years. Even the zombie in Hocus Pocus scared me.

I’ve lived my life generally avoiding anything and everything scary or horror—until Stranger Things. I have some personal connections to the show, but even with those, I still was too squeamish to watch it. Then COVID hit and we went into lockdown. Suddenly I had all kinds of free time outside of work, so I was always looking for a new show or movie to watch. I finally broke down and decided to give Stranger Things a try. Now it’s 2025 and I watched the final season in suspense along with everyone else.

I ended up becoming incredibly attached to the show, even though it’s absolutely terrifying (and really gross sometimes). Vecna is quite possibly one of the scariest monsters I’ve ever seen (or heard), despite my obviously limited exposure. Not even going to share a picture here so as not to give anyone else unnecessary nightmares who hasn’t watched it. I think I may be in the minority of people who really wanted to unpack all of his trauma when he was Henry though. Perhaps I should have been a psychologist?

The heart of the show, the characters (R.I.P. Eddie), the humor, the 80s nostalgia, Will’s storyline—that’s really what it’s about for me. But there was another layer…my own “Upside Down”…watching it helped me face my fear.

I’m a person who is fearful of a lot—a lot of it warranted and also informed by my experience living as a disabled person in the world. Some of my fears are definitely things I can tackle though. Watching Stranger Things allowed me to face my fear of scary shows or movies. Even though the end of Seaons 5, I still had to hide my face when Vecna was on screen and I never watch when anyone was getting maimed by the Demogorgons. I didn’t know what was coming with Chrissy in Season 4 and I sure wish I’d looked away then. Some stuff I just don’t need to see.

It may not seem like watching an incredibly popular TV show is a big deal, but for me, facing a fear is a big deal. It took the wind out of the scary sails for me. I don’t feel so afraid anymore. I’m not saying I’m going to start watching Night of the Living Dead or Freddie Krueger or anything, but to face at least one of my fears was really important. To realize it’s just a TV show. It probably helps that there’s way scarier sh*t going on in the real world right now anyway. Maybe this can be a stepping stone on the way to facing some of my other fears too.

It’s very much worth noting that Gaten Matarazzo, who plays one of the main characters (Dustin), was born with a rare condition called cleidocranial dysostosis. As disabled people, we know it’s all too rare to see anyone else like us represented in movies and TV, so to have a lead actor in a massive hit show be someone living with a rare condition too, is really significant.

I don’t think I’ll be parasailing or jumping off of buildings anytime soon, but here’s to facing some of our fears, whatever those may be.

I think I’m also in minority in saying I liked Season 5 and how everything wrapped up too. It had some flaws, but don’t we all? 😉

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