Editorials
The Many Horror References Lurking in ‘Stranger Things 5’ Volume II [Spoilers]
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Stranger Things 5: Volume II.
After nearly a decade of Stranger Things lore, we thought we’d finally figured out the Upside Down.
Ross and Matt Duffer first introduced this liminal space as a horrific mirror image to our own reality in the first episode of season 1, when a young Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) is pulled through a portal by a petal-faced monster we would come to know as the Demogorgon. But the second installment of season 5 throws everything we knew about this terrifying realm into the wind, reframing Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) as the Upside Down’s architect and Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) as the resident of a nightmare dimension. Season 5 Vol. 2 leans heavily into scientific theory as Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) muses about exotic matter and Mr. Clark (Randy Havens) finally joins the Party.
But despite these logical explanations, season 5, Vol. 2 includes plenty of horror and fantasy references woven throughout this sci-fi adventure.
Over the years, Stranger Things has attracted a surprising number of genre icons from Paul Reiser and Sean Astin to Cary Elwes and Robert Englund. But the series’ long-awaited season 5 features a pair of episodes helmed by a true genre legend. After retiring in 2013, Frank Darabont returned to the director’s chair for “The Turnbow Test,” an action-packed episode in Vol. 1 which sees the Party trap a Demogorgon in the home of a local real estate king. Vol. 2 opens with “Shock Jock,” Darabont’s second Stranger Things episode, which closes the throughline of this monstrous plot. Hoping to locate Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) devises a plan to manually reconnect Will with the hive mind by resurrecting one of the Demogorgons he killed while first harnessing Vecna’s powers. But while one team hunts monsters in Hawkins proper, Holly and Max (Sadie Sink) navigate an elaborate dream world, allowing Darabont to drop an exciting Easter egg.
STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5. (L to R) Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield and Nell Fisher as Holly Wheeler in Stranger Things: Season 5. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
Following a trail of memories, Holly revisits her most recent Halloween, which connects her to Vecna’s human persona, Henry Creel/One (Bower). As the duplicitous villain lurks outside the window, Holly huddles close to a friend while watching A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Directed by Chuck Russell, this fan-favorite entry in Wes Craven‘s landmark slasher series also follows a group of teens who must discover their own innate strengths to battle a monster who weaponizes dreams. In addition to inspiring later seasons, this beloved slasher also happens to be Darabont’s first screenwriting credit.
He would use the film’s success to secure the rights to Stephen King‘s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which would become his directorial debut. Darabont would follow his genre-bending The Shawshank Redemption with two more highly-regarded King adaptations and the zombie juggernaut The Walking Dead. The sci-fi aspects of this episode also feel like a sentimental nod to Darabont’s original script for the 1994 film Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which was significantly altered throughout production. Only time will tell if the famed creator will return to retirement or extend his time in the director’s chair, but regardless of what the future holds, “Shock Jock“ provides a fitting farewell by honoring the spark of an impressive career.
STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
Though Darabont emerged from the slasher heyday of the 1980s, his second Stranger Things episode references classic horror titles dating back to the genre’s foundational texts. Lucas’ electrified Demogorgon “creature” may not escape the Squawk’s makeshift laboratory, but the gang refers to his outlandish plan by name-checking Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein. Always the cinephile, Robin (Maya Hawke) cheekily corrects their pronunciation by quoting Mel Brooks’ hilarious spoof Young Frankenstein.
Meanwhile, the military outfit holding the city in quarantine alludes to a more sinister villain. In the final moments of season 5, vol. 1, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) discovers her long-lost sister Kali/Eighth (Linnea Berthelsen) held captive in the base’s own lab. Vol. 2 reveals that the nefarious Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) has been systematically drawing her blood. She refers to the vicious military doctor as a vampire, nodding to Bram Stoker’s seminal Dracula in which a Transylvanian count sustains himself by drinking human blood.
