The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1, Episode 1-7, which premiered on May 27 on Netflix.
Stranger Things is going full-on horror in the latest Season 4 Vol. 1. The series has included some nightmare fuel imageries and darker tones throughout the first three seasons. However, nothing, not even the terrifying monster Demogorgon, remotely matches what viewers are experiencing in Season 4.
"Psychological horror meets The Conjuring's attack while throwing in Saw's brutal explicitness," would roughly sum up the level of terror in Stranger Things Season 4. Volume 1 simultaneously released seven episodes worth of content. "Chapter One: The Hellfire Club" took the time to introduce the new antagonist, Vecna, weaving horror into seemingly upbeat and dramatic high school life. With Chrissy being tormented by Vecna-induced hallucinations while Joyce Byers received a Russian doll, the two separate storylines filled with teasing scares and suspense also created the impression that Vecna could appear in any form at any time.
Interestingly, the most disturbing set piece is one that is a classic: a haunted house with malfunctioning lights, memories-turned nightmares, spiders etc... Further, instead of an alien or animalistic creature, the attacker in Stranger Things Season 4 is a human-sized, skeletal demon from the other realm, the Upside Down who possesses souls. It hunts and toys with its victim's deepest fears and guilt, tormenting them with nightmares and hallucinations, and then trapping their souls in another realm with no escape.
Like Vecna, who takes his time toying with his victims, Stranger Things Season 4 saves the villain's reveal for Chrissy's death. With plenty of anticipation built up throughout the first half of Chapter One, the death scene doesn't disappoint, as it graphically details the monster digging its claws into a human skull and seeing her body floating in the air while being bent to unnatural angles. Although Chapter One doesn't explicitly show Chrissy's dead body, "Chapter Two: Vecna's Curse" fully captures the brutality of Fred's death.
Similarly, "Chapter Four: Dear Billy" doesn't shy away from showing Jim Hopper's bloody wounds when attempting to take the chains off his ankles. Although the scene doesn't involve sawing off his foot, it creates a similar curdling feeling in the gut. It isn't hard to imagine how much it hurts, especially seeing the skin and deep-cut wound pulled to the side like that.
The dimmer tone of certain scenes also creates dramatic tension, making Season 4 Volume 1 more intriguing and more terrifying than in the previous seasons. The shift between bright and dark easily has viewers assume the worst outcome possible without necessarily following through with the indications. Not to mention, the first eight minutes contain splattered blood and dead bodies in every corner of the Hawkins National Laboratories, quickly making a strong impression as to the tone of the season.
Thankfully, there are no jump scares in Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1, and the old haunted house with the terrifying tale of three homicides under mysterious circumstances stocks the proceedings with atmospheric dread. Fifty years ago, Victor Creel was rumored to have killed his two children and wife, but the truth was far from what the newspapers said. The man cut his own eyes, ending up in the darkest part of a psychiatric hospital. What used to be his daughter's dream house was abandoned and left to be the location in which Vecna nests.
Stranger Things Season 4 is undoubtedly not suitable for younger audiences. The horror elements in the new season don't fail what the show creators and crew had teased and promised. Vecna is not like any monster Stranger Things has utilized before, and it is a good thing -- the new season tends to leave a strong aftertaste.
Stream Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1 on Netflix.