Just two days until Stranger Things 4: Volume Two drops on Netflix, so there’s no better time to recap all the deaths so far. Stranger Things 4 picks up with Eleven, Will, Jonathan, and Joyce living out their days in California while Mike, Lucas, Max, Eleven, Dustin, Steve, Nancy, and Robin stay behind in Hawkins. In addition, Hopper is very much alive and attempting to contact Joyce to inform her of his survival. Having transferred to a Californian high school, Eleven struggles to fit in and endures severe bullying from Mean Girls stereotype Angela and her lackeys. Stranger Things 4 introduces a new villain by the name of Vecna, a humanoid entity that resides in the Upside Down and picks out vulnerable targets to viciously murder and enshrine in his dwellings.
The Duffer Brothers have already promised several characters’ deaths in Volume Two, but just before the second half of the season airs, let’s take a look at all the characters who died — excluding minor deaths — in Stranger Things 4 so far. Surprisingly, not all of these deaths were at the hands of Vecna, but certainly the most gruesome ones.
Ten
In the opening eight minutes of “Chapter One: The Hellfire Club,” we see flashbacks of Hawkins National Laboratory and all of its illegal test subjects therein, including Eleven. Audiences are reintroduced to Papa — the overseer of these experimentations — and one of Eleven’s peers, a young Caucasian boy named Ten. After starting one of his lessons with Papa, Ten discovers telepathically that a fellow test subject — Six — and another doctor — Dr. Ellis — are both dead. Papa is alerted to a hostile presence at Hawkins lab and goes to investigate. He finds several test subjects brutally murdered, including Ten, whose bones had been snapped at awkward angles and eyes gouged out. It’s a short-lived meeting, but Ten appears again in more flashbacks later on.
Chrissy Cunningham
Perhaps one of the hardest deaths to grasp in Stranger Things 4 was Chrissy Cunningham, the head cheerleader at Hawkins High. Chrissy was a modest, hard-working girl who led the cheer squad and dated Hawkins High basketball star, Jason. Early on, she experienced traumatic hallucinations surrounding her eating disorder and emotionally abusive mother. When those visions got progressively worse, Chrissy began to suffer intense migraines and superimposed images of a grandfather clock within her surroundings. One day, when she agreed to meet with Eddie Munson to purchase drugs, the pair returned to Eddie’s trailer, where Chrissy was attacked and killed. First, she levitated several feet above the ground, then her bones started to break one by one, before her eyes graphically exploded and Vecna keeps her mangled body as a trophy within the Upside Down. Poor Chrissy, she deserved so much better.
Fred Benson
Fred Benson was an aspiring journalist who worked for the Hawkins High newspaper alongside Nancy Wheeler. When Chrissy’s death becomes public knowledge, Nancy sets out on a quest to find the cause for her death, traveling to Forest Hills Trailer Park – the location of Chrissy’s murder. Fred tags along as an co-investigator. During the car ride, Fred begins to experience hallucinations similar to Chrissy Cunningham’s. In Fred’s nightmarish vision, the disfigured face of a police officer calls him a murderer. Later on, while Nancy is interviewing Wayne Munson about Eddie Munson’s involvement in Chrissy’s death, Fred hears the ominous ticking of a grandfather clock and disappears into the woods. There, he encounters several undead mourners who accuse him of murder. By nightfall, Fred stumbles upon the exact road where a fatal car accident — which he was directly involved in — had occurred a year earlier. Fred hallucinates the body of a dead student crawling from beneath the wreckage and that’s when Vecna closes in to seize his prey. Just like Chrissy, Fred is found the next day with his bones viciously snapped and eyes gouged out.
Virginia and Alice Creel
Later in the series, when Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley disguise themselves as hopeful criminal investigators in order to visit supposed murderer Victor Creel, we see flashbacks of the Creel family. Therein, mysterious happenings in the Creel home start to point toward Henry Creel, Victor’s son. At first, the odd occurrences are nothing more than flickering lights and radios turning on by themselves – typical Paranormal Activity spooks. Henry discovered that he had remarkable psychokinetic abilities and could alter the perception of others. Henry used these newfound powers to torture and subsequently murder his mother, Virginia Creel, and younger sister, Alice Creel. Then, he framed his father, Victor Creel, for the crimes, which caused him to go insane. Possibly due to overuse of his psychokinetic abilities, Henry triggers a self-induced coma and avoids suspicion for the murders. At that moment, audiences figure out that Henry Creel is Vecna, blatantly evident by the way in which Henry killed Virginia and Alice – identical to Vecna’s string of murders.
Agent Harmon
Agent Harmon, an associate of Sam Owens — who worked alongside Papa before turning against him — was tasked with protecting Will Byers, Jonathan Byers, and Mike Wheeler at the Byers’ house with his then-partner, Wallace. Lt. Colonel Sullivan — who believes he can eradicate the evil within Hawkins once and for all — sent soldiers after Byers and Mike and incited a shootout. Wallace was wounded and left for dead but Harmon managed to shoot a few of Sullivan’s men before getting shot himself. Will, Jonathan, and Mike dragged Harmon out to Argyle’s van and escaped together. However, due to a lack of urgent medical attention, Harmon bleeds out and dies. Later, the boys planned to give Harmon a proper burial on the side of a dirt road. Argyle wrote “Unknown Hero Agent Man” on a pizza box carved like a gravestone and attributed their survival to his bravery by writing, “Saved Argyle, Jonathan, Will and Mike from certain death.”
Patrick McKinney
As the last known victim of Vecna (so far), Patrick was targeted after hearing his parents arguing and things turning violent. Although not explicit, it is heavily implied that Patrick was physically abused by his father. Patrick joined the basketball team to hunt down Eddie Munson, who they suspected of murdering Chrissy Cunningham. Shortly after, Patrick experienced a sudden nose bleed. Then, when attending Chrissy’s funeral, he noticed a grandfather clock appear in a corner of the room. After finding Eddie Munson at Lovers’ Lake, Jason and Patrick swim across to chase him. Halfway across the lake, Patrick suddenly stops and disappears underwater, only to levitate up and suffer the same fate as Chrissy and Fred. When Patrick was killed by Vecna, a gate to the Upside Down opened at the bottom of the lake.
So, there you have it. Stranger Things 4 promises many more deaths to come. Let’s hope Steve, Eddie, Nancy, and Robin make it out alive, otherwise we riot.