Though disturbing enough, Kali’s continued story reveals Dr. Kay’s horrific plan. Momentarily free, Eight stumbles upon a restrained pregnant woman begging for help, then wanders through a series of rooms, each containing a similarly imprisoned mother-to-be. She realizes that the militant doctor has been transfusing these women with her unique blood, hoping to restart Dr. Brenner’s program and create a new batch of powerful children. But with Kali’s blood only causing illness, Dr. Kay is desperate to find Eleven and harvest a substance more closely aligned to Henry’s own DNA.
As Kali explores this maternity ward turned torture chamber, slasher fans may be reminded of a similarly unnerving scene from Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien: Resurrection, which also happens to star Winona Ryder. 200 years after the death of Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), a team of scientists led by Dr. Wren (J.E. Freeman) has used recovered blood samples to clone the heroic warrant officer. Known as Ripley 8, an eerie nod to Kail’s own numerical name, the horrified woman discovers an equally ominous laboratory filled with the monstrous corpses of seven failed clones, predecessors to her own successful resurrection.
We also learn that, like Dr. Kay, Dr. Wren is not actually concerned with the women themselves, but the creatures that grow inside them. The original Ripley died while impregnated with the embryo of a xenomorph queen, and the entire cloning experiment has been designed to extract this powerful creature and use it as a biological weapon. Kali’s similar discovery is not only a moment of disturbing pregnancy horror, but a reminder of the dehumanizing experiments stemming from Dr. Brenner’s time at Hawkins Lab.
Stranger Things kicked off its inaugural season with references to two of Stephen King’s most iconic novels. The Party and their trusty bikes nod to the Losers’ Club from the 1986 novel It, while Eleven is a spiritual successor to Charlie McGee, the pyrokinetic protagonist of King’s sci-fi classic Firestarter. But season 5 makes a fascinating visual reference to the Master of Horror’s magnum opus. The Dark Tower is a sprawling series that follows a noble gunslinger called Roland Deschain on an interdimensional quest to save the titular tower, the nexus of all universes.
The second of the series’ eight novels, The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three, catches up with the injured gunslinger on a desolate beach teeming with monstrous creatures. As he trudges down the seemingly endless shore, Roland encounters a series of three freestanding doors, each opening into a different era of New York City. Max and Holly encounter a similar passageway suspended midair in a field from Holly’s memories. Upon crossing the threshold, the girls seem to disappear without a trace, but they’ve actually been transported into another memory. The Dark Tower series also introduces the concept of ka-tet, a group of ostensibly disparate people whose fates intertwine on a hero’s journey. Roland draws his own ka-tet through these mysterious doors, mirroring not just Max and her alliance with Holly, but the larger Party’s noble quest to defeat Vecna and save the world.
STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5. (L-R) Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna and Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield in Stranger Things: Season 5. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
While Max’s mind is trapped in “Camazotz,” her body is stuck in Hawkins Memorial Hospital. Believing her to be in a coma as a result of Vecna’s attack, Lucas has been playing Max’s favorite song, hoping to provide a mental bridge back to life. Having discovered her assistance in Holly’s escape, the vengeful monster threatens Max by sending a horde of vicious Demodogs rushing to her hospital bed. Fortunately, Will and Eleven are able to combine their powers and warn Lucas before the deadly creatures arrive. He carries his unconscious girlfriend to the hospital’s basement laundry room, where they cower behind a washing machine.
As the Demodogs approach, we’re reminded of a similar scene from Steven Spielberg’s iconic Jurassic Park. Trapped in a theme park overrun with dinosaurs, a terrified brother and sister use an industrial kitchen to hide from a pair of approaching raptors. Director Shawn Levy reflects the action in the laundry room’s corner mirror, solidifying this visual reference while revealing how close our heroes have come to certain death.
