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Stranger Things Trivia Quiz
Stranger Things is set in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana in the 1980s. When a boy named Will Byers disappears, his friends stumble onto a shadowy parallel dimension called the Upside Down — and a girl with psychic powers known only as Eleven, who escaped a secret government lab.
Q1. What was Stranger Things originally called?
Answer: Montauk. The Duffer Brothers first set the story in Montauk on Long Island, a place tied to real conspiracy theories and to Jaws, where it stood in for Amity Island. Moving to the fictional town of Hawkins let them do things to it, like putting it under quarantine, that they could not imagine doing to a real place.
Q2. In which state is the fictional town of Hawkins?
Answer: Indiana. Hawkins is described as "the town where nothing ever happens", next to the Hawkins National Laboratory, which claims to work for the Department of Energy. The town was actually filmed in Georgia, with Jackson as the basis for Hawkins and the Georgia Mental Health Institute standing in for the lab.
Q3. Which food is Eleven's favourite?
Answer: Eggo waffles. Demand for Eggos rose after the show. Kellogg had not been involved before season one, but it then supplied a vintage 1980s Eggo advert for Netflix's Super Bowl LI commercial. Coca-Cola also brought back a limited run of New Coke for season three, which is set in 1985.
Q4. Which song shot back up the charts after it was used in season four?
Answer: "Running Up That Hill". Kate Bush's song is part of the story in seasons four and five. Metallica's "Master of Puppets" also surged after season four, as did Limahl's "The NeverEnding Story" after season three. In season one, The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" played a similar role in the plot.
Q5. Which new mall is the centre of season three?
Answer: Starcourt Mall. Season three is set around the Fourth of July in 1985. Dustin, Steve, Robin and Erica discover a secret Soviet lab beneath the mall trying to reopen the gate. After filming, the producers considered keeping the Starcourt set as a permanent fan attraction but decided against it.
Q6. The title Stranger Things was chosen because it sounded like which Stephen King novel?
Answer: Needful Things. Netflix's Ted Sarandos asked for a new title once the show left Montauk. The brothers studied a copy of King's Firestarter for the font and look and drew up a long list; Matt Duffer said there were still a "lot of heated arguments" before they settled on the name.
Q7. Who composed the synth theme and score?
Answer: Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon of Survive. The Duffers were fans of Survive's music from the 2014 film The Guest and contacted the band in July 2015. The score pays tribute to 1980s synth artists such as Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Goblin and John Carpenter.
Q8. Children auditioning for the main roles read lines from which film?
Answer: Stand by Me. The Duffers estimate they saw about a thousand child actors. Finn Wolfhard was already a fan of 1980s films, and Gaten Matarazzo was chosen after a single viewing of his tape, which felt more authentic than most. The New York Times later compared the show itself to Stand by Me.
Q9. Where do Joyce and Murray rescue Hopper from in season four?
Answer: A Soviet gulag on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Hopper had seemingly died when the Soviet gate closed at the end of season three. Part of season four was filmed at Lukiškės Prison in Vilnius, Lithuania, a choice later condemned by Jewish and Roma groups because of the prison's role in the Holocaust.
Q10. About how many cable networks turned the show down before Netflix?
Answer: About 15. Every network said a story led by children would not work and asked the brothers to either make it a kids' show or drop the children and focus on Hopper. 21 Laps, Shawn Levy's company, bought the rights in early 2015, and Netflix then bought the whole first season after reading the pilot.
Q11. What was Winona Ryder's only condition for taking the role of Joyce?
Answer: Time off if a Beetlejuice sequel got made. Ryder and Tim Burton had been discussing a sequel since 2000, and the Duffers agreed to let her take a break if it happened, which it did with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in 2024. Casting director Carmen Cuba suggested Ryder, and the brothers liked her strong link to 1980s films.
Q12. Which actor was the first choice for Jim Hopper but passed?
Answer: Billy Crudup. David Harbour got the role instead. He had mostly played smaller villainous parts, and the Duffers felt he had been "waiting too long" for a lead; Harbour was excited to play "a broken, flawed, anti-hero character". He and Ryder were announced together in June 2015.
Q13. Joyce Byers was modelled on which film character?
Answer: Roy Neary from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Like Richard Dreyfuss's character, Joyce appears "absolutely bonkers" to everyone else as she searches for Will. Ryder said the role required her to act as if Joyce is out of her mind while actually being onto something.
Q14. Which villains inspired Vecna?
Answer: Freddy Krueger, Pinhead and Pennywise. The Duffers based the final two seasons' main villain on the horror characters that scared them as children. Their wider influences include Stephen King, Spielberg, John Carpenter and Wes Craven, the anime Akira, and games such as Silent Hill, Dark Souls and The Last of Us.
Q15. Which typeface did the producers insist on for the famous title?
Answer: ITC Benguiat. The studio Imaginary Forces had been working with several fonts before the producers switched to Benguiat late on, forcing shots to be redone. The sequence is fully computer-generated but uses filters developed from tests with Kodalith masks, as 1980s title designers would have used.
