How Stranger Things Season 4 Perfectly Flips A Tired Horror Trick
Warning: SPOILERS for Stranger Things season 4.
Through the clever characterization of its villain, Stranger Things season 4 is able to subtly flip an overused horror trope. Stranger Things has proven to be not just one of Netflix's most popular original series, but a cultural phenomenon, too. Drawing clear inspiration from the classic horror stories of Stephen King, as well as visual and thematic elements of the horror movies of the '80s and '90s, Stranger Things has used excellent storytelling and breathtaking visuals in order to secure massive popularity.
The villain of Stranger Things season 4 is Vecna, a distinctly humanoid villain with powers that reach across dimensions to curse and kill the teenagers of Hawkins. The use of Vecna as season 4's villain is a slight shift for Stranger Things, as previous antagonists have been more eldritch creatures born of the Upside Down. Vecna is revealed in Stranger Things season 4 to actually be Henry Creel, a human with powers not unlike Eleven's who uses them (and an Upside Down-influenced power upgrade) to murder unsuspecting teens.
Related: Stranger Things 4's MVP Highlights Its Newest Screenwriting Trick
Vecna being a human villain (albeit a powerful, transformed one) is actually a clever way to subvert a horror trope popularized by the very films that inspired Stranger Things. Though Stranger Things is packed with horror references, its use of a human villain who appears to be a monster is a subtle inversion of the characterization of some of the '80s biggest horror villains. Many of the most iconic horror villains appear to be human but are defined by their supernatural otherness, whereas Vecna is actually the opposite as Stranger Things season 4 reveals.
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