As season 5 nears its endgame, Darabont makes a visual reference to one of the U.S. Military’s most horrific tales. While searching Hawkins Lab for the source of a fleshy wall running through the Upside Down, Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) notice a strange phenomenon as they approach the roof. Walls and doors have seemingly begun to melt, and the building appears to be slowly dissolving. What’s worse, a handful of soldiers were caught up in the destruction, and their corpses are now lodged in the hallway itself. These unsettling bodies feel eerily reminiscent of the Philadelphia Experiment, a rumored government program designed to render military vessels invisible. But rather than disappearing the USS Eldridge, an attempt to bend time and space is said to have momentarily transported the naval destroyer to Norfolk, Virginia, rendering the humans onboard permanently fused to the ship.
STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5. (L to R) Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler and Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers in Stranger Things: Season 5. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
While searching the building’s lower floors, Dustin stumbles upon the key to this strange occurrence. The translucent mass Jonathan and Nancy discover just above the building’s roof — presumably the cause of those melting walls — is an element known as exotic matter. Created by Dr. Brenner, this dangerous sphere is stabilizing the Upside Down itself. Upon this discovery, Dusten explains that this dark and shadowy realm is not an alternate dimension at all, but a wormhole connecting Hawkins to the Abyss, a nightmare world home to the Mind Flayer, Demogorgons, and Vecna himself.
Many genre fans were first introduced to the concept of wormholes in the 2001 film Donnie Darko. Richard Kelly‘s cult classic follows a troubled teen tormented by daytime hallucinations of a monstrous rabbit predicting the end of the world. As this ominous date approaches, Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) must choose between protecting himself and saving the people he loves. Considering her discovery at the military base, Kali presents a similar choice to Eleven as they prepare for the party’s final showdown. Convinced others will follow in Dr. Brenner’s footsteps, she explains that the only way to prevent more of Vecna’s chaos is to not only kill their brother but also destroy any remnants of his existence, including the blood flowing through Eleven’s veins.
Kali insists that once the bridge between worlds has been severed, she and Eleven must stay in the Abyss to rid the world of Henry’s curse. Though Eleven hasn’t shared this theory with her boyfriend Mike (Finn Wolfhard), he seems to sense that something is wrong and reminds her of plans they’ve made for their future. Mike reminds his girlfriend that they have the power to write their own ending, nodding to one of horror’s most beloved final girls. Wes Craven’s Scream ends with Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) reclaiming control of her narrative and refusing to be a pawn in someone else’s plan.
With just one episode remaining in Stranger Things’ unprecedented run, we’re left to wonder if Eleven will follow Kali down a path to self-sacrifice or dare to take control of her own story.
Stranger Things draws to a close when the series finale releases on December 31.
STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5. (L to R) Nell Fisher as Holly Wheeler and Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna in Stranger Things: Season 5. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
In this day and age, the word “troll” is often used to describe various online nuisances. Yet as abundant and irksome as the modern troll can be, they aren’t usually as fearsome as their mythological counterparts. I’m not talking about the small and gentler versions that have become more common to see in media. No, there are much bigger and scarier trolls out there—and André Øvredal’s movie Troll Hunter is one of the best places to find them.
It doesn’t take long for Troll Hunter (or Trolljegeren) to dump the Blair Witch Project-esque setup and aim for something a lot fresher. The trajectory of the story is augmented by Otto Jespersen’s character Hans, the titular Troll Hunter. The second he comes barreling out of the deep, dark woods and shouts “troll” at the camera, this movie takes a turn into what feels like uncharted territory. Not only subject-wise, but also conceptually.
For fantastical and made-up subject matter in cinema, found footage is a fast way to add a guise of believability. After all, what we accept to be the most crucial aspect of documentaries—the truth—rubs off on pseudo-documentaries, despite our understanding of the pretense involved. That is what Øvredal delivered with Troll Hunter: a movie so convincing that some viewers wondered if trolls really do exist. So, had this been straightforwardly made, it likely wouldn’t have been as effective. Conventional narratives would be more inclined to treat something like trolls as flat out unreal, and never try to convince the audience to think otherwise.
Hans petrifies the three-headed Tusseladd troll.
