The Many Horror References Lurking in ‘Stranger Things 5’ Volume I [Spoilers]

WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Stranger Things 5: Volume I.

Stranger Things has always existed as a child of two worlds. Netflix’s nostalgic adventure series effortlessly straddles genre lines while referencing beloved sci-fi, horror, and fantasy texts. Emerging from a deft blend of 80s adventure films and vintage Stephen King novels, each installment has grown steadily darker and more horrific. Though season 5 nominally references lighter titles like Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved YA novel A Wrinkle in Time and Robert Zemeckis’ iconic Back to the Future, showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer slyly nod to classic horror throughout the first installment of their final season.

We return to a Hawkins much different than the one we left in the final moments of season 4. Eighteen months after fiery fissures bisected the town, citizens live under strict quarantine supervised by the US Army. Only those carrying needed supplies are allowed in and out of the heavily fortified city, yet residents are expected to continue life as if nothing has changed. Key to this mental trick is an indie radio station called The Squawk. Robin (Maya Hawke) has become a popular DJ and spends her days spinning records while promoting compliance with quarantine protocols. We reunite with the charismatic teen on her 500th broadcast, but quickly learn that the show contains coded notes to her fellow resistance fighters.

These personalized messages nod to radio host Stevie Wayne, played by genre darling Adrienne Barbeau. John Carpenter’s atmospheric 1980 film The Fog sees her communicate with the residents of Antonio Bay as they’re invaded by the vengeful spirits of shipwrecked sailors.

This reference may be a bit obscure, but season 5 features the introduction of another beloved figure in the horror world. Leading the military in a relentless search for the Upside Down is cutthroat General Dr. Kay, played by the incomparable Linda Hamilton. First seen in soaps and TV dramas, Hamilton gave a breakthrough performance in Fritz Kiersch’s 1984 adaptation of the Stephen King short story “Children of the Corn.” In October of the same year, she would make waves as resourceful waitress Sarah Connor in James Cameron‘s sci-fi horror classic The Terminator. When a time-travelling soldier reveals that she will give birth to a military leader credited with saving humanity, Sarah finds herself hunted by a cybernetic assassin programmed to ensure her death.

But Dr. Kay feels more indebted to the Sarah we see in Cameron’s explosive sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Having abandoned any hope for a normal life, Sarah has immersed herself in the culture of combat. Strong and militant, this fierce mother would protect her son at any cost while raising him to be a formidable leader. Though their tactics may be similar, Dr. Kay’s mission runs contrary to Sarah’s. Whereas the battleworn mother risks her life for her child, Dr. Kay seeks to imprison Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) alongside her sister Kali/Eight (Linnea Berthelsen), possibly to expand the horrific experiments of Hawkins Lab.

Other visual references to Cameron’s legendary sequel include the use of a low-fi coffee vending machine and grainy security camera photos used to locate Eleven on the streets of Hawkins. Dr. Kay is shown covert images of the psychic teen similar to those identifying the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), eleven years after destroying a heavily fortified police station.

Dr. Kay may be this season’s main human antagonist, but she’s far from the only maternal warrior featured in this initial batch of episodes. When a Demogorgon invades her home, Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono) takes desperate measures to protect her youngest daughter, Holly (Evil Dead Rise‘s Nell Fisher). At first, she cradles her child under the surface of a bubble bath as the monster creeps through her ruined bathroom before making a slippery break for the front door. Confronted with the petal-faced nightmare, she smashes a nearby wine bottle and wields it as a weapon, commanding the Demogorgon to stay away from her daughter.

Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) has a similar moment when she uses an ax to defend her son — in addition to Robin and another Hawkins child — from the interdimensional creature. These empowering moments bring to mind one of feminist horror’s pivotal scenes. Cameron’s bombastic sequel Aliens concludes with Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) donning a skeletal loader and ordering the Alien Queen to “get away” from her own adopted daughter, “Newt” (Carrie Henn).

Nodding to another iconic franchise, guest director Frank Darabont — best known in genre circles for a trilogy of Stephen King adaptations — makes a satisfying visual reference in “Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap.” Determined to track the Demogorgon, the Party creates an elaborate plan similar to the one Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) use to subdue the mysterious entity in the thrilling finale of season 1. Part of this complex contraption involves cutting a hole in the living room floor of a local real estate titan’s home, a daunting task for any tool.

STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5. (L to R) Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, and Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson in STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025

Searching the family’s backyard shed, Steve (Joe Keery) rejects an ax and smiles at a red chainsaw perched on the shelf. While most appearances of this singular weapon bring to mind Tobe Hooper‘s 1974 masterpiece The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Darabont’s inclusion nods to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II. Forced to battle the sinister Deadites, Ash (Bruce Campbell) finds the powerful weapon and uses it to sever his own possessed hand. He will later attach it to the stump of his arm before uttering, “groovy” with a confident smile. Another charismatic hero embarking on a life-or-death battle, one can almost hear Steve channeling Ash’s iconic catchphrase as he revs the chainsaw and gets to work.

When Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) was first introduced in season 4, his multi-faceted form of attack — exacerbating the nightmares of his traumatized victims — felt pulled from the playbook of A Nightmare on Elm Street. While these connections remain strong, season 5 alludes to another slasher villain. Episode 2 concludes with The Chordettes’ “Mr. Sandman,” prominently featured in Carpenter’s Halloween II and later in the 1998 legacy sequel Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later. Likely referencing his victims’ dream states, this inclusion amplifies the monster’s unkillable nature while winking at the second installment of his story.

Despite these overt references, season 5 introduces us to an altogether different Vecna. Holly and her classmates are not stalked by a horrific beast roaming a blood-red lair, but a dapper gentleman in a tweed suit and hat, complete with an old-fashioned pocket watch. Currently reading A Wrinkle in Time, Holly calls Henry (Bower) “Mr. Whatsit” after the novel’s shapeshifting guide, but audiences know that danger lurks behind his friendly smile. In an interview with Ash Crossen for Screen Rant, Bower notes taking inspiration from a much darker source: Gregory Hoblit’s 1996 shocker Primal Fear. Part courtroom drama, part murder mystery, this stunning film features a jaw-dropping twist in its final moments. We won’t spoil the ending here, but anyone familiar with Edward Norton’s astonishing performance will understand why the children are inclined to see Henry as a savior.

For the more monstrous side of this duplicitous character, Bower drew from the lush world of Clive Barker. More commonly known as Pinhead (Doug Bradley), the Hell Priest first appears in Barker’s 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart, leading a group of interdimensional cenobites drawn to our reality with the completion of an elaborate puzzle box. Bower pulls from Bradley’s legendary performance, with a commanding, yet dignified voice as he drifts through the carnage his rule has caused. Vecna’s tentacled body and malleable hands nod to the painful body modification central to the cenobite’s image. His ethereal presence is strangely alluring even when conjuring certain death.

With four episodes left in the season, we’re likely to see these two villainous personas merge as Vecna makes his final assault on Hawkins.

Stranger Things 5 Volume I is now streaming. Volume II releases three on December 25, and the series finale on December 31.

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