What the Upside Down Really Is Explained After Stranger Things Retcons 9 Years of History

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Since its debut in 2016, the show Stranger Things has built its story around a frightening place called the Upside Down. This creepy, decaying version of Hawkins served as the main source of the show’s horror, filled with ash, ruins, and dangerous creatures. Over four seasons, Stranger Things carefully developed the history of this alternate dimension, introducing monsters like the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer, and eventually revealing Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) as the one responsible for all the trouble. For nearly a decade, viewers believed the Upside Down was either a parallel world or a creation of someone’s mind. But Season 5 of Stranger Things completely changed that understanding, revealing a major plot twist that proves everything we thought we knew about the Upside Down was incorrect.

Warning: Spoilers below for Stranger Things 5, Volume 2

During the fifth season of Stranger Things, Dustin Henderson ventures into the dilapidated Hawkins Lab in the Upside Down. While exploring, he finds Dr. Martin Brenner’s personal journals hidden away in a secret room. These journals reveal the scientific origins of the strange events happening in Hawkins. Dustin learns that the Upside Down wasn’t created by Vecna, and it’s not a naturally existing alternate world. It was actually caused by a failed human experiment.

The glowing sphere Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers find in the lab isn’t a weapon or a protective device—it’s a unique type of matter that’s holding everything together. Turns out, the Upside Down isn’t a separate world, but a wormhole – a tunnel connecting two far-off places in space and time. The strange, vine-covered walls aren’t hiding a world, they are the tunnel itself.

Hawkins, the Upside Down, and the Abyss in Stranger Things

Dustin’s findings have dramatically changed our understanding of the show’s universe, revealing three different dimensions: Earth, the Upside Down, and a new realm called “The Abyss.” The Upside Down isn’t a destination itself, but rather a pathway connecting the other two. Years ago, Dr. Brenner used Eleven’s powers to reach Henry Creel, and that psychic connection created a tear in reality. The Upside Down looks like Hawkins because it’s formed where this tear pushes against our world, creating a warped copy of it. A special substance found in the lab is essentially holding this tear open, preventing it from closing and disappearing.

The Abyss, a name Dustin gave it after the unpredictable realms in the game Dungeons & Dragons, is where the wormhole actually leads. This barren, empty place is the original home of the Demogorgons and where the particles that create the Mind Flayer come from. It’s also where Eleven sent Henry Creel back in 1979 – a different, more desolate place than the dark version of Hawkins he would eventually live in.

Ultimately, the Upside Down and the Abyss are connected vertically. The very top of the Upside Down acts as the bottom of the Abyss. We see this happen when Holly Wheeler falls: she jumps into a hole in the Abyss and ends up falling through a portal into the sky of the Upside Down while running from Vecna.

What Is Vecna’s Plan for the Upside Down and the Abyss?

Vecna’s ultimate plan is to cause a collision between dimensions. The openings he created in Hawkins during season four were just the first step – weakening the barrier between Earth and the Upside Down. Secretly, he’s also been creating weaknesses in the barrier between the Upside Down and the Abyss. By breaking down both sides, Vecna intends to pull the Abyss through the Upside Down and merge it with our world. This would either destroy everything and turn Earth into a monstrous landscape, or simply wipe out all life.

Vecna needs a huge amount of psychic power to pull off his plan, which is why he kidnapped twelve children in the fifth season of Stranger Things. The show reveals Will Byers was the first person Vecna experimented on. In season two, Vecna used Will to create the tunnels under Hawkins, demonstrating that a human body could connect to a shared consciousness and amplify Henry’s abilities. The second-to-last episode shows Henry leading a séance, putting all the captured children, including Holly, into a deep trance. Their combined psychic energy is what he needs to pull the Abyss through the wormhole, potentially causing a catastrophic collision of dimensions in the final episode.

The second part of Stranger Things Season 5 is now available on Netflix, with the final episode dropping on January 31st.

Wow, that final reveal about the Upside Down in Stranger Things really blew my mind! I’m still trying to process everything. I’d love to hear what everyone else thought, so let’s chat about it over on the ComicBook Forum – come join the discussion!

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2025-12-26 04:40