The viewers, like the characters trailing Hans, are quickly thrown into the deeper end of that extraordinary story. They have to process all this new information while staying on the go. So, although there is no significant amount of meandering, narratively or physically, there is still a good amount of atmosphere, not to mention tension building. It’s never anything frightful, but then again, Troll Hunter isn’t your standard offering of horror; it’s more on the low end of the dark fantasy spectrum. We aren’t ever spirited away to a faraway world—we stay in rather familiar surroundings, as well as dip into those less so. The outcome is a movie where you’re constantly more in awe than in terror.
As fantasy fiction might do, Troll Hunter prefers not to deal with incredulity. There is no time to waste on doubt, as interviewer Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), soundperson Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) all follow Hans around, recording whatever this character is willing to reveal about his bizarre job. Of course, the Troll Hunter himself is not an open book; in that respect, the diegetic documentary fails to fully capture and unpack the more interesting of its two subjects. Yes, all those giant, monstrous trolls are indeed incredible, but understandably, your mind wanders to their pursuer. What kind of person signs up for this gig and then chooses to stick with it for so long?
Reviews have called out Troll Hunter for its lack of character development. In regard to Thomas and his fellow documentarians, that criticism is valid, but bear in mind, they aren’t the focus of the story, either. Meanwhile, Hans is a well-crafted character. At least better than first realized. Before he was introduced, Hans had already grown tired of the troll grind. Fed up with that low compensation for his services, resentful of the bureaucracy, and wanting to expose his employer on a large scale, Hans’ discontent is glaring.
Then there are those finer details about the Troll Hunter, such as that indifference to both the natural splendor of his everyday surroundings and the affections of an obviously smitten colleague, that also suggest some level of despondency. So it is fair to say this movie doesn’t feature any sizable growth for its characters; however, the namesake isn’t underwritten. No doubt, putting a real-life character like Otto Jespersen in that role is partly why Hans is so fascinating—maybe even relatable.
Otto Jespersen as Hans the Troll Hunter.
There is always a small risk whenever using the term “mockumentary” to describe a found-footage movie, as the word could imply humor where there is none. In the case of Troll Hunter, the term’s usage is appropriate. Some folks have claimed the English-dubbed version has the more comedic tone, however, the Norwegian cut isn’t exactly humorless. Apart from the trolls’ absurd appearances, this is a movie where the characters nearly choke on the monsters’ farts, and Christians are like walking targets. Hans’ complete apathy towards everything is another cause of laughter. Overall, the comedy is intentionally dry and inconsistent. Unfunny, though? Absolutely not.
In a movie where endemic creatures are maltreated, as well as disavowed from living freely and peacefully, it’s hard not to notice the ecological message buried beneath the story. In addition to that is the unmistakable political satire. There is this whole business about intrusive and unsightly power lines—like trolls, they’re big blemishes on the land—that leads to what is perhaps the movie’s funniest moment. The scene in question is that one where certain electric lines, the ones secretly being used to keep the trolls at bay, go in a loop and don’t actually send power to any residents. Yet the monitors of said lines don’t find this at all weird. So it stands to reason that Øvredal was having a go at those who accept the government’s doings without question.
Looking past the fact that trolls aren’t actually real, this movie is an enlightening source of information. And not just for international audiences; Norwegians, too, get schooled about their homeland’s own mythology. It’s also evident from everything on screen that Øvredal and his crew were enthusiastic about the topic. The creature designs are the most indicative of that zeal; those imaginative yet myth-accurate manifestations are equally amusing and grotesque. One second you’re laughing at their phallic noses, the next you’re white-knuckling during a hairy sequence. Most surprisingly is how well the trolls’ visual effects hold up after fifteen years. It’s not all spotless, but on the whole, they remain impressive.
Vouching for a mockumentary about trolls isn’t easy, but those who do come around and give it a shot will more than likely be grateful for the recommendation. For Troll Hunter is a real find in that vast and varied genre we call “found footage“.
A bridge troll reaches up for food and finds Hans decked out in armor.
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