Q16. Which 2013 film did the Duffers want to expand into a TV series, giving them the starting idea?
Answer: Prisoners. They wanted to stretch the film's story of a father's moral struggle after his daughter is kidnapped over eight hours, then added a monster. Cold War experiments like MKUltra grounded it in science, and they set it in 1983, a year before Red Dawn and its Cold War paranoia.
Q17. What did the "Justice for Barb" fan movement lead to?
Answer: A season two storyline and an Emmy nomination for Shannon Purser. Purser said Barb "wasn't supposed to be a big deal", but fans adopted her as a relatable misfit. The Duffers used the movement in season two, where Nancy points out that nobody cares about Barb, and Purser's guest actress nomination was widely called "Justice for Barb".
Q18. Why did filming move from Long Island to Georgia?
Answer: Long Island was too cold to shoot in November. The brothers had wanted to film around Long Island, but the November 2015 shoot made the cold a problem. Atlanta reminded them of growing up in North Carolina and suited the new fictional town. Season one was shot on a RED Epic Dragon camera, with film grain added later.
Q19. Why did filmmaker Charlie Kessler drop his lawsuit against the Duffer Brothers in 2019?
Answer: Documents showed they had developed the idea independently. Kessler claimed his short film Montauk, with a missing boy, a military base and a monster, was the basis for the show. A judge let the case go to trial, but just before it began he withdrew after seeing depositions and documents from as early as 2010.
Q20. How many households watched season three within its first month, a Netflix record at the time?
Answer: 64 million. It was watched by 40.7 million households in its first four days, 18.2 million of whom had already finished it. Back in 2016, Netflix found that the show "hooked" viewers by episode two: at least 70 percent of people who watched it went on to finish the season.
Stranger Things quiz answers and explanations
Every question from the quiz above with its correct answer, the story behind it, and where the fact comes from.
-
What was Stranger Things originally called?
Answer: Montauk. The Duffer Brothers first set the story in Montauk on Long Island, a place tied to real conspiracy theories and to Jaws, where it stood in for Amity Island. Moving to the fictional town of Hawkins let them do things to it, like putting it under quarantine, that they could not imagine doing to a real place.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
In which state is the fictional town of Hawkins?
Answer: Indiana. Hawkins is described as "the town where nothing ever happens", next to the Hawkins National Laboratory, which claims to work for the Department of Energy. The town was actually filmed in Georgia, with Jackson as the basis for Hawkins and the Georgia Mental Health Institute standing in for the lab.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Which food is Eleven's favourite?
Answer: Eggo waffles. Demand for Eggos rose after the show. Kellogg had not been involved before season one, but it then supplied a vintage 1980s Eggo advert for Netflix's Super Bowl LI commercial. Coca-Cola also brought back a limited run of New Coke for season three, which is set in 1985.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Which song shot back up the charts after it was used in season four?
Answer: "Running Up That Hill". Kate Bush's song is part of the story in seasons four and five. Metallica's "Master of Puppets" also surged after season four, as did Limahl's "The NeverEnding Story" after season three. In season one, The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" played a similar role in the plot.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Which new mall is the centre of season three?
Answer: Starcourt Mall. Season three is set around the Fourth of July in 1985. Dustin, Steve, Robin and Erica discover a secret Soviet lab beneath the mall trying to reopen the gate. After filming, the producers considered keeping the Starcourt set as a permanent fan attraction but decided against it.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
The title Stranger Things was chosen because it sounded like which Stephen King novel?
Answer: Needful Things. Netflix's Ted Sarandos asked for a new title once the show left Montauk. The brothers studied a copy of King's Firestarter for the font and look and drew up a long list; Matt Duffer said there were still a "lot of heated arguments" before they settled on the name.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Who composed the synth theme and score?
Answer: Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon of Survive. The Duffers were fans of Survive's music from the 2014 film The Guest and contacted the band in July 2015. The score pays tribute to 1980s synth artists such as Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Goblin and John Carpenter.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Children auditioning for the main roles read lines from which film?
Answer: Stand by Me. The Duffers estimate they saw about a thousand child actors. Finn Wolfhard was already a fan of 1980s films, and Gaten Matarazzo was chosen after a single viewing of his tape, which felt more authentic than most. The New York Times later compared the show itself to Stand by Me.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Where do Joyce and Murray rescue Hopper from in season four?
Answer: A Soviet gulag on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Hopper had seemingly died when the Soviet gate closed at the end of season three. Part of season four was filmed at Lukiškės Prison in Vilnius, Lithuania, a choice later condemned by Jewish and Roma groups because of the prison's role in the Holocaust.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
About how many cable networks turned the show down before Netflix?
Answer: About 15. Every network said a story led by children would not work and asked the brothers to either make it a kids' show or drop the children and focus on Hopper. 21 Laps, Shawn Levy's company, bought the rights in early 2015, and Netflix then bought the whole first season after reading the pilot.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
What was Winona Ryder's only condition for taking the role of Joyce?
