This story-line from Stranger Things was actually pulled from real life.

Warning: This post contains mild spoilers for Stranger Things season two. Read on at your own risk…

Hold on to your eggos, the inspiration behind Stranger Things might be realer than you think.

Conspiracy theorists have made a link between Hawkins Laboratory and a real life decommissioned military base.

The fictional Hawkins Laboratory that we’ve all come to know and love (and have nightmares about) is the creepy science centre that Eleven escapes from in Season 1. It’s also the workplace of Dr Brenner in season one and Dr Owen (played by Mad About You’s Paul Reiser) in season two.

LISTEN: Why you need to watch Stranger Things. Post continues after audio…

The definite possible real life inspiration for Hawkins Laboratory is Camp Hero, a decommissioned military base on Long Island’s Montauk Point, which was shut down in 1995.

The history of Camp Hero has always been shrouded in mystery but many believe the lab hides a slew of sinister secrets including disturbing experiments and eerie underground tunnels (cue The X-Files theme).

Prior to its shutdown, Camp Hero was apparently home to the ‘Montauk Project’ – an alleged series of secret US Government projects involving psychological warfare, mind control and time travel. Some even believe the Montauk Project was a black budget continuation of The Philadelphia Experiment, an alleged Government experiment that took place at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sometime around October 28, 1943.

To add to the general eeriness, Stranger Things was initially sold under the working title of  ‘Montauk’ and it was going to be set on Long Island.

Producers then decided to move the setting to a small town in Indiana, but the original inspiration behind the series is definitely threaded throughout the plot in season one and two.

Many believe the contact between Eleven and the Demogorgon, which opened the gate to the Upside Down, is based on an incident that happened at Camp Hero in 1983 – an incident that put an end to the secret experiments that the US military had been conducting on children for four decades.

This theory would also explain the introduction of Eleven’s sister ‘Eight’ in season two – if they were conducting experiments on children for four decades there could be a bunch of ‘Elevens’ walking among us.

So if the conspiracy theorists are right there may have a real life Eleven running around Long Island in the 1980s and possibly – just possibly – a real Demogorgon terrorising the children in area.

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