From Barb to Eddie: The Stranger Things Deaths That Still Haunt Us, Ranked
In Hawkins, plot armor is a myth. From season one to now, Stranger Things has blindsided fans with its most gutting exits, and with Vecna, the Mind Flayer, and other Upside Down horrors still stalking, the next heartbreak feels inevitable.
Stranger Things has always played by one rule: Hawkins eats its own. The Duffers don’t toss characters off the board lightly, but when you’ve got Vecna, the Mind Flayer, and every crawling nightmare from the Upside Down roaming around, somebody’s not making it to the next season. With the final stretch underway, here’s a look back at the deaths that still land like a punch to the gut—and what the creators say about choosing who pays the price.
How the Duffers think about killing characters
Before Season 5 hit, Matt and Ross Duffer talked to Time about how they handle death on the show. The short version: it’s never casual, and it has to matter to the story and the people left behind—think Max, Nancy, or Dustin being pushed into action because of what they’ve lost.
"It’s important that every death resonates in a big way, which is why we’re very careful who we kill because it has these massive season-long ripple effects. Otherwise, it just doesn’t feel like it has any weight to it."
They also admitted they were floored by how fans reacted to certain losses (hi, Barb), and that some arcs—like Eddie’s—were designed from the start to end in sacrifice.
The 10 Stranger Things deaths that still hurt
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Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine)
Eleven’s so-called father figure—really her cruel handler—spent years at Hawkins Lab experimenting on kids, including Henry Creel (aka Vecna). In Season 4 he resurfaced at the NINA Project trying to re-assert control. A military raid blew that up fast: he was shot by a sniper while fleeing. El didn’t give him the absolution he wanted; her final word to him was a cold, clear "Goodbye, Papa." -
Heather Holloway (Francesca Reale)
The Season 3 lifeguard Billy kidnapped and delivered to the Mind Flayer. She suffered terrifying visions fueled by her insecurities before being flayed and consumed. Quick clarity point: this was Season 3—that’s the Mind Flayer’s handiwork, not Vecna’s. -
Benny Hammond (Chris Sullivan)
The first good guy the show ever took from us. Benny fed and sheltered Eleven after she escaped the lab in Season 1, then did the decent thing and called for help. That call got traced back to Hawkins Lab, Department of Energy agents showed up, and Benny was shot. They staged it as a suicide. Still brutal. -
Fred Benson (Logan Riley Bruner)
Hawkins High’s newspaper managing editor in Season 4 and Vecna’s second victim after Chrissy. He vanished while chasing leads with Nancy, haunted by guilt-soaked hallucinations that made him easy prey. When his body turned up, twisted and suspended, it was a stark warning: Vecna was just getting started. -
Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien)
The cheerleader with a full-on nightmare brewing under the perfect surface. Vecna exploited her trauma—body image, a verbally abusive mother—and trapped her at Eddie’s trailer. She levitated, bones snapped, and the whole town spun out. Her death was quick onscreen, but it set off an entire season’s worth of fallout, including her boyfriend Jason going scorched-earth. -
Alexei (Alec Utgoff)
The Season 3 Russian scientist forced to help open a gate to the Upside Down who somehow became the show’s cinnamon roll. Hopper, Joyce, and Murray hauled him into their orbit, and he fell in love with American kitsch—an off-brand Woody Woodpecker prize, cherry slurpees—the works. Then Grigori, a Russian hitman, called him a traitor and shot him at the Hawkins Fun Fair. Small role, big wound. -
Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery)
Max’s volatile stepbrother, molded by an abusive dad and old scars, got possessed by the Mind Flayer in Season 3. In the Starcourt Mall battle, Eleven reached him, he snapped back to himself, and he chose to stand between El and the monster. Redemption arrived and ended in the same breath. -
Bob Newby (Sean Astin)
Joyce’s kindest possible boyfriend in Season 2. Bob cracked the map of tunnels, helped find Hopper, and volunteered to reboot the power at Hawkins Lab so everyone could escape. He almost made it to the door. Demodogs got him. The Duffers have said Bob was built to break our hearts—originally there was even a version where Will killed him—but his death needed to be shocking and selfless. Mission accomplished, unfortunately. -
Barb Holland (Shannon Purser)
Nancy’s best friend in Season 1 and the show’s first big cultural lightning bolt. Nancy ditched the party at Steve’s, Barb bled into the pool, and the Demogorgon snatched her to the Upside Down. She died there, and the mystery around her disappearance sparked #JusticeForBarb and a whole new level of fan obsession. The Duffers have said Barb existed so Nancy had a personal stake in the supernatural, and even they were shocked by how loudly the audience demanded answers (yes, Netflix pestered them about Barb’s family too). -
Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn)
Introduced in Season 4 as the metalhead ringmaster of the Hellfire Club, Eddie was misunderstood, wrongly blamed for Chrissy’s death, and on the run until he wasn’t. In the Upside Down, he chose to stay back, shred a guitar, and pull the Demobats off his friends—especially Dustin. It cost him everything and wrecked Dustin in Season 5, Volume 1. Behind the scenes, the Duffers say Eddie’s arc was always heading for a sacrificial finale. They’ve even admitted Steve was once the target in earlier planning, but with extra time during the pandemic, they reshaped him—leaving Eddie to be the tragic hero. Matt Duffer put it simply: once they got there, it was hard, because saying goodbye to Eddie (and Joe Quinn) hurt. And if Eddie had lived? They figure he probably would’ve ended up in prison anyway. Grim either way.
Where things stand now
Created and run by Matt and Ross Duffer, Stranger Things has four full seasons behind it and is finishing the fight in Season 5. The core cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Gaten Matarazzo, and Noah Schnapp, with plenty of fan favorites orbiting around them. The show’s still pulling strong numbers—8.6/10 on IMDb and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes—and yes, it’s on Netflix.
Season 5, Volume 1 is streaming now in the US. Volume 2 drops December 25, and the finale lands on New Year’s Day.
Who survives that last stand, and who ends up joining this list? Place your bets.