Was Hawkins cursed before the Upside Down?

Hawkins has become another name for supernatural chaos, drama, and trauma. We all know about the Upside Down. But was Hawkins already cursed—long before Eleven, Vecna, or any Demogorgon showed up? Let’s deep-dive into the town’s past, its real-world inspirations, and the mysteries that might’ve haunted it before 1983.

The history of Hawkins, Indiana

Some curious fans asked Duffer Brothers whether Hawkins is based on a real town? Not exactly. The creators didn’t copy the exact town based on another town’s semblance. But fans spotted overlays with Marion and Peru, Indiana, and thematic resemblance to Centralia, PA. It’s a carefully crafted blend of small-town tropes and uncanny charm. Some known facts about Hawkins:

• Hawkins, Indiana, is a fictional town built by the Duffer Brothers, inspired by Stephen King’s small-town settings.
• Named “Hawkins,” apparently located in Roane County—coincidentally also in Tennessee.
• Most important locations shown in Stranger Things like courthouse square and library are filmed in Jackson, Georgia.

A quick timeline connecting every significant event happened in Hawkins, Indiana

• 1950s–60s: Lab opens; government experiments begin.
• 1959: Henry/Vecna incident (see The First Shadow play)
• 1970s: Possible early portal openings hinted in flashbacks.
• Early 1980s: Local disappearances, monster sightings, and natural oddities.

Theories that prove Hawkins was cursed before 1983

Fans have long speculated that Hawkins feels… off—not just in a sci-fi way, but in a ghost story kind of way. The woods are too quiet. The streetlights flicker too often. The houses creak even when no one’s home.

There’s something deeper. Something older.

There’s proof that Hawkins was haunted and eerie, even before Creel’s arrival. Presenting our theories and what we found below…

Hawkins National Lab: A breeding ground

To understand the history of Hawkins better, we need to look into its National Lab and its experiments too, which have been existing longer than the upside down.

We got to know about Hawkins labs and how it has been rumored about experiments on kids since the 1950s—well before Eleven. The story highlights continuous experimentation and cover-ups seem to have set odd energies in motion long before 1983. 

Some facts about the inspiration behind this lab and its facility… 

• It’s clearly inspired by MKUltra-style research (government mind control projects).
• The land could be a cursed one, possibly built over haunted or spiritually sensitive grounds.
• The actual location is Emory’s Georgia Mental Health Institute, located on a repurposed mental health campus.

Hawkins is filled with haunted places

Hawkins, the homeland of spookiness, has many other haunted places, possibly, the woods, quarry, and abandoned hospital all feel born to be spooky. It’s hallmarked by consistent imagery of rotting buildings, hidden tunnels, and creeping vines.

• Odd visual details of Hawkins which show Hawkins are more than a small town: Mirkwood trees, random tunnels, odd clockwork—too consistent to be random.
• Repeated glimpses of people acting “off”—memory lapses, hallucinations, cult-like behavior.
• Listen to Stranger Things’ homage to Poltergeist and Nightmare on Elm Street—both stories of cursed towns built on trauma and buried secrets.

Victor Creel’s House – one of the S3 Easter Egg…

• In Season 4, Victor Creel’s 1950s-era tragedy home is introduced.
• Some fans noticed odd clocks and attic items that predate Creels, hinting at deeper hauntings.
• This suggests that Hawkins’ spookiness began long before the Creels moved in.
• So many fan theories spun around and speculate that ancient energy lines (ley lines) underpin the town’s weirdness.

Victor’s behavior changed after coming to Hawkins

There is no doubt he was this weird kid with odd toys. But the house brought that negative energy oozing out. One reason could be this – their house was already cursed before they moved in. (I mean look at this house. Reeks of ghost and horror…)

Some subtle hints:

• Time distortion and ticking clocks appear well before Vecna fully emerges.
• The neighborhood seems to avoid the Creel house even before tragedy strikes.
• Henry Creel himself describes feeling things in the house before his powers fully awaken.
• And he becomes the victim (and also an evil powerhouse) of weirdness before the Upside Down triggers.

Maybe Vecna wasn’t born evil—maybe he absorbed something already in Hawkins. A dark spirit. A restless entity.

Or maybe Hawkins is one of those towns where bad things simply stick around.

Connection between Hawkins & midwestern spirit-lore

The Duffers originally based their story in Montauk, NY—Camp Hero Air Force Base, with conspiracy rumors of time-travel and psychic research. Hawkins was only chosen later for creative liberty.

Hawkins is in Indiana, which also falls under the Midwest region. While the whole Stranger Things story is fiction, it’s built on real American horror and mystery tropes. Especially the stuff that lingers in the Midwest. (Note that the show or the creators haven’t mentioned any direct Native American folklore connections in all seasons).

-> Midwestern spirit-lore is a blend of local ghost stories, regional superstitions, and small-town folklore passed through generations. Think haunted barns, restless Civil War spirits, Native legends of cursed land, and unexplained disappearances in cornfields.

We tried to compare Stranger Things story to midwestern horror stories, and we found many common themes:

Midwestern Ghost Tropes	How They Relate to Hawkins
Haunted houses with tragic backstories	The Creel house, the Wheeler attic
Thin barriers between worlds	The Upside Down’s “bleeding through” effect
Spirits stuck in time	Vecna’s psychic realm, frozen in traumatic loops
Quiet towns with dark secrets	Hawkins’ denial of its strange occurrences
Nature as a portal	Forests, lakes, and tree roots linked to evil

Midwestern ghost stories thrive on subtle dread. Not loud scares. Just a persistent sense that something is watching. That’s Hawkins.

So, what culminated Upside down?

So was Hawkins cursed before Eleven arrived? Maybe. But the Upside Down acts like the final crack in the dam.

Upside down is created of this—Vecna’s trauma, historical experiments, and possibly ancient forces. Hawkins lab just opened the gate of this long-brewing malevolence, causing turbulence and interdimensional collapse.

Final thoughts…

Hawkins is more than a cozy 80s town with a secret. It’s a character in its own right—built on layers of trauma, history, and unanswered questions. As we await Season 5, remember: the Upside Down is just the brim. The real mystery is what stirred beneath that brim for decades.Do you think Hawkins was cursed before the Upside Down appeared? Share your wild theories with us on our Reddit thread – r/vecnavolde.