Across four seasons, the Upside Down has been the center of nearly every crisis that hits Hawkins, Indiana. From the disappearance of Will Byers to Vecna terrorizing traumatized teenagers, it has defined the series’ main plot.
Yet most viewers still struggle to understand what it truly is. That makes sense. The show gives you bits of pieces, but never the full story. So let’s take what we already know about the Upside Down and what it isn’t.
Understanding the Upside Down
The best way to describe the Upside Down is that it acts as a bridge between our world and a far older alien realm.
It mirrors every detail of Hawkins, from the buildings to the woods. It’s basically a snapshot of the small town, frozen in the year 1983. We don’t know why it’s stuck in that specific year or when it was created. So far, all we know is that the Upside Down wasn’t created on the night Will or Henry Creel vanished.
The world is shrouded in darkness, covered in strange vines or toxic spores. The atmosphere is toxic. Every time you visit the Upside Down, you risk encountering dangerous monsters.
Anything that happens in the Upside Down can influence the real world. We saw this in season 1, where Will and Joyce communicate with each other using Christmas lights after Will is kidnapped.
This moment is referenced throughout Stranger Things 4 when The Party played Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill to save Max from Vecna.
If the Upside Down is a bridge between dimensions, then what’s on the other side?
That place is Dimension X. It is the source of the spores. The hive mind. The Mind Flayer. It’s a completely separate universe, ancient in origin. It’s also the place where Henry Creel became Vecna.
How Henry Became Vecna
When Eleven sent Henry through the rift in Hawkins Lab, she shoved him out of our world into Dimension X. Since that world is overflowing with psychic energy, it burned off his skin. Mutating him into the monster we know today.
After encountering a swirling cloud of particles, Vecna used his psychic powers to mold it into a spider-like entity. He gave it sentience, transforming it into the Mind Flayer. The bond Vecna forged with the Mind Flayer gave him control over the creature, in addition to becoming even more powerful than before.
The Road to Season 5
Vecna wants a full invasion. He spent all of season 4 trying to create a rift to merge Hawkins with Dimension X.
The main plotline in Stranger Things 5 will be The Party banding together to stop Vecna from taking over the world. Stranger Things 5 will be split into three parts. The first four episodes will be available on Netflix on November 26. The next three episodes will premiere on Christmas Day (December 25). The series finale will be available a week later on New Year’s Eve (December 31).