Answer: Time off if a Beetlejuice sequel got made. Ryder and Tim Burton had been discussing a sequel since 2000, and the Duffers agreed to let her take a break if it happened, which it did with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in 2024. Casting director Carmen Cuba suggested Ryder, and the brothers liked her strong link to 1980s films.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Which actor was the first choice for Jim Hopper but passed?
Answer: Billy Crudup. David Harbour got the role instead. He had mostly played smaller villainous parts, and the Duffers felt he had been "waiting too long" for a lead; Harbour was excited to play "a broken, flawed, anti-hero character". He and Ryder were announced together in June 2015.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Joyce Byers was modelled on which film character?
Answer: Roy Neary from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Like Richard Dreyfuss's character, Joyce appears "absolutely bonkers" to everyone else as she searches for Will. Ryder said the role required her to act as if Joyce is out of her mind while actually being onto something.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Which villains inspired Vecna?
Answer: Freddy Krueger, Pinhead and Pennywise. The Duffers based the final two seasons' main villain on the horror characters that scared them as children. Their wider influences include Stephen King, Spielberg, John Carpenter and Wes Craven, the anime Akira, and games such as Silent Hill, Dark Souls and The Last of Us.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Which typeface did the producers insist on for the famous title?
Answer: ITC Benguiat. The studio Imaginary Forces had been working with several fonts before the producers switched to Benguiat late on, forcing shots to be redone. The sequence is fully computer-generated but uses filters developed from tests with Kodalith masks, as 1980s title designers would have used.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Which 2013 film did the Duffers want to expand into a TV series, giving them the starting idea?
Answer: Prisoners. They wanted to stretch the film's story of a father's moral struggle after his daughter is kidnapped over eight hours, then added a monster. Cold War experiments like MKUltra grounded it in science, and they set it in 1983, a year before Red Dawn and its Cold War paranoia.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
What did the "Justice for Barb" fan movement lead to?
Answer: A season two storyline and an Emmy nomination for Shannon Purser. Purser said Barb "wasn't supposed to be a big deal", but fans adopted her as a relatable misfit. The Duffers used the movement in season two, where Nancy points out that nobody cares about Barb, and Purser's guest actress nomination was widely called "Justice for Barb".
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Why did filming move from Long Island to Georgia?
Answer: Long Island was too cold to shoot in November. The brothers had wanted to film around Long Island, but the November 2015 shoot made the cold a problem. Atlanta reminded them of growing up in North Carolina and suited the new fictional town. Season one was shot on a RED Epic Dragon camera, with film grain added later.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
Why did filmmaker Charlie Kessler drop his lawsuit against the Duffer Brothers in 2019?
Answer: Documents showed they had developed the idea independently. Kessler claimed his short film Montauk, with a missing boy, a military base and a monster, was the basis for the show. A judge let the case go to trial, but just before it began he withdrew after seeing depositions and documents from as early as 2010.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
-
How many households watched season three within its first month, a Netflix record at the time?
Answer: 64 million. It was watched by 40.7 million households in its first four days, 18.2 million of whom had already finished it. Back in 2016, Netflix found that the show "hooked" viewers by episode two: at least 70 percent of people who watched it went on to finish the season.
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
Stranger Things by the numbers
- Seasons
- 5
- Episodes
- 42
- First released
- 15 July 2016
- Finale released
- 31 December 2025
- Created by
- The Duffer Brothers
- Original title
- Montauk
- Season 3, first month
- 64 million households
- Filmed mainly in
- Atlanta, Georgia
Source: Wikipedia: Stranger Things
About the Stranger Things quiz
Stranger Things is built from 1980s films, books and music, and the questions that interest fans most are about where each piece came from. The title was chosen to sound like a Stephen King novel, Joyce was modelled on a Spielberg character, Vecna draws on several horror villains, and the font has its own history. Add the networks that turned the show down and the fan campaigns that followed, and there is far more to ask than what happened in Hawkins.
Questions cover every season — Eleven and her powers, the Upside Down, the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer, the town of Hawkins, and the group of kids at the centre of it all.
What this Stranger Things quiz covers
The quiz covers Hawkins from Will's disappearance in 1983 to the final season, but most questions go behind the scenes: the show's original title, the 15 networks that said no, the casting deals, the 1980s films and villains it borrows from, the Survive score and the font, the songs it sent back up the charts and the fan campaigns and lawsuits that followed. Each answer below explains the story behind it and links to the source.
How to play
Tap an answer to see the right one straight away, with the story behind it, and check your score at the end. Play Again resets the quiz.
Stranger Things quiz — frequently asked questions
Do I need to have seen every season?
It helps, but most questions are about how the show was made, so viewers who stopped partway can still do well. A few answers mention events from season four.
Is it about the kids or the whole cast?
The whole production. Casting questions cover the adults as well as the children, and others are about the music, the title design and the Duffer Brothers themselves.
Does it cover the final season?
Lightly. The quiz is mostly about the first four seasons and the show